Kerry Nettle (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I will move on to the Intelligence Services Act, which the minister raised. The question that I asked was: under that act, will the foreign minister have to make any amendments or new rules regarding ASIS’s use of information under this legislation? You raise the issue of the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, IGIS. My understanding is that the access to AUSTRAC information by not only ASIS, under this legislation, but also ASIO, under the previous legislation, is not something that a person knows is occurring. If those agencies have access to information, through AUSTRAC, about somebody’s financial transactions, it is secret in the sense that that person or that business does not know that it is occurring. The way I understand the role of IGIS is that people can make complaints to IGIS about the activities of ASIO. If they do not know that ASIO or ASIS is accessing information about their financial transactions then how can they make a complaint to IGIS? If the minister could address that, that would be appreciated.