Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Trood for his question. ASIO’s priority and responsibility is to ensure that Australia’s security is not compromised. Security assessments therefore must be thorough and ASIO is working closely with DIAC on the visa security assessment case load and agreed priorities. ASIO relies on DIAC to prioritise the case load so that it can be addressed. ASIO regularly reviews and revises the allocation of resources to security assessments as required through the rearrangement of resources. ASIO, I am advised, is able to respond to changing priorities and increase the workload where it is needed. So processing times, as I have said before in this chamber, do vary in accordance with several variable things such as the circumstances of each individual case, the size and complexity of the case load and the external factors beyond ASIO’s control.

At the outset I reject the premise of the question. What ASIO is doing is working through the prioritised case load to ensure (a) that there are thorough security checks and (b) that they do work with DIAC to prioritise that work to ensure that they meet individual circumstances. This is what the opposition seem to miss in this: the time taken to process will vary depending on the individual circumstances of each individual case. It will vary because of the necessity to either gain information and wait for a response or alternatively the type or size or complexity of the individual case itself. So that is an explanation for the time it will take to assess cases. (Time expired)