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IGIS Annual Report 1986-87 |
IGIS Annual Report 1986-87
23 September 1987
The Hon R.J.L. Hawke, AC, MP
Prime Minister
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
My dear Prime Minister
I have pleasure in submitting to you the first Annual Report of my operations, as required by section 35 of the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Act. The period covered is from the commencement of the Act on 1 February 1987 to 30 June 1987.
In my view there is nothing that needs to be deleted from the Report, before it is presented to Parliament, on any of the grounds specified in sub-section 35(5) of the Legislation.
Yours sincerely
N.D. McInnes
Inspector-General of
Intelligence and Security
LEGISLATION
The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Act came into operation on 1 February 1987, to coincide with the coming into effect of consequential amendments to the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act, the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act, the Archives Act and the Freedom of Information Act. In addition, amendment will be necessary to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act in order to give the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security the function of inquiring into any act or practice that may be inconsistent with or contrary to human rights or constitute discrimination in relation to the intelligence and security agencies; a forthcoming Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill will achieve this effect.
INQUIRIES
From February to June 1987 I received five complaints from members of the public about ASIO. I made preliminary inquiries but decided that none of the matters warranted the commencement of a full inquiry. A number of requests were made to my Of f ice for information about the provisions of the legislation, jurisdiction and procedures. I received no requests from the Ministers responsible for the agencies to make inquiries.
MINISTERIAL DIRECTION OF ASIO
Since February 1987 the amended ASIO legislation enables the Attorney-General to give written directions to the Director-General of Security and requires that copies of such directions be given to me. Similarly, notices issued by the Attorney-General to ASIO concerning the definition of politically motivated violence, as well as guidelines that may be issued by the Attorney-General from time to time to ASIO, must be shown to the Inspector-General. In the period under report no such direction, notice or guideline was notified as having been issued.
GUIDELINES ASIO AND DSD
The Report of the Royal commission on Australials Security and Intelligence Agencies recommended - and the Government agreed that the Attorney-General and the Minister for Defence issue guidelines on certain specific matters to ASIO and DSD, respectively; in addition, the amended ASIO legislation requires the Attorney-General to give ASIO guidelines relating to politically motivated violence. In the period under review these guidelines had not yet been issued. It is to be hoped that they are issued in the course of 1987/88. The guidelines are intended to constitute part of the protection of civil rights from intrusion by the intelligence collection agencies and they should therefore be regarded as a matter of urgency.
ACCOMMODATION
The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security requires premises that (a) are open to access by members of the public; (b) are independent of the security perimeters of the intelligence agencies; and (c) can nevertheless provide sufficient security to allow the handling and storage of sensitive documents from the agencies. It proved difficult to find such premises in Canberra. ASIO, acting as my protective security advisors, rejected as unsuitable a number of premises before the present location was settled upon. Various works were undertaken to bring these premises up to the required level of security. It was only when those works were completed that it was realized that, because of a regrettable oversight in the original protective security report, further works and an adjustment of working methods would be necessary to achieve acceptable security. This has now been done, at some financial cost and a cost in convenience, but permanent premises are still to seek.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF AGENCIES
The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Act does not require the intelligence and security agencies to provide me with copies of their Annual Reports. I consider that access to these reports in their integral form is necessary for the work of the Office, and I have requested the agencies to provide them. No Annual Report was issued in the period under review.
VISITS TO AGENCIES
I made official calls on the heads of all the agencies. In addition, my Executive Officer and I visited the principal divisions of ASIO, and attended ASIS seminars and inspected its training facilities.
FINANCE
Expenditure by the Office for the period 1 February to 30 June 1987 totalled $179,936. This amount comprised:
Remuneration Tribunal Act - determination for the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security
- $ 26,857
Establishment and running costs
- $153,079
STAFFING
Mr N.D. McInnes
- Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security
Mr P.S. Moss
- Executive Officer
Mr D.R. Dobson
- Assistant Executive officer
Miss G.P. Evans
- Personal Secretary
Mrs S.D. Golding - Clerical Assistant