People pretending to be from or acting on behalf of Medicare or other federal agencies will face up to five years' jail under new federal laws the government has called "absolutely necessary".
The measure is part of a suite of changes to electoral laws aimed at stamping out campaigns like Labor's so-called "Mediscare" during the 2016 election, which used a text message purporting to be from Medicare.
After the legislation cleared parliament on Monday with bipartisan support, Attorney-General Christian Porter said it was significant moment for democracy.
"It's absolutely necessary, with the by-elections coming up, to maintain the integrity of our democratic system and not allow text messages and mass modern media communications to be used to deceive Australian voters before an election," he told reporters on Monday.
"The new offence ... will apply to a very broad range of government bodies from commonwealth departments like the Department of Attorney General to commonwealth corporations like the NBN, right through to critical service delivery agencies."
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The new laws contain a civil injunction power which would allow proceedings to be launched as soon as a similar situation to "Mediscare" arose.
The legislation also includes specific protections for artistic or satirical misrepresentations of government.
