November 19, 2024
The federal opposition is calling on the Albanese government to release the findings of a long-awaited review of the nation's spy agencies as Parliament scrambles to pass a flurry of laws ahead the year's end.
Former top officials Dr Heather Smith and Richard Maude handed the government a classified version of the 2024 Independent Intelligence Review before the end of June.
The report, which was the first major review of Australia's intelligence community since COVID-19, will assess how prepared agencies are to counter future conflicts and will examine whether the workforce is equipped to deal with evolving security threats.
The inquiry comes after the head of ASIO raised the national terrorism threat level from possible to probable after warning over a rise in cases of espionage and foreign interference.
But with just two sitting weeks left until the end of the year, there are concerns the government will hold off on releasing the review to focus on a pile of legislation it will attempt to pass over the next fortnight.
The opposition spokesperson for home affairs, James Paterson, said federal Labor had been sitting on the classified findings "for months" and called for a response to be made public.
"Normally a public version is released with the government's response, but with the clock ticking for the end of the parliamentary term, that is now seriously in doubt," Senator Paterson said.
"In the interests of transparency, they should release the public version of the review as soon as possible."
The routine intelligence review follows an inquiry in 2017 by former foreign affairs secretary Michael L'Estrange. This led to the establishment of the ASD as its own statutory agency and the creation of the Office of National Intelligence.
The former government accepted all 39 recommendations of the review in principle, also announcing the formation of the powerful Home Affairs department shortly after.
It's expected the upcoming review will track how ONI has supervised the nation's other spy agencies over the past eight years, with a focus on how traditional security agencies are coordinating with their law enforcement counterparts.
According to long-time national security official Chris Taylor, the national intelligence community has yet to achieve ideal levels of integration envisaged by the L'Estrange review.
He expects the upcoming report to shed light on how major big-picture changes have progressed and bear a focus on workforce development, artificial intelligence and the emergence of "open source" intelligence.
"Workforce is the principal capability issue facing the community, and there's now an even greater demand for the right skilled employees who are able to get the requisite clearances and who have the right aptitudes, and that's a huge capability challenge for intelligence," he said.
"I also think it'll be valuable if we look at the interface between the government and the national intelligence community, because we've built a really good machine.
"But it can be improved, and I'm not sure if the government is making the best use of what that community can do."
A spokesperson for the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, which handles the review, said the government was considering its response to the findings.
"Any decision in relation to releasing the review will be made in due course," they told ACM.
