The Parliamentary Joint Committee on ASIO - 1988 to 2001

The Committee was first appointed during the 35th Parliament, in August 1988, as the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (the ASIO Committee).

The ASIO Committee had its legislative basis in the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979 (ASIO Act) which was amended in December 1986 following the then Government's response to the Royal Commission on Australia's Security and Intelligence Agencies, led by Justice Robert Hope. Although Justice Hope had recommended against the establishment of such a parliamentary oversight Committee–instead recommending the appointment of an Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) and existing internal scrutiny measures within the Government. The Government argued that:

...further improvement [to existing oversight and accountability measures] can be obtained by directly involving the Parliament–on both sides and in both Houses–in imposing the discipline of an external scrutiny of the intelligence and security agencies quite independent of the Executive. While the Government has been conscious also of the need to carefully protect intelligence and security information, it believes that appropriate arrangements can be made to ensure that a small but informed parliamentary committee would operate effectively in the public interest.

The ASIO Committee completed just two inquiries during the first 10 years of its existence. In the 35th Parliament, the ASIO Committee commenced an inquiry into the effect on ASIO on the access provisions of the Archives Act, which it completed during the 36th Parliament. The Committee then commenced an inquiry into ASIO's security assessment procedures, which it completed during the 37th Parliament. The Committee then began an inquiry into cost recovery practices and ASIO which lapsed upon the dissolution of the 37th Parliament. In the 38th Parliament, instead of conducting inquiries, the ASIO Committee resolved to seek regular informal briefings from the Director-General of ASIO and the IGIS on various subjects.

In the 39th Parliament, the ASIO Committee completed a review of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Legislation Amendment Bill 1999, and an inquiry into the nature, scope and appropriateness of ASIO's public reporting activities. The members of the ASIO Committee in the 39th Parliament also served on the Joint Select Committee on the Intelligence Services that reviewed the Intelligence Services Bill 2001, which received Royal Assent on 1 October 2001.

From its establishment up until the passage of the Intelligence Services Bill 2001, the Committee was dependent on the Minister or a House of the Parliament referring matters to it for inquiry.

Parliamentary Joint Committee on ASIO, ASIS and DSD (PJCAAD) - 2002 to 2005

Following the passage of the Intelligence Services Act 2001 (the IS Act)) the former ASIO Committee was replaced by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on ASIO, ASIS and DSD (PJCAAD). The legislative basis of the Committee was now in the IS Act, rather than the ASIO Act.

The IS Act extended the Committee's oversight to the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) and the Defence Signals Directorate (DSD, since renamed the Australian Signals Directorate), in addition to its existing oversight of ASIO. The IS Act gave the Committee a standing function to conduct reviews of the administration and expenditure of the three agencies the Committee oversighted, without requiring a referral from a Minister or a House of the Parliament. The IS Act also required the Committee to present an Annual Report of its activities.

The PJCAAD's first report was an Advisory Report on the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Legislation Amendment (Terrorism) Bill 2002. The Committee then tabled its Annual Report for 2001-2002, which incorporated the Committee's first review of administration and expenditure of the three intelligence agencies. Other inquiries completed during the 40th Parliament included a 'private' review of agency security arrangements, an inquiry into intelligence on Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and a review of the Intelligence Services Amendment Bill 2003.

In March 2004, a provision was inserted into Part 5.3 of the Criminal Code  enabling the PJCAAD to review any regulation proscribing a 'terrorist organisation', as soon as possible after the making of the regulation, and to report the Committee's comments and recommendations to Parliament before the end of the 15 sitting days disallowance period. The Committee's first report using these powers was tabled in June 2004. As soon as possible after the third anniversary of the Act's commencement, the Committee was required to review, the operation, effectiveness and implications of the legislation for the proscription of terrorist organisations.

The PJCAAD reviewed the listings of a number of terrorist organisations during the 41st Parliament and conducted annual reviews of the administration and expenditure of ASIO, ASIS and ASD. The Committee also conducted a review of ASIO's questioning and detention powers, as mandated under the IS Act; and reviewed the Intelligence Services Legislation Amendment Bill 2005, which extended the Committee's oversight mandate to include three additional intelligence agencies.

Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security - 2005 to present

41st–43rd Parliaments

On 2 December 2005, following the passage of the Intelligence Services Legislation Amendment Act 2005, the Committee was re-established as the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS).

