The Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Cyber Security, the Hon Tony Burke MP, wrote to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) on 25 August 2025 to refer the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2025 for inquiry and report.
Division 3 of Part III of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979 (ASIO Act), provides for ASIO to request that the Attorney-General issue a warrant to require a person to appear before a prescribed authority to give information, or produce a record or other thing, that is, or may be, relevant to intelligence that is important in relation to a questioning matter.
The Attorney-General may issue an adult questioning warrant for a person over 18 years or a minor questioning warrant for a person 14-17 years.
The bill seeks to make comprehensive reforms to the compulsory questioning warrants framework by amending the ASIO Act, including:
- removing the sunset provision contained in current section 34JF
- expanding the scope of adult questioning warrants to include four new grounds:
- sabotage
- promotion of communal violence
- attacks on Australia's defence system
- protection of Australia's territorial and border integrity from serious threats
- amendments to requirements relating to 'prescribed authorities', including new grounds that would disqualify prospective prescribed authorities from being appointed, and amending when the Attorney-General can terminate the appointment of a prescribed authority.
The bill also makes an amendment to the Intelligence Services Act 2001 to require the PJCIS to review the amendments contained in the bill on the third anniversary of their commencement.
Submissions are invited by Thursday 9 October 2025. Further information about making a submission to a parliamentary committee inquiry is available here.