Now lawDefence & Security Introduced in the House of Representatives, 08 Oct 2025

MPs gain a mostly private committee to check Defence

Parliament now has a group of MPs and senators whose job is to keep watch on Defence. It can question the heads of Australia's military and see secret material. But most of its meetings are private, and ministers can block what it hears or publishes.

Official name: Defence Amendment (Parliamentary Joint Committee on Defence) Bill 2025

Who it affects

• Members of Parliament and senators: Those picked for the committee can see secret Defence information and question Defence leaders.
• Defence and Veterans' Affairs leaders: They can be made to come before the committee, answer questions and hand over papers.
• Members of the Defence Force and veterans: Issues about staff and veterans are now part of a lasting committee's job.
• Independent MPs and small parties: They can be picked, but the law does not promise them a seat.

Defence secrets limit public scrutiny

In September 2022 the Defence Minister asked a group of MPs and senators to look at one question. How does Australia decide to send troops to war? That group was the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade. Joint means it has members from both houses of Parliament.

It reported on 31 March 2023. It found Parliament's checks on Defence were not good enough. Many defence topics could not be talked about in public meetings. The facts could help other countries.

The Parliamentary Library works for all MPs and takes no side. It says the region around Australia is getting less safe, and defence spending is going up. That makes it harder to check on Defence in public.

The group said Parliament should make a new committee by law. MPs and senators from both houses would sit on it, and it could see secret information. It should copy the committee that already keeps watch on Australia's spy agencies. The government agreed. This law changes the Defence Act 1903, the main law for the military, to set up that committee.

An almost identical bill went to the last Parliament in 2024. It passed the House of Representatives, the house where the government is formed. But the Senate, Parliament's second house, voted it down at the final vote. Members could not agree on who should sit on the committee.

Who sits on the committee

The committee has up to 13 members from both houses. It must have at least 2 government senators and 2 government MPs. It must also have 2 senators and 2 MPs who are not in the government.

Government members must be more than half, but no more than 7. The chair, the person who runs the meetings, must be from the government.

The Prime Minister picks the MPs. The government's leader in the Senate picks the senators. Each house then votes to appoint them. First, they must talk to the leaders of other parties. They must also think about whether the committee is a fair mix of the parties in Parliament.

Ministers cannot be members. Nor can the Speaker or the President of the Senate, who run each house. The law does not require any member from outside the big parties. A new committee is set up at the start of each new Parliament.

What the committee does

The committee checks how defence agencies are run and how they spend money. That includes their yearly reports. These agencies include the Australian Defence Force, the Department of Defence, the Department of Veterans' Affairs and the Australian Submarine Agency, which runs the plan to get nuclear-powered submarines.

It looks at big defence plans and reviews, such as the National Defence Strategy, the government's main defence plan. It checks how Defence designs, buys and looks after its gear. It looks at issues for defence staff and veterans.

It looks at wars and war-like operations, including fights still going on. It also looks at big non-combat jobs at home and overseas. It tracks how the government responds to any Royal Commission on defence. A Royal Commission is a major public investigation.

It also looks at the Inspector-General of the Defence Force. That is an independent watchdog that looks into problems in the military. It looks at the safety watchdog for the navy's nuclear-powered submarines too. A minister or either house can ask it to look into something. It can also start its own checks.

Three spy agencies are left out. One is the Australian Signals Directorate. It spies on electronic messages and fights cyber attacks. One is the Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation. It studies maps and satellite images. The third is the Defence Intelligence Organisation, which studies military threats. The committee for spy agencies keeps watching them. The new committee can still ask their heads for briefings on things like military operations.

The choice to send troops into a war stays with the government. The committee does not get a vote on it. The government says it will brief the committee and let it look at those choices.

Powers to get information

The committee can ask for briefings from the head of any defence agency. It can also ask the Inspector-General of the Defence Force and the Director-General of National Intelligence, who leads Australia's spy agencies as a group.

It can send a written notice that orders a person to come and answer questions, or to hand over papers. The person must get at least 5 days' notice. The government pays their travel costs. A defence agency head can send a staff member in their place.

Limits to protect secrets

The law creates a group of facts called protected information. It covers secret military operations. It covers how spy agencies get their facts and who from. It covers facts from foreign governments that have not agreed to share them.

It also covers anything that could harm Australia's safety, its ties with other countries, or an agency's work. It covers details of how nuclear submarines are powered. It covers Inspector-General investigations still going on.

The committee cannot force anyone to share protected information unless the minister in charge agrees. No minister can share details of an Inspector-General investigation that is still going.

A minister can also give the committee a signed note. The note says a person should not give certain answers or papers. The committee must obey it. No court or review body can check that note. The minister must give a copy to the Speaker and the President of the Senate.

The committee meets in private unless the minister says yes to a public meeting. Public meetings on the yearly reports of Defence and Veterans' Affairs need no okay.

Answers given in private can only be made public if the person who gave them agrees, or their agency head agrees. Protected information cannot go in a public report unless the minister agrees.

Committee staff must have the right security clearance. That is an official check that a person can be trusted with secrets. When secret material is talked about, the chair must follow the agency head's advice on safety.

New crimes

Sharing private answers given to the committee, without permission, is a crime. It can bring up to 2 years in jail, a fine of 120 penalty units, or both. A penalty unit is a set dollar amount used to work out fines. Giving false or misleading answers brings the same penalty.

Some other acts can bring up to 6 months in jail, a fine of 30 penalty units, or both. These are not turning up, refusing to swear an oath, refusing to answer a question, or not handing over papers.

Committee members and staff, past and present, must not share facts they got through the committee. Breaking this rule can bring up to 5 years in jail, a fine of 300 penalty units, or both.

People who answer the committee's questions cannot be punished for their answers. A person can only be charged with these crimes if the Attorney-General agrees. The Attorney-General is the minister in charge of the law.

How the committee runs

Members vote for a chair and a deputy chair. The committee can meet in person or online.

At least 6 members must be there to make decisions. Most of them must be government members. If a government member is running the meeting, equal numbers are enough.

Decisions are made by majority vote. If the vote is tied, the person running the meeting gets an extra vote to break the tie. Other MPs and senators can be invited to some meetings.

The committee can set up smaller groups of at least 3 members. After each financial year it must report to Parliament on its work.

Start date

The law started the day after it was signed. The first committee is set up under a special start-up rule. After that, a new one is set up at the start of each Parliament.

The bill was brought to the House of Representatives on 8 October 2025. The House passed it on 5 November 2025. The Senate debated it from February 2026 and passed it on 4 March 2026.

The Governor-General, the King's representative, signed it into law on 13 March 2026. Its official number is Act No. 5 of 2026.

How they voted

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

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

Open the full interactive page