Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, I present the following reports: Advisory report on the amendments made by the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Citizenship Repudiation) Bill 2023, also reporting on review of subdivision C of division 3 of part 2 of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (citizenship cessation determinations) and Advisory report on the National Security Legislation Amendment (Comprehensive Review and Other Measures No. 3) Bill 2023.

Reports made parliamentary papers in accordance with standing order 39(e).

by leave—On behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, it gives me great pleasure to present the committee's advisory report on the amendments made by the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Citizenship Repudiation) Bill 2023. This report also incorporates, as noted, a review of subdivision C of division 3 of part 2 of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (citizenship cessation determinations) as required by the Intelligence Services Act 2001 as well as certain amendments circulated in the Senate.

The Australian Citizenship Amendment (Citizenship Repudiation) Act 2023 amended the Citizenship Act to repeal the invalid provisions and establish a revised citizenship cessation regime. Under the new regime the minister can make an application to request that a court exercise its power to make an order to cease a dual citizen's Australian citizenship, where the person has been convicted of a serious offence or offences.

The act passed into law on 8 December 2023, and at the time of this report the provisions for a court to impose citizenship cessation as part of a sentence for certain offences has not yet been used.

The committee's unanimous report supported the passage of the act on the basis that, with the power to cease citizenship sitting with a court, such measures will only be taken in exceptional circumstances.

The constitutionality of citizenship cessation laws is, given the decisions in the Alexander and Benbrika cases, of utmost importance. The committee is satisfied that the act has addressed the primary grounds under which previous provisions regarding citizenship cessation have been found to be unconstitutional.

Although the committee considers the safeguards in the act for children as generally robust it has recommended that future consideration of amendments should consider if the scheme should continue to operate in relation to persons above 14 and below 18 only in exceptional circumstances and of any practice issues that may arise about a person's ability to exercise the rights connected to their citizenship of another country.

Finally, the committee notes that section 51B of the Citizenship Act now provides that, as soon as practicable after each 12-month period from the commencement of the provisions, the minister must table a report in each house of the parliament that sets out the number of applications made under new section 36D. The committee would appreciate this report being provided to the committee with a view to it seeking further written or oral briefings on the use of the citizenship cessation powers if it considers it necessary.

On behalf of the committee, I extend my thanks to those who participated in the inquiry by providing submissions and appearing at public hearings, and of course all of the work of the deputy chair, my fellow committee members and the secretariat.

I commend this report to the House.

On behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, it also gives me great pleasure to present the Committee's report on the inquiry into the National Security Legislation Amendment (Comprehensive Review and Other Measures No. 3) Bill 2023—known as NSLAB.

The committee supports the measures contained in the bill which would implement 12 recommendations of the 2020 Comprehensive Review of the Legal Framework of the National Intelligence Community conducted by Mr Dennis Richardson. In particular, the measures contained in the bill will support Australia's national security agencies by strengthening identity protections for their employees, increasing operational flexibility and information sharing, clarifying some authorities and approvals processes to provide greater certainty, and supporting quicker processing of security clearance suitability assessments.

The committee's report recommended that the bill be passed, subject to several recommendations relating to notification of delayed security assessments, cover employment arrangements used by the Australian Signals Directorate and the consolidation and modernisation of secrecy offences.

The committee appreciates the work ASIO does in providing assurance across state and federal government through its security assessments and its new security clearance functions. But at the same time the committee acknowledges that delays in furnishing these assessments have the potential to greatly impact an individual, their livelihood and their career. As such, the committee agrees that additional scrutiny should be applied to determine the reasons for delays greater than 12 months and recommends that, following the entry into effect of the new notification provisions in the bill, ASIO include in its annual report all instances where it has notified the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security about such delays. The government should also closely review all forms, guidance materials and other related documentation provided to individuals undergoing the clearance process to ensure the applicants are made aware of their right to make a complaint to the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security from the outset of that process.

The committee also recommended that, in respect of the inclusion of the Australian Signals Directorate in the new cover employment provisions alongside ASIO and ASIS, the explanatory memorandum to this bill be amended to include details of why this amendment is necessary for ASD, the Australian Signals Directorate. The explanatory memorandum should also remove the misleading reference to recommendation 70 of the comprehensive review in relation to ASD, when ASD was not mentioned by Mr Richardson in his recommendation. The committee also requests that ASD inform the committee about the implementation of its cover employment arrangements as part of the committee's annual review of its administration and expenditure.

Additionally, the committee carefully considered evidence regarding the consolidation of secrecy offences in the Intelligence Services Act 2001 and the modernisation of the publication offences in the ASIO Act. The committee agrees that these changes are necessary, justified and proportionate but recommends that careful consideration should be given to the findings of the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor's review into secrecy offence legislation once his report is released later this year.

The careful implementation of the comprehensive review's recommendations is making a tangible difference in enhancing the efficacy and strength of Australia's national security legislative architecture.

The committee acknowledges that the amendments put forward in the bill form only part of the implementation of many recommendations from the comprehensive review. The committee notes that the implementation of remaining recommendations is currently under consideration by the responsible departments, and the committee looks forward to the opportunity to consider further advice and action in this regard in due course.

On behalf of the committee, I extend my thanks to those who participated in the inquiry by providing submissions. My thanks to the deputy chair and fellow members and to the secretariat for their hard work and quality work. The secretariat have been making a great effort given the amount and intensity of reports that we have been tabling in this place. There is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes, and I do want to mark my gratitude to the members of the secretariat, some of whom are here today, for their fine work under extreme pressure. Well done and thank you.

I commend this report to the House.