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

I present a supplementary explanatory memorandum to the bill and ask leave of the House to move government amendments (1) through (11) as circulated together.

Leave granted.

I move:

(1) Schedule 1, item 6, page 5 (lines 17 to 25), omit subsections 3A(5) and (6), substitute:

(5) Before the Governor-General makes regulations for the purposes of subsection (4), the Minister must:

(a) consult the Inspector-General; and

(b) be satisfied that the Inspector-General has had the opportunity to be briefed by the Department of Home Affairs in relation to the proposed regulations; and

(c) obtain the agreement of the responsible Minister for the Department of Home Affairs to the making of the regulations.

(6) The regulations may prescribe additional consultation or notification requirements in relation to changes to the intelligence functions of the Department of Home Affairs.

(7) If the Governor-General makes regulations for the purposes of subsection (4) or (6):

(a) the Minister must inform the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security of the regulations; and

(b) the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security may request a briefing on the regulations from one or more of the following:

(i) the Department of Home Affairs;

(ii) the Inspector-General.

(2) Schedule 1, item 54, page 18 (line 8), omit "and inquire into".

(3) Schedule 1, item 54, page 18 (line 16), omit "and inquire into".

(4) Schedule 1, item 55, page 18 (line 22), omit "to monitor and".

(5) Schedule 1, item 55, page 18 (line 29) to page 19 (line 1), omit paragraph 29(1)(bae).

(6) Schedule 1, page 19 (after line 6), after item 57, insert:

57A Subsection 29(2)

After "paragraph (1)(b)", insert "or (bad)".

(7) Schedule 1, item 59, page 19 (after line 30), after subsection 29(2B), insert:

(2C) If the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security decides not to inquire into the matter, the Inspector-General must notify the Committee of its decision.

(8) Schedule 1, page 22 (after line 9), after item 75, insert:

75A Subclause 2(7) of Schedule 1

Repeal the subclause.

(9) Schedule 1, page 23 (after line 27), after item 82, insert:

82A Subclause 20(3) of Schedule 1

Omit all the words from and including "At a review" to and including "may be present.", substitute "The Committee may give directions as to the persons who may be present at a meeting conducted in private.".

(10) Schedule 1, page 24 (after line 4), after item 83, insert:

83A Subclause 22(2) of Schedule 1

Repeal the subclause, substitute:

(2) The Committee must ensure that any document with a national security classification provided to the Committee is returned or destroyed as soon as possible after the members have examined it in accordance with an arrangement acceptable to the agency that produced the document.

(11) Schedule 1, item 213, page 46 (lines 18 to 22), omit the item.

Strong and effective oversight mechanisms are an essential part of advancing Australia's national security interests. The Strengthening Oversight of the National Intelligence Community Bill 2025 will enhance existing parliamentary and statutory oversight mechanisms to ensure that oversight of the national intelligence community is holistic and commensurate with agencies' responsibilities and powers. Government amendments would make minor changes to address certain recommendations made by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security in its advisory report on the bill.

The committee made 12 recommendations, seven of which relate to amendments to the bill. The government amendments would address five of those seven recommendations. The bill would expand the jurisdiction of the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security and the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security to include oversight of the intelligence function of Home Affairs as defined in regulations. Amendment (1) would provide additional consultation and notification requirements in relation to the making of these regulations, implementing recommendation 1 of the committee report in principle. Amendment (1) would ensure appropriate consultation with the inspector-general occurs before any regulations are made, providing for or varying the means of Home Affairs' intelligence function. This will allow the inspector-general's views to inform the drafting of the regulations to ensure they can be operationalised effectively and allow for robust oversight. Amendment (1) will also ensure that the committee has the opportunity to obtain briefings on any regulations made to support the committee in their oversight of Home Affairs.

In addition to expanding the oversight jurisdiction of the committee, the bill would make a range of amendments to provisions establishing the committee functions and procedures. Amendments (2), (3), (4), (5) and (6) make minor technical amendments to the Intelligence Services Act to clarify and streamline the committee's expanded oversight functions and its procedures. These amendments would implement recommendations 3 and 4 of the committee report in full.

The bill would also enable the committee to request that the inspector-general conduct an inquiry into a matter. Amendment (7) would insert a requirement that, if the inspector-general decides not to inquire into a matter referred to the inspector-general by the committee, the inspector-general must advise the committee of that decision. This would ensure the committee is advised of the status of any referrals it makes to the inspector-general, and would implement recommendation 5 of the committee report in full.

Amendments (8), (9) and (10) would modernise procedural provisions for the committee contained in schedule 1 of the Intelligence Services Act, and would implement the majority of recommendation 9 of the committee report. These provisions relate to outdated arrangements for travel costs, clarifying the ability to provide directions to persons present at private meetings and improving arrangements for the destruction of classified material.

Finally, amendment (11) would remove an item from the bill that would have amended the Ombudsman Act to provide that the Commonwealth Ombudsman is not authorised to investigate action taken by the part of the Department of Home Affairs prescribed by regulations. Home Affairs now maintains a distributed intelligence capability, making it no longer possible to prescribe 'a part of' Home Affairs in the regulations. In removing this item from the bill, Home Affairs would be treated in the same way under the Ombudsman Act as AUSTRAC and the AFP. Existing provisions in the bill would allow the Ombudsman to consult with and refer complaints about the intelligence functions of AUSTRAC, the AFP and Home Affairs to the inspector-general to ensure that complaints are directed to the appropriate oversight body. I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill, as amended, agreed to.

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