Anne Stanley (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to make my contribution to the debate on the Strengthening Oversight of the National Intelligence Community Bill 2025. The purpose of the legislation is to strengthen the oversight of the national intelligence community. The bill builds on two strong Labor legacies: the creation of the roles of the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, the IGIS, and the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, the PGCIS, among others. These agencies were established under the Hawke government in 1986 and 1988 respectively. The bill will ensure the oversight of the national intelligence community will be holistic and appropriate in relation to significant powers invested in these agencies. The bill was developed in consultation with agencies from across the government. The government is committed to strengthening Australia's security agencies and to ensuring they are subject to appropriate public and parliamentary oversight.

The national intelligence community is made up of the following agencies: the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Geospatial Intelligence Organisation, the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the Australian Signals Directorate, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre, the Defence Intelligence Organisation, the intelligence division of the Department of Home Affairs and the Office of National Intelligence. These agencies do important work, and they have significant powers. As a result, it is critical to maintain public trust and, to do this, effective oversight of these agencies is required. The work done by these agencies is of a covert nature, and work and decisions are rarely overseen by the courts; therefore, robust and independent oversight is essential and extremely important.

The bill implements recommendations made over the past several years that were failed to be implemented by the previous government. They include: recommendations from the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security in its advisory report on the Intelligence Oversight and Other Legislation Amendment (Integrity Measures) Bill 2020; the comprehensive review of the legal framework of the national intelligence community, known as the Richardson review, conducted by Mr Dennis Richardson AC; and the 2017 and 2024 independent intelligence reviews. The bill includes measures proposed in bills introduced by colleagues in the other place, including the Intelligence and Security Legislation Amendment (Implementing Independence of the Intelligence Review) Bill 2020. This was introduced by Senator McAllister as the newest iteration of the 2015 bill introduced by Senator Wong, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security Amendment Bill. Further, the bill complements measures in a bill passed by both houses on 6 September 2023, the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Modernisation) Bill 2022.

The bill amends several pieces of legislation, including the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Act 1986, the Intelligence Services Act 2001 and the Criminal Code Act 1995. The bill will expand the jurisdiction of the PJCIS and the IGIS to include all the ACIC and intelligence functions of the AFP, AUSTRAC and the Department of Home Affairs. It will also provide the PJCIS with its own motion power and requirements for regular briefings.

One of the purposes of this bill is to strengthen the relationship between existing intelligence oversight bodies that supervise the national intelligence community, particularly the PJCIS, the IGIS and the INSLM. These bodies perform distinct yet complementary work in overseeing the NIC and its legislative framework. The three bodies require a strong, statutory relationship. This bill proposes to strengthen this relationship by amending the IGIS conduct with an inquiry into the legality and propriety of operational activities of the agencies within the jurisdiction and providing a report to the PJCIS and the relevant minister.

Furthermore, the bill will ensure that the PJCIS has a necessary and relevant context to support the extremely important work that it does by amending the IGIS Act and the Office of National Intelligence Act 2018 to require that the PJCIS be briefed annually by the IGIS and the Director-General of the Office of National Intelligence. The bill also amends the IS Act to add the INSLM to the list of people and agencies from which the PJCIS may request a briefing. In addition to these measures, the bill aims to expand the jurisdictions of the PJCIS and the IGIS. To do this, the bill will amend the IS Act to allow the PJCIS to review its own motion proposed reforms to counterterrorism and national security legislation.

The IGIS plays an extremely important role in assisting in the oversight and review of the activities of the agencies within the NIC, and for legality, propriety and consistency with human rights. The bill expands the jurisdictions of the IGIS and the PJCIS to the ACIC, in full, and the intelligence functions of the AFP, AUSTRAC and the Department of Home Affairs. These amendments will ensure that the whole of the NIC is subject to holistic and specialised intelligence oversight. Another primary purpose of this legislation is to minimise duplicate oversight jurisdictions where appropriate. The bill also includes technical amendments to modernise and enhance the efficiency of the PJCIS.

Lastly, the bill contains amendments to provide immunities for certain computer related acts carried out by intelligence and security agency officials. Amendments to the Criminal Code will provide defence officials, and others, with an exemption for civil and criminal liabilities for relevant conduct for computer related conduct engaged in Australia that cause an effect outside Australia. This will address recommendation No. 72 of the Richardson review and has been drafted on a similar basis to the existing immunities for officials of other agencies in the national intelligence community, specifically in relation to the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, the Australian Signals Directorate and the Australian Geospatial Intelligence Organisation.

The national intelligence community, and the PJCIS in particular, play a critical role in overseeing the national intelligence agencies and scrutinising national security legislation. An important function of these agencies is to ensure that national security legislation is necessary, proportionate and effective. Strong and effective oversight mechanisms for national security and intelligence agencies are an essential part of protecting and advancing Australia's national security interests. The measures in this bill will ensure that Australian intelligence and oversight bodies are well placed to provide the appropriate oversight of the NIC now and into the future. It also builds on the strong Labor legacies of providing strong and effective oversight of Australia's national security and intelligence agencies. I commend the bill to the House.

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