G20 demonstrations

you wanna help me with an experiment? I thought it might be nice to get a tape recorder and record what the police say when we go and draw pictures of them, you know court artist style. The tape and pictures should give a reasonable account of events, despite not being able to take photographic evidence.

The legislation doesn't specifically target photography, it covers "eliciting, publishing or communicating information" so could theoretically cover drawings as much as anything else. Having said that, it's only an offence if they can prove that the information is "likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism" and proving you had a reasonable excuse for collecting the information is a defence.

Of course that's not the real issue, the chances of a court convicting anyone for photographing the police in a situation like this seem remote at best, rather it's the concern that the police will abuse the legislation to harass and arrest photographers, even if no charges are ever brought.