Now lawDefence & Security Introduced in the House of Representatives, 30 Jul 2025

Watchdogs now check all ten spy agencies

Australia has ten agencies that gather secrets. Until now the main watchdogs only checked six of them closely. This law puts all ten under watch. It also protects defence staff who hack computers overseas from being charged.

Official name: Strengthening Oversight of the National Intelligence Community Bill 2025

Who it affects

• The Australian Federal Police, Home Affairs and the money-tracking agency: That agency is called AUSTRAC. It tracks money linked to crime. Their spy work can now be checked by the spy watchdog and Parliament's spy committee.
• The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission: All of its work now comes under the spy watchdog, and the federal complaints officer no longer covers it.
• People with a complaint about an intelligence agency: Complaints can be passed between the watchdogs so the right one deals with them.
• Defence staff and contractors who hack computers: They cannot be charged or sued for hacking crimes if they act properly on an approved mission aimed overseas.

Ten spy agencies, two watchdogs

Intelligence means secrets that governments gather to keep the country safe. Ten agencies do this work. Their group name is the National Intelligence Community.

Some are spy agencies. One is the home spy agency. It is called the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. Another is the Australian Signals Directorate. It spies on computers and phones overseas. Others are police and border agencies that also gather secrets.

Two bodies keep an eye on them. The first is the spy watchdog. Its full name is the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security. It answers to no agency. It checks whether agencies follow the law and act properly.

The second is Parliament's spy committee. It is a group of MPs and senators who look at the work of these agencies.

Before this law, both mostly watched only six agencies. Two big reviews said the gaps should be closed. They were the 2017 Independent Intelligence Review and the 2019 Comprehensive Review of the laws for spy agencies. Earlier bills tried to do this in 2020 and 2023. Both died when Parliament ended.

This law mostly brings back the 2023 bill. The Attorney-General, Michelle Rowland, brought it in. The Attorney-General is the minister for the law and courts.

Watching all ten agencies

Part 1 of the first section of the bill adds four agencies for the watchdog and the committee to check.

The first is the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission. It gathers secret information on serious and organised crime. Call it the crime spy agency. All of its work is now covered. Before, the federal complaints officer (the Ombudsman) checked it.

Three more are covered only for their spy work. These are the Australian Federal Police, the Department of Home Affairs, and the money-tracking agency. Home Affairs runs the borders and much of national security. The money-tracking agency follows dirty money, which means money from crime.

The watchdog can now visit places where people are being held or questioned under spy and crime agency laws. Agencies must also send it copies of some spying warrants. A warrant is written permission to spy on someone.

Say the crime spy agency gets a warrant to find a reporter's secret source. A copy of that warrant now goes to the watchdog.

The government set aside $12.2 million over three years for the watchdog's bigger job. After that it gets $4.9 million a year.

More power for the committee

The committee can now choose for itself to look at planned changes to terrorism and security laws. It can also look at those laws when they are about to end. Before, a minister or Parliament mostly had to give it the job.

The committee can ask the watchdog to check whether an agency's work was legal and proper. The watchdog must then report back, or explain why it will not look into it.

Two officials must each brief the committee once a year. One is the watchdog. The other is the head of the Office of National Intelligence, which leads the ten agencies.

The law also makes clear the committee can ask the security laws monitor for a briefing. The monitor is an official who checks whether security laws work and are fair. Other changes update how the committee works, such as security checks for its staff.

Sharing information with watchdogs

Many security laws make it a crime to share some secrets. Part 2 changes dozens of laws. Now people can legally give that information to the watchdog's staff.

It also stops different watchdogs doing the same job twice. These include the complaints officer and the Australian Human Rights Commission. That commission handles complaints about unfair treatment. Complaints about the dirty money tracker and Home Affairs can go to whichever body is best placed to deal with them.

Old crime intelligence records

The crime spy agency writes reports on whether a person might commit serious or organised crime. These reports can name secret helpers or undercover work.

The second section of the bill deals with people who ask to see these reports once they are kept in the National Archives. That is where old government records are stored. Someone might challenge a refusal. That case is now heard in the security section of the Administrative Review Tribunal.

The Tribunal is a body that checks government decisions, like a court but less formal. Its security section is set up to deal with secret material.

Protection for defence cyber work

The third section of the bill is about hacking. It is separate from the watchdog changes. Australia's main crime law makes it a crime to break into or mess with computers.

Spy agencies like the Signals Directorate were already safe from charges when doing their proper jobs. Now defence staff get the same protection.

They cannot be charged or sued if two things are true. They acted on an approved mission of the Australian Defence Force. They also had good reason to believe the effect would happen outside Australia. This holds even if they are sitting in Australia.

Some limits apply. The protection does not cover things in Australia that the home spy agency would need a warrant to do.

An operation might do serious damage to a computer in Australia. Then the person must tell the head of the Defence Force or the head of the Defence department in writing.

The 2019 review said this protection should cover Defence Force members. The law covers a wider group, including Defence office staff and contractors. Senior Defence leaders can also add more groups of people.

Security laws monitor does more

The security laws monitor is a lone official who answers to no agency. The full name is the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor. The monitor checks whether security and terrorism laws work and are fair.

The fourth section of the bill lets the monitor look at any federal law on terror or national safety. Before, there was a fixed list of laws. It also says plainly that the monitor is independent.

The fifth section has rules for moving from the old system to the new one.

Start date

The bill was brought in on 30 July 2025. It was sent to Parliament's spy committee to look at. The House of Representatives passed it on 24 November 2025, with 11 changes from the government.

The Senate passed it on 27 November 2025. The Senate is the second house of Parliament, which checks bills.

The Governor-General signed it into law on 4 December 2025. The Governor-General is the King's stand-in in Australia. It became Act No. 75 of 2025.

The second, third and fourth sections of the bill started the next day. The watchdog changes in the first and fifth sections started six months after it became law.

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

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

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