I am not Australian and have not seen any updates since it was passed, but "forcing companies to build backdoors" is a massive understatement. The government could effectively compel any employee to act as a spy, without their consent. Don't want to play along? Go directly to jail.

> The new law also allows officials to approach specific individuals—such as key employees within a company—with these demands, rather than the institution itself. In practice, they can force the engineer or IT administrator in charge of vetting and pushing out a product's updates to undermine its security. In some situations, the government could even compel the individual or a small group of people to carry this out in secret. Under the Australian law, companies that fail or refuse to comply with these orders will face fines up to about $7.3 million. Individuals who resist could face prison time.

https://www.wired.com/story/australia-encryption-law-global-...