A SYDNEY woman faces up to two years’ jail after being charged over computer hacking that led to student records about a $60,000 scholarship granted to Tony Abbott’s daughter being leaked to the online magazine New Matilda.
NSW police have charged Freya Newman, a 21-year-old communications student from the University of Technology, Sydney, with unauthorised access to restricted data held in a computer.
Ms Newman was served with a court attendance notice at her home on Monday night to appear on the charge before a magistrate next month.
Police involvement follows a complaint by management of the Whitehouse Institute of Design that its computer system was hacked on May 20, a day before New Matilda published an article claiming it had documents contradicting assurances by the Prime Minister that one of his daughters received a scholarship based on merit.
The New Matilda article prompted controversy over the selection process used to award a scholarship to Frances Abbott, and the magazine has criticised the Prime Minister for not declaring the grant on his register of interests.
NSW police pursued the institute’s complaint with a criminal investigation that concluded with the charge against Ms Newman under section 308H of the NSW Crimes Act, an offence carrying a maximum of two years in jail.
During the police investigation, the Whitehouse Institute handed over CCTV footage and email evidence that allegedly identified Ms Newman, who was working as a part-time night librarian for the institute in May when computer files were accessed.
It has been alleged Ms Newman gained unauthorised access to the files of Ms Abbott and more than 500 other students.
New Matilda editor Chris Graham lauded the “brave sources” who provided his publication with leaked information in a comment piece published on Monday.
