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LCA throws support behind expanded oversight for national intelligence
The Law Council of Australia has told a parliamentary committee it fully endorses expanding oversight functions of the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security to cover all 10 Commonwealth agencies that work in national intelligence.
Naomi Neilson
During a public hearing held by the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security (PJCIS) into the Intelligence Oversight and Other Legislation Amendment (Integrity Measures) Bill 2020, the Law Council of Australia (LCA) submitted its broad support for the measures contained in the bill.
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Represented by constitutional law committee chair and national criminal law Committee member Bret Walker AO SC, the LCA noted the bill will only partially implement recommendations made in the 2017 Independent Intelligence Review (IIR) with respect to the oversight of the national intelligence community.
It recommended that the PJCIS accept the recommendation from the IRR in full regarding expanding the oversight functions of the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) and the PJCIS to cover all 10 Commonwealth agencies that collectively comprise the national intelligence community, which includes the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) and Department of Home Affairs.
“Therefore, the Law Council suggests giving both the IGIS and PJCIS statutory oversight functions to include the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC), the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC)… all of whom perform both intelligence and law enforcement functions. Any expanded oversight would be restricted to the agency’s intelligence related functions,” the national legal body submitted in a statement.
It added that the bill as it stands only expands the oversight functions of the IGIS to include the intelligence functions of ACIC and AUSTRAC and the PJCIS oversight function to include AUSTRAC’s intelligence functions.
“Consistent with the IRR, the LCA believes that a centralised and specialised oversight of the National Intelligence Community, in its entirety, is integral to the very concept of this community as a single, national enterprise, constituted by a ‘federation’ of agencies who work closely together in collecting, analysing and disseminating intelligence,” LCA said.
“These agencies are, themselves, strengthening their collaboration and interoperability with each other, including the frequent utilisation of joint operations. The relevant oversight architecture should follow suit.”
