The government is expanding the ability to scrutinise the nation's intelligence agencies and keep their ever-growing powers in check.
The Strengthening Oversight of the National Intelligence Community (SONIC) bill will increase the oversight functions of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) and the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS).
The addition of six intelligence agencies, including the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Home Affairs, will ensure it encompasses the entire National Intelligence Community.
What are the intelligence agency oversight powers?
Under new powers, the PJCIS will be able to broaden its scope beyond reviewing bills, and initiate inquiries into issues of national security or counter terrorism.
Earlier this year, the AFP investigated a caravan full of explosives in Dural, north-west Sydney, with fears of the potential for a mass casualty event targeting the Jewish community.
While the PJCIS would have to refer operational issues to the IGIS, it will have the authority to trigger an investigation or examine whether any legislation may need tweaking as a result.
These can be initiated without the approval or referral of parliament or a minister, allowing proactive scrutiny of security laws.
The chair and deputy chair will be able to grant one staff member the security clearance to help with their investigations.
In a bid to improve transparency and coordination between the oversight bodies, the committee can request briefings from other intelligence watchdogs, including the IGIS, Office of National Intelligence (ONI) and the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor.
The changes — the largest since the 1980s — follow two inquiries into the national intelligence community, including the 2019 Richardson Review, which examined the effectiveness of Australia's intelligence legislation.
Labor senator and PJCIS Chair Raff Ciccone said that as agencies acquire more powers, there needs to be "relevant safe checks and guardrails in place" to monitor how they work.
"Agencies are acquiring a lot more powers in order to conduct much more sophisticated operations, and the parliament, including the executive, has a duty to respond to make sure that we keep all Australians safe," he told SBS News.
"That is not a criticism of how the agencies are functioning, but merely that I think the Australian people expect greater transparency and oversight of these agencies."
Following the May federal election, ASIO and the AFP returned to the Home Affairs portfolio, acknowledging the need for collegiality against evolving security threats.
PCJIS chair Raff Ciccone says there needs to be guardrails around the ever-growing powers of intelligence agencies. Source: AAP / James Ross
The review into the bill was tabled in the Senate on Tuesday night, as ASIO boss Mike Burgess outlined the elaborate threats to Australian security, including from increasingly reckless authoritarian regimes.
In an address to the Lowy Institute in Sydney, Burgess warned that three countries are "willing and capable" of assassinating political dissidents on Australian soil, with the spy agency monitoring multiple threats to safety and social cohesion.
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