Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

There is no greater responsibility for a government than keeping Australians safe.

This year, the Director-General of Security delivered what he called his 'most significant, serious and sober' threat assessment of Australia's security environment to date.

In the coming years, he assessed that an already challenging security environment will be characterised by threats of an increasingly varied, dynamic and unpredictable nature.

In response to such advice, the government is faced with the crucial task of ensuring intelligence and security agencies are appropriately equipped to keep Australians safe.

Those agencies are entrusted with significant powers to detect, disrupt and respond to threats to the nation's security—powers that by necessity may be covert and intrusive, with the potential to infringe individual rights and freedoms if misused.

Therefore, it is critical that those powers are balanced with the necessary oversight to ensure that public trust is maintained and the rule of law is upheld.

Without such accountability, we risk jeopardising core aspects of our democracy in our noble endeavour to keep Australians safe.

This is not to say our security and intelligence agencies are acting improperly.

In fact, the strength of, and their commitment to, a culture of legality and propriety are core characteristics of these agencies.

It has underpinned public trust in these institutions—and is central to the important work they do each and every day.

However, the ever-evolving threat environment requires the intelligence community to become increasingly interconnected in its work.

The corresponding oversight framework that provides appropriate safeguards across the national intelligence community is no longer uniform.

Reform is required to provide targeted, focused and consistent oversight in response.

When I was sworn in as Australia's 40th Attorney-General, I committed to uphold the rule of law and maintain the community's trust in our legal systems.

Consistent with that commitment, I am therefore proud to introduce—as my first bill as Attorney-General—the Strengthening Oversight of the National Intelligence Community Bill.

This bill will extend statutory and parliamentary oversight to all agencies exercising intelligence capabilities and ensure holistic oversight of the national intelligence community.

And this is a bill that delivers on this government's commitment to maintain the trust and integrity of our institutions, and fundamentally, to keep Australians safe.

The current oversight framework

There are three key pillars of Australia's security and intelligence oversight framework: the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, and the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor.

Each of these bodies plays an important and complementary role in ensuring accountability.

The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security performs dedicated statutory oversight of agencies within its jurisdiction and provides independent and impartial assurance to ministers, the parliament and the public that intelligence agencies conduct their activities with legality, propriety and in a way that is consistent with human rights.

The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security reviews proposed counterterrorism and national security legislation, ensuring these laws are fit for purpose. It also reviews the administration and expenditure of agencies within its jurisdiction.

Finally, the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor reviews the operation, effectiveness and implications of specific counterterrorism and national security legislation to assess whether those laws effectively address security threats and maintain respect for human rights.

The existing oversight regime is strong but, as the national intelligence community evolves to meet the complex and dynamic security challenges it faces, the oversight framework must move with it.

The bill

This bill amends the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Act, the Intelligence Services Act and other Commonwealth legislation to expand the jurisdictions of the inspector-general and the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security to oversee:

This expansion of jurisdiction will embed holistic oversight of the 10 agencies in the national intelligence community by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security and the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security.

The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security currently reviews proposed counterterrorism and national security legislation as a matter of practice to ensure it is fit for purpose.

The bill amends the Intelligence Services Act to put this important scrutiny mechanism on a solid legislative footing, enabling the committee to review proposed reforms to counterterrorism and national security legislation, and all such expiring legislation, on its own motion or on the basis of a referral by the responsible minister, the Attorney-General or either house of parliament.

The bill amends the Intelligence Services Act and the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Act to provide that the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security may request the inspector-general to conduct an inquiry into the operational activities of agencies within its jurisdiction.

This will enable areas of concern identified by the committee to be brought to the inspector-general's attention, while simultaneously protecting the sensitive operational information of intelligence agencies and respecting the independence of this important statutory office.

Further, the bill provides the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security with the ability to request a briefing from the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor, and requires the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security and the Director-General of the Office of National Intelligence to provide annual briefings to the committee.

These measures are designed to ensure the committee has the necessary context and information to most effectively perform its important oversight role.

The bill also strengthens the relationship between the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, and the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor, facilitating increased engagement between the intelligence community's key oversight mechanisms.

Lastly, the bill amends the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor Act to enable the monitor to initiate reviews into the full suite of contemporary counterterrorism or national security legislation at the Commonwealth level.

The monitor is currently able to undertake reviews into a defined list of legislation of their own motion, which limits their ability to prioritise reviews in line with emerging security threats.

Expanding the monitor's mandate reflects the fact that our legislation is increasingly moving beyond terrorism related activity to address national security threats of a more varied, complex and interconnected nature.

Conclusion

Our intelligence community is entrusted by the public with the crucial role of keeping Australians safe from those who would seek to do us harm.

Achieving this outcome necessitates balancing national security interests and the protection of individual rights.

As a parliament, it is our job to get this balance right.

Establishing a holistic and consistent oversight framework for the national intelligence community will do just that.

The bill will ensure consistent treatment across the national intelligence community, and that the enhanced powers and capabilities with which intelligence agencies are entrusted are subject to specialist oversight.

Robust oversight serves our national security interests by giving Australia's intelligence community the licence to exercise significant powers, while also assuring the public that they are doing so with accountability and integrity.

In a rapidly changing security environment, effective oversight remains a critical democratic safeguard and an integral part of our legal system.

I commend the bill to the House.

Debate adjourned.

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