This is not unique to Australia. It could happen here in the U.S. Here's a story I wrote in 2010:
FBI wants records kept of Web sites visited / "The FBI is pressing Internet service providers to record which Web sites customers visit and retain those logs for two years..." http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10448060-38.html
Of course these proposals are being advanced by politicians and bureaucrats who have only the vaguest glimmerings of an idea of how the Internet works (and even less of an appreciation for the limits the Constitution places on the federal government).
FBI wants records kept of Web sites visited / "The FBI is pressing Internet service providers to record which Web sites customers visit and retain those logs for two years..." http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10448060-38.html
Other proposals that have circulated around DC officialdom have included mandatory data retention requirements aimed at social networks, sites that accept photo uploads, domain name registries: http://news.cnet.com/Politicos-mull-data-retention-by-Web-ho... http://news.cnet.com/Congress-targets-social-networking-site...
Of course these proposals are being advanced by politicians and bureaucrats who have only the vaguest glimmerings of an idea of how the Internet works (and even less of an appreciation for the limits the Constitution places on the federal government).