Now lawDefence & Security Introduced in the House of Representatives, 23 Jul 2025

ASIO questioning powers were extended to March 2027

Australia's domestic spy agency has a power to make people answer its questions. That power was due to switch off in September 2025. This short law kept it going, so Parliament had time to debate a bigger bill.

Official name: Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2025

Who it affects

• People the spy agency thinks know about threats to Australia: They can still be made to come in and answer questions, if a warrant (a signed legal order) allows it.
• Teenagers aged 14 to 17: They can still be questioned in cases about violence for political reasons, with extra protections.
• The domestic spy agency: It kept the power with no gap while a bigger bill was debated.

Questioning powers due to expire

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation is Australia's domestic spy agency. In this article we call it the spy agency. It looks for threats such as spying by other countries, violence for political reasons, and secret meddling by foreign governments.

Since 2003, the spy agency has been able to force people to answer its questions. Its boss, the Director-General of Security, asks for a warrant. A warrant is a signed legal order. The Attorney-General, the minister in charge of the law, says yes or no.

The person must then come in and answer questions. A senior lawyer or former judge who is independent sits in and runs the session.

Police can arrest and search a person to bring them in. Refusing to come or to answer can be a crime. Children aged 14 to 17 can only be questioned in cases of violence for political reasons, such as terrorism. They must have a lawyer with them.

Why there was a deadline

When the powers began in 2003, the government of Prime Minister John Howard wanted them to last for good. The main party not in government would not agree to that. So the government agreed the powers would switch off after 3 years unless Parliament renewed them.

That end date was pushed back five times before this law. The last change, in 2020, set the end date at 7 September 2025.

A group of MPs and senators started checking the powers in the last Parliament. That check stopped when the 2025 election was called.

What the law changed

The law makes one change. It moves the end date in section 34JF of the spy agency's main law, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979. The old date was 7 September 2025. The new date is 7 March 2027. That is 18 months more.

The government said the powers still give very useful information. They help when the spy agency's other powers do not fit the case. The government did not want a gap while it got a second, bigger bill through Parliament. That bill planned to keep the powers for good and make them wider.

Say the spy agency thinks someone knows about a plan by a foreign government to secretly meddle here. Without this law, from 8 September 2025 the agency could not have forced that person to answer.

Safeguards that still apply

Every bill comes with a human rights statement from the government. This one lists the protections that already exist. People must be treated with care. Torture and cruel treatment are banned.

Adults get a 30-minute break after every four hours of questions. Children get a break after every two hours.

The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security is the watchdog for spy agencies. The watchdog can sit in on the questions. People can complain to the watchdog. They can also contact a lawyer.

Start date

The bill was brought to the House of Representatives on 23 July 2025. That is the house of Parliament where the government is formed. The House passed it on 31 July 2025. The Senate, Parliament's second house, passed it on 4 September 2025.

The Governor-General, the King's representative, signed it into law on 5 September 2025. Its official number is Act No. 41 of 2025. It started the next day, just before the old end date. The bigger bill was dealt with on its own.

How they voted

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum
• Bills Digest

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