The Committee now included the Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation (DIGO), since renamed Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation), the Defence Intelligence Organisation (DIO) and the Office of National Assessments (since renamed the Office of National Intelligence (ONI) in its oversight role, in addition to ASIO, ASIS and ASD. This change was in response to recommendations of the Inquiry into Australian Intelligence Agencies by Mr Philip Flood AO (the ‘Flood Inquiry’).

During the remainder of the 41st Parliament, the PJCIS conducted a review of four pieces of terrorist-related legislation, as mandated under the IS Act, informed by input from an Independent Security Legislation Review Committee.
Amongst other recommendations coming out of its review, the PJCIS recommended the appointment of an independent reviewer of terrorism law in Australia. This recommendation was accepted by the Government and implemented through the appointment of the first Independent National Security Legislation Monitor (INSLM) in 2011.

During the 42nd and 43rd Parliaments, the PJCIS continued to review terrorist organisation listings (and re-listings), conduct annual reviews of the administration and expenditure of the six agencies under its remit, receive private briefings, conduct site inspections and produce annual reports of its activities. In the 43rd Parliament, the Committee additionally conducted a major inquiry into ‘potential reforms’ to Australia's national security legislation, many of which were implemented in future parliaments.

44th–46th Parliaments (2013-2022)

The PJCIS's work during the 44th to 46th Parliaments was characterised by reviews of a series of significant pieces of national security legislation. These included reforms to the powers of intelligence agencies; measures targeting terrorism and ‘foreign fighters’; the introduction of a mandatory telecommunications data retention scheme; new citizenship cessation laws; new secrecy, espionage and foreign interference laws; introduction of a Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme; new powers to assist agencies to access communications under warrant; reforms to ASIO’s compulsory questioning powers; and the establishment and subsequent expansion of a security of critical infrastructure regime.

The PJCIS's own role and functions were extended as a result of recommendations made following Bill inquiries conducted by the Committee. New responsibilities included:

• reviewing proscription under the Criminal Code of 'declared areas' in overseas countries;
• monitoring and reviewing the performance of the Australian Federal Police's (AFP) counter-terrorism functions under Part 5.3 of the Criminal Code;
• reviewing any matters in relation to the retained data activities of the AFP and ASIO set out in their annual reports on the mandatory data retention regime, including (for the first time) reviewing particular operations;
• reviewing any bills in relation to the mandatory data retention regime that:

• amend the data set required to be retained;
• amend the organisations required to retain data;
• amend the organisations authorised to access retained data;

• being notified of certain declarations made in relation to the data retention regime and any Journalist Information Warrants that are issued;
• being provided with any reports produced by the IGIS or the Commonwealth Ombudsman in relation to data retention;
• being notified by the IGIS of any emergency ministerial authorisations given to intelligence agencies under the IS Act;
• reviewing the declaration of any terrorist organisation for the purposes of section 35AA of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007;
• being notified of and briefed on instances where a person's citizenship is lost under sections 33AA, 35 or 35A of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007;
• being notified of the making of any preventative detention orders or prohibited contact orders under Division 105 of the Criminal Code;
• reviewing any changes to rules relating to the authorisation of the Secretary of the Attorney-General's Department to communicate information about the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme;
• reviewing and reporting to Parliament on any area 'declared' under section 119.3 of the Criminal Code at any time prior to the declaration's revocation or cessation; and
• monitoring and reviewing the performance of the AFP's stop, search and seizure powers under Division 3A of Part IAA of the Crimes Act 1914, and the basis of any Ministerial declaration of a 'proscribed security zone' under the provisions.

Additionally, the Committee completed various statutory reviews of existing national security and intelligence laws. The Committee also conducted inquiries into the impact of the exercise of law enforcement and intelligence powers on the freedom of the press, national security risks affecting the Australian higher education and research sector, and extremist movements and radicalism in Australia.

The Committee continued to undertake its statutory roles of reviewing the administration and expenditure of National Intelligence Community agencies and reviewing the listing and re-listing of terrorist organisations under the Criminal Code.

In 2017, the Independent Intelligence Review conducted by Mr Michael L'Estrange AO and Mr Stephen Merchant PSM made several recommendations regarding the future role of the Committee, including expanding the Committee’s oversight role to additional agencies; enabling the Committee to self-initiate inquiries into proposed and expiring security-related legislation, and strengthening the Committee’s interactions with the IGIS and INSLM.

