Claire Clutterham (Sturt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the Strengthening Oversight of the National Intelligence Community Bill 2025. Earlier this year, the director-general of security delivered the annual threat assessment, which had a number of key messages, including the importance of looking forward; of anticipation; of identifying trends, patterns and fundamental long-term shifts in behaviour. The past and present are, of course, still relevant, but a future-facing outlook was described by the director-general as being critical at this junction in our security environment—as being necessary to be prepared to meet the varied, dynamic, unpredictable and constantly moving and changing risks and challenges that we face.

To do this, the director-general and his dedicated and committed team scrutinise open-source information, rely on subject matter experts, draw on expertise in analytical techniques and review and analyse classified intelligence. This painstaking and important work is done with a view to producing full, frank, indepth assessments about future trajectories and vulnerabilities, underpinned by data and evidence that has been verified and validated. This sort of knowledge helps us anticipate the security environment and, in turn, helps us prepare so Australians are kept safe. There can be no argument: there is no greater responsibility for a government than keeping Australians safe.

Intelligence and security agencies must be appropriately equipped and resourced, and the legislative framework must facilitate this without hindrance by prescribing specific powers that allow our intelligence and security agencies to detect, disrupt and respond to threats to the nation's security. Given the significance of these powers and their potential to infringe on individual rights and freedoms if not clearly and precisely defined, they must be balanced with proper and appropriate oversight to ensure public trust is maintained and the rule of law is upheld. This is especially critical given that the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated lockdowns and restrictions on freedoms have, in some settings, driven anti-authority and conspiracy messaging.

Our security and intelligence agencies conduct themselves not only with dedication and commitment but with integrity and propriety and within the bounds of the law. This is a critical strength. In Australia, we trust these agencies, and this trust allows them to carry out the difficult and complex work that they do, and I thank them for this difficult and complex work. As this work grows increasingly more complex and challenging, reforms must also adapt. In this respect, this bill will extend consistent statutory and parliamentary oversight to all agencies exercising intelligence capabilities. Public trust and confidence in our security and intelligence agencies can only be assured through rigorous and effective oversight and, to the extent possible, public accountability. It goes without saying that the greater the potential for the powers of agencies to infringe on individual freedoms and liberties, the greater the need for accountability in the exercise of that power.

This bill will operate to amend the Intelligence Services Act of 2001 and the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Act of 1986 to ensure holistic and robust oversight of all 10 national intelligence community agencies, which the member for Werriwa outlined in her remarks. Firstly, schedule 1 of the bill would expand the jurisdictions of the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security and the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security to oversee the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and the intelligence functions of AUSTRAC, the AFP and Home Affairs. Schedule 1 will also facilitate the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security to request that the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security conduct an inquiry into the legality and propriety of particular operational activities of the agencies within the IGIS's jurisdiction.

Schedule 2 of the bill would amend the review and access of a ACIC criminal intelligence assessment records under the archives law, and schedule 3 would amend the Criminal Code Act to introduce an exemption from civil and criminal liability for Defence officials and others for certain computer related conduct. Schedule 4 would amend the meaning of 'counterterrorism and national security legislation' for the purpose of the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor Act 2010 to ensure that that monitor is able to review any Commonwealth legislation relating to counterterrorism or national security. The expansion of this mandate is illustrative of the fact that legislation is moving beyond only terrorism related activity to address national security threats of a more varied, complex and interconnected nature.

The measures contained in the bill are designed to ensure that robust and holistic oversight of Australia's intelligence community is achieved. This is a bill that delivers on the commitments of the Albanese Labor government to maintain the trust and integrity of our institutions and, fundamentally, to keep Australian safe. This bill is also compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Firstly, with respect to the right to humane treatment in detention, the inclusion in the bill of the IGIS's expanded remit over the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, which can detain persons under the Australian Crime Commission Act 2022 in limited circumstances, means the right to humane detention is promoted, because the effect of the bill is to enable independent oversight of places of detention.

Secondly, the right to a fair trial and a fair hearing is engaged by schedule 1 of the bill, which requires the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security to consult the head of an intelligence agency on whether the terms of a proposed response to the PJCIS would prejudice the fair trial of a person or the impartial adjudication of a matter. Prior to sharing ACIC examination material, the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security will be required to consult with the CEO of the ACIC as to whether the sharing of that information could reasonably be expected to prejudice the fair trial of a relevant person. These consultation requirements therefore promote the right to a fair trial by ensuring there are safeguards for the disclosure of information in connection with that trial.

Thirdly, the prohibition on interference with privacy should be understood to comprise freedom from unwarranted and unreasonable intrusions into activities that society recognises as falling within the sphere of individual autonomy. It should also be understood that the right to privacy may be limited in the pursuit of a legitimate objective and where the limitation is rationally connected to the legitimate objective and is not arbitrary. Schedule 1 contains several measures that engage with the right to privacy, and each of these measures has a legitimate objective in that they are designed to ensure that the national intelligence community is holistically and appropriately overseen by oversight bodies. Each of the measures is proportionate in achieving the legitimate objectives outlined in the bill and is subject to safeguards.

Given the current dynamic security environment, underpinned by challenges that are unprecedented in number and nature and that point to unprecedented harm if not managed, there can be no argument that the nature and scale of the threats facing Australia are significant. Intelligence and security agencies need to be able to do the work required to anticipate and manage these threats but in an oversight environment that is appropriately robust and fair, driven towards ensuring that public trust and confidence are maintained to the highest standards. This bill strikes that balance. I stand with the Attorney-General and thank her for her work on this important bill, which I commend to the House.

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