George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

Whoever wrote that reportedly Senate scrutiny of bills committee report was not much of a lawyer, I am bound to say. The delegation power is in section 16 of the act. It says:

The Director-General may, either generally or as otherwise provided by the instrument of delegation, by writing signed by the Director-General, delegate to an officer of the Organisation all or any of the powers of the Director-General that relate to the management of the staff of the Organisation or the financial management of the Organisation.

And there are some consequential subsections.

The provision which concerns you, the definition of ASIO affiliate in item 1 of schedule 1, plainly does not include officers of ASIO and, therefore, nobody comprehended by that definition would be a person to whom the power of delegation under section 16 of the act would be exercisable.