Reports have emerged of a rare stoush over the usually cordially bipartisan Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS). The source of the fracas is the Labor government’s proposal to expand the committee from …
Articles by: "Kate Grayson"
The 2020–21 annual report of the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) reveals that an office that’s paramount to the oversight and accountability of some of Australia’s most secretive agencies is struggling to meet some …
A policy options paper from the National Security College at the Australian National University, titled ‘Improving national security governance’, proposes reforms to hold Australia’s security and intelligence agencies more accountable as we move into an …
The 1,300-page unclassified version of the review of the legal framework of Australia’s national intelligence community (NIC), delivered to the government in December 2019 and released a year later, offered 203 recommendations for reform. Thirteen …
The recently published annual report of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) reveals mounting resourcing pressures on the committee’s ability to carry out its duties as well as uncertainty about its legislative …
Four of Australia’s national security and intelligence agencies—the Department of Home Affairs, the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre—still lack formal oversight by the Office …
The February 2020 release of the latest parliamentary review of administration and expenditure in the Australian intelligence agencies (2017–18) does little to allay the concerns that I raised after the publication of the last one …
Australia’s national intelligence community (NIC) has grown and evolved significantly in recent years. But its key oversight and accountability mechanisms have remained comparatively unchanged and legislatively constrained. By their very nature, intelligence agencies need to …
Liberal MP Andrew Hastie’s recent ‘extraordinary’ statement in the Federation Chamber of Parliament under parliamentary privilege prompted a flurry of media reports. Hastie’s speech was remarkable not only because of its content but also because …
A recent article in The New Daily raised the issue of Australia’s role in the Five Eyes intelligence alliance. Dr John Blaxland criticised the ‘remarkable amount of ignorance’ about the network. He attributed that ignorance …
Traditionally, the realm of intelligence-gathering and espionage has been associated with men. Perhaps we can thank Ian Fleming’s characterisation of James Bond for that. However, the recently released review of administration and expenditure (2015–16) by …
I agree with Peter Jennings’ assessment that the 2017 Independent Intelligence Review seems to have been almost overshadowed by the Turnbull government’s announcement of the new Home Affairs portfolio. The 23 major recommendations of the …