Source: ABC News

A Sydney man, Christopher John Duff, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of accessing restricted data held in a computer after the Department of Communities and Justice discovered a data breach that police say involved the alleged unauthorised download of 8,769 restricted documents from the department's online registry between January and March 2025. Prosecutors allege Mr Duff used generative AI to generate Python "scraper" code to bulk-download records, and that he later sought legal advice and "coaching" from ChatGPT about what to say if approached by police; the prosecutor described the alleged method as analogous to "throwing out a fishing net" and hauling in a catch. Sergeant Andrew Maldigri has told the Downing Centre Local Court that prosecutors will seek to rely on ChatGPT conversations and forensic expert testimony, an approach described in the report as potentially among the first of its kind in Australia.

Defence counsel Daniel McMahon told the judge there may be little dispute that his client was responsible for some conduct but emphasised the prosecution must prove actual knowledge that access was unauthorised rather than mere recklessness. The matter produced a prodigious volume of proposed exhibits — defence estimated some 10,000 or more pages — stalling a three-day hearing and prompting concerns about completion even if a week were allocated; the case was adjourned for a fortnight. The report records other procedural details presented in court: a police analogy, reference to comparative US cases involving AI assistant records, Mr Duff's bail conditions including surrender of his passport and use of a single "dumb phone," and questions raised in ChatGPT queries such as whether what was done "was even a crime," all described as alleged facts or queries according to the sources cited.