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The year in review
Overview
7. The period covered by this report was dominated, so far as the Australian intelligence community was concerned, by the tragic events of 11 September 2001
8. As the intelligence and security agencies sought to respond, according to their respective charters, to the requirements of dealing with this new dimension in global terrorism, there was a consequent impact upon the work of this office.
9. There were, however, other major developments, mentioned below, which also had significant effects for some of the agencies and for the Inspector General.
Inspection activities
Intelligence Services Act 2001
10. The passage of the Intelligence Services Act late in 2001 placed the activities of ASIS and DSD on a statutory footing for the first time and created a new committee: the Parliamentary Joint Committee on ASIO, ASIS and DSD.
11. Operating under an Act of Parliament has required adjustments to practices and procedures within ASIS and DSD and consequent modifications to the work of the Inspector General.
12. This report, therefore, contains a separate chapter dealing with the legislation and its impact in the first eight months of its operation. The separate chapters on ASIS and DSD are, consequently, not quite as detailed as usual.
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979
13. The government proposed amendments to the ASIO Act to empower ASIO to obtain warrants for the detention and questioning of people reasonably believed to possess information relating to terrorism.
14. In evidence to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on ASIO, ASIS and DSD I said that it would be my intention to attend and observe any interrogations carried out under the legislation.
15. The committee later recommended changes to the bill that would, among other things, empower the Inspector General to call a halt to an interrogation if an issue arose relating to the propriety of ASIO´s conduct.
16. At 30 June 2002 the government was still considering its response to the recommendations.
Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Act 1986
17. The Parliament also enacted some minor amendments to the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Act 1986 . The amendments:
- enable the Inspector-General to complete an inquiry before consulting the responsible minister about possible criticism of an agency;
- remove the requirement for the Inspector-General to obtain permission from the responsible minister before visiting certain places to which access is restricted;
- extend the maximum term of office of the Inspector General from three years (which was the shortest maximum term of any senior statutory office) to five years; and
- require the Inspector-General to comment in the annual report on compliance by ASIS and DSD with the privacy rules made under the Intelligence Services Act.
Inspection, complaints and inquiries
Inspections
18. In recent years inspection of the activities of the collection agencies (ASIO, ASIS, DSD and DIGO) has occupied the bulk of the effort of the office.
19. That continued to be the case in this reporting year, even though there were several major inquiries and there was an increase in the volume of complaints.
20. We visit each of these agencies every 6 8 weeks to examine a variety of operational records, with a view to checking that their activities are conducted with propriety and comply with the law.
21. In the case of ASIS and DSD we also access their classified reporting and some other records electronically from a computer terminal in our office.
22. Details of inspection activities are in the chapters of this report that deal with the individual agencies.
Complaints
23. Media publicity about the office at the time of the Tampa inquiry (see paragraph 26), and increased public discussion of the role of intelligence and security agencies, probably contributed to a substantial increase in the total number of new complaints and contacts of a like nature (73 compared with 54 in 2000 2001).
24. The number of complaints leading to preliminary or full inquiries more than doubled from the previous reporting year (26 compared with 12 in 2000 2001).
25. Sixty-three complaints were finalised.
Tampa inquiry
26. Media allegations about DSD activities during the Tampa incident in August 2001 prompted an inquiry under the IGIS Act. The unclassified introduction and summary of the inquiry report is reproduced at Annex 2.
SIEV X
27. At the request of a complainant I examined intelligence records to see whether there was secret intelligence that could have warned Australian authorities of the departure of the suspected illegal entry vessel that sank in October 2001
Balibo inquiry
28. I provided the Minister for Defence with a report on intelligence handling at the time of the killings of five newsmen at Balibo in 1975. A copy of the public summary of the report is at Annex 3.
Security inquiry final report
29. Following the conviction and formal sentencing of Jean-Philippe Wispelaere in June 2001 I submitted a third and final report to the Prime Minister in July 2001.
Reference of matters to the Australian Federal Police (AFP)
30. In two instances during the year it became necessary for the Director General of Security to refer matters arising from complaints to the AFP for investigation. Both cases are summarised in the chapter of this report dealing with ASIO.
Asylum seeker compensation
31. The 1999 2000 annual report provided details of an inquiry into a complaint from an asylum seeker where I expected to recommend compensation. Despite numerous requests the person´s lawyer has still not submitted a claim and I intend bringing the matter to the attention of the relevant professional standards body.
Defence Force complainant
32. An inquiry into the concerns of a serving member of the Defence Force about matters related to DIO, referred by the Minister for Defence, continued during the year. I expect to complete it before the end of 2002.
External profile
Commonwealth Parliament
33. I attended hearings of, and gave evidence to:
- the Senate Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee examining the budget estimates;
- the Joint Select Committee on the Intelligence Services Bill;
- the Parliamentary Joint Committee on ASIO, ASIS and DSD during its inquiry into the ASIO Legislation Amendment (Terrorism) Bill, and separately in private session.
Cooperation with other agencies
34. In addition to normal, ongoing liaison with members of the Australian intelligence community and other Commonwealth agencies, other cooperative activities included:
- at my request, the Commonwealth Ombudsman, Mr Ron McLeod AM, provided a quality assurance check on the Tampa inquiry process at the completion of the inquiry;
- Mr Neville Bryan, a senior member of the IGIS staff, at the Ombudsman´s request audited the Ombudsman´s processes for handling complaints about his own office;
- I attended the 3rd biennial conference of intelligence oversight bodies in London, England in May 2002. The conference was hosted by the United Kingdom´s Intelligence Services Committee, chaired by the Rt Hon Ann Taylor MP. Also in attendance were two members of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on ASIO, ASIS and DSD. After the conference I visited a range of United Kingdom agencies for discussions on oversight and protective security issues.
Media
35. There was intense media interest in the Tampa inquiry and I received several invitations to make public statements or be interviewed.
36. I was prepared to inform inquirers of unclassified factual matters, so as to reduce the incidence of misunderstanding and misreporting, but did not undertake any public media activities.
37. There were also quite a few approaches from reporters about other complaints and inquiries. Our practice in such cases is not to confirm or deny the existence of a complaint, or to discuss the particulars of inquiries beyond process issues such as expected time frames for completion and the formal requirements of the IGIS Act.
Internet presence
38. The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security website provides information about the office, including copies of previous annual reports and occasional statements about current activities.
39. The e-mail facility (info@igis.gov.au) is being used more and more by complainants, both for initial contact and correspondence about the progress of complaints.
40. We will also correspond with complainants via e-mail, but will not include classified information in e mails.
Resources and reporting
41. The 2000 2001 annual report (at pages 47 49) referred to the size, complexity and impenetrability of the financial statement information required to satisfy reporting requirements.
42. This year´s statements and explanatory notes (pages 58 69) are approximately half the length of last year´s, contain more information and, we believe, are easier to understand. Both the Secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration and the Commonwealth Auditor General suggested improvements to and contributed helpful comments on the documentation.