The WA Government has had to pass legislation to stop police from accessing data from the SafeWA app. 

WA Attorney-General John Quigley this week revealed that police had issued two notices for the Health Department to hand over businesses' check-in data as part of investigations into a murder and a stabbing case. 

They requested data from the SafeWA app, which was introduced to help authorities contract trace COVID-19 cases.

Mr Quigley says new legislation is needed to stop police and the Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) from accessing the information, as they would not stop on their own.

The legislation has already passed the Lower House. 

Premier Mark McGowan said attempts to negotiate an agreement with police had failed. 

“We attempted to negotiate an agreement with the police. They advised that it was lawful, and they couldn't not do things that are lawful,” he told reporters.

“So we then have to legislate to resolve it.

“The principal purpose of [the app] is to help us deal with any outbreaks. It's not to help us solve crime.

“We're legislating to make that very clear.”

WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said the app's terms and conditions stated data could be accessed for a lawful reason.

“I accept that people don't always read fine print on insurance policies or whatever, and this is a very important principle, but the police have only got information twice out of 240 million transactions and they were exceptional circumstances, and it is lawful,” Commissioner Dawson told reporters. 

“I would not do my job as Police Commissioner if I was directed by the Premier or the politician elected by the people as to how to run a murder investigation.”

The WA opposition has called on Mr McGowan to explain how public trust in the app could be restored, and criticised a lack of remedies to stop further data breaches.