That's how I interpret it too. Though does that mean they can contact an employee directly, rather than going through the company to have the backdoor installed

That's how I interpret it too. Though does that mean they can contact an employee directly, rather than going through the company to have the backdoor installed? That's how it sounds to me, since otherwise why would you bother with this provision. And if that's the case, software really is dead in Australia. You can't trust an Australian company, even if their leadership says they've never received a request, because one of their employees may have.