The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security will hear evidence tomorrow from a range of witnesses for its .
The Committee will hear from witnesses including Dr Brendan Walker-Munro, the Commonwealth Ombudsman, the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, ASIO, the Department of ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Affairs and the Attorney-General’s Department.
“The Committee is undertaking a review of the bill on referral from the Attorney-General.” PJCIS Chair Mr Peter Khalil MP said.
“The Australian Government has been implementing recommendations of the Comprehensive Review of the Legal Framework of the ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Intelligence Community (known as the Richardson Review) since its completion in December 2019. This bill would implement a further ten of those recommendations, across several Commonwealth Acts, related to the Attorney-General’s portfolio. The bill also proposes amendments to the Intelligence Service Act 2001 regarding the number of members and composition of the PJCIS, as well as changes to Ministerial directions issued by the Foreign Minister to the Australian Secret Intelligence Service.
“Careful consideration of the various changes proposed in the bill reflects a central role of the PJCIS, in providing assurance to Parliament that these amendments will be appropriate, proportionate and well considered.” Mr Khalil said.