In December 2019 the Comprehensive Review of the Legal Framework of the National Intelligence Community undertaken by Mr Dennis Richardson AC (the Richardson Review) was completed. An unclassified version of the report was published in December 2020. The Review made several recommendations regarding the future role of the Committee in relation to various matters, including the agencies subject to the Committee’s oversight, reference of operational activities to the IGIS for inquiry, reviewing intelligence agencies’ privacy rules, and receiving annual briefings on agencies’ artificial intelligence-based capabilities.

47th Parliament (2022–2025)

In the 47th Parliament, the Committee continued to review a range of prospective and existing national security legislation, in addition to its ongoing oversight activities.

A significant change to the Committee during the Parliament resulted from the commencement of legislative amendments to its membership and quorum. The National Security Legislation Amendment (Comprehensive Review and Other Measures No.2) Act 2023 commenced on 12 August 2023.

The Act included amendments to the IS Act to increase the Committee’s membership from 11 to 13 members, and changing the composition requirements from 5 Senators and 6 House of Representatives members to a more flexible formula of 2 Government Senators, 2 non-government senators, 2 Government House members and 2 non-government House members; with the remaining five members not constrained by chamber or affiliation, although the requirement in the IS Act that the majority of Committee members be Government members was not changed. NSLA No.2 also amended the quorum for the Committee, from six to seven members.

On 26 July 2023, the Committee was referred the Intelligence Services Legislation Amendment Bill 2023 which proposed significant changes to the PJCIS. The bill sought to enhance oversight of the IGIS and the PJCIS to include the intelligence functions of the following agencies; the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC), the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Department of Home Affairs. Amongst other The Bill would provide that the PJCIS may, at its own initiative, review proposed reforms to counter-terrorism and national security legislation, and all such expiring legislation. The introduction of the Bill followed the 2017 Independent Intelligence review to implement a number of their recommendations. The bill lapsed at the end of the 47th Parliament.

The Committee undertook its statutory role of reviewing the administration and expenditure of the National Intelligence Community agencies and published numerous annual reports of committee activities. Other oversight activities included the statutory reviews of the Counter-Terrorism (Temporary Exclusion Orders) Act 2019; Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Amendment Rules 2023; Review of Subdivision C of Division 3 of Part 2 of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (citizenship cessation determinations); and the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Act 2018.

The Committee was referred a total of 13 Bills during the Parliament. Notable Bills reviewed by the Committee include:

• Item 250 in the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2002;
• Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security and Other Legislation Amendments (Modernisation) Bill 2022;
• Advisory Report on the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Amendment Bill 2023;
• Defence Amendment (Safeguarding Australia's Military Secrets) Bill 2023;
• National Security Legislation Amendment (Comprehensive Review and Other Measures No. 3) Bill 2023;
• Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Declared Areas) Bill 2024;
• Cyber Security Legislative Package 2024 and the National Security Legislation Amendment (Comprehensive Review and Other Measures No. 3) Bill 2023; and
• Security Amendment (Security of Australia's Transport Sector) Bill 2024, which was part of the implementation of a reform agenda in response to the Independent Review into Australia's Aviation and Maritime Transport Security Settings.

Other significant legislation the Committee reviewed included the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Prohibited Hate Symbols and Other Measures) Bill 2023 which, amongst other things, amended the Criminal Code to remove the sunsetting provision in relation to proscribed terrorist organisations. The PJCIS is still required to review any regulation proscribing any new terrorist organisation(s) as soon as possible after the making of a regulation and report the Committee’s comments and recommendations to Parliament before the end of the 15 sitting day disallowance period. Since the bill received Royal Assent on 24 November 2023, the Committee reviewed one new terrorist organisation listing.

The Committee also reviewed the Counter-Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023, which proposed to implement certain changes to counter-terrorism powers in response to the recommendations of a previous PJCIS review of police powers, which was presented to Parliament in October 2021.

During the Parliament, an Independent Intelligence Review was undertaken to ensure the intelligence agencies are best positioned to continue to serve the Australian national interest. The review focused on the 10 agencies that make up the National Intelligence Community and found that overall, ‘agencies have been successful in protecting Australia’s national interest. It recommends investing in further capability to ensure the intelligence community maintains its high performance’. Significantly, the review made 67 recommendations, three of which were specific to the PJCIS.