The IGIS provides independent assurance to Ministers, the Parliament and the public that the 10 agencies that make up the National Intelligence Community (NIC) are acting with legality, propriety and consistency with human rights.
To do this, the IGIS undertakes a range of inspections, considers complaints and Public Interest Disclosures, and conducts inquiries.
Conducting inquiries is a core function and is the most formal activity we undertake to review the operations of NIC agencies. An inquiry may be initiated by the Inspector-General of their own motion (which may in some cases be in response to a complaint or a public interest disclosure (PID)) or at the request of the Attorney-General, the relevant responsible Minister, the PJCIS or the Prime Minister.
A preliminary inquiry may be initiated by the Inspector-General into the action of a NIC agency, either in connection with a complaint, a PID, or of the Inspector-General’s own motion. This process provides the means for the Inspector-General to make preliminary investigations and to determine whether further inquiry into the action is necessary.
An inquiry or preliminary inquiry can look proactively at an issue or area of agency activity that may pose a significant risk, or reactively based on a previous inspection, compliance incident or complaint.
The Inspector-General has a range of strong coercive inquiry powers, similar to those of a Royal Commission, and certain immunities and protections for those giving evidence are provided under the IGIS Act. These include powers to:
- compel the production of information and documents
- enter premises occupied or used by a Commonwealth agency
- issue notices to persons to attend before the IGIS to answer questions relevant to the inquiry; and
- administer an oath or affirmation when taking such evidence.
Inquiries are generally conducted in private to provide full examination of all classified or sensitive information. At the end of an inquiry, the Inspector-General provides a report with findings and recommendations to the responsible Minister.
Information on completed inquiries and preliminary inquiries are included in the OIGIS annual report.
Conducting regular, proactive, and independent inspections of the legality, propriety and human rights implications of NIC agency activities and compliance incidents is a key part of our approach to oversight. We priorities these inspections based on risk. We consider many factors when assessing this risk, including the impact on Australian persons or on Australia’s domestic and foreign relationships, and whether similar activity has raised previous concerns. In practice, this means that focus is often on an agency’s most intrusive and sensitive activities.
Inspections enable IGIS to monitor activities of NIC agencies and to identify concerns before they develop into systemic problems that could require major remedial action. Inspections may consider a sample of operations or may be targeted at a particular issue. In conducting any inspection, IGIS has full access to information held by NIC agencies.
We develop a comprehensive yearly program of inspections across the NIC agencies we have complete oversight over, which cover activities such as:
- agency compliance with relevant legislation
- agency use of warrants
- the basis for agency investigative activities
- sampling agency access to, and use of sensitive data
- Ministerial authorisations
- agency exercise of coercive powers
- the application of privacy rules and guidelines (which concern the retention and passage of information about Australian persons)
- operational files; and
- internal agency guidelines, training and approval processes for certain activities.
Inspections of NIC agencies for which the IGIS has oversight over their intelligence functions only (AFP, AUSTRAC and the Department of Home Affairs) are limited to matters related to those intelligence functions.
Our inspections are carried out by inspection teams, each specialising in the oversight of one or more of the NIC agencies. To support these inspections, the NIC agencies self-report instances of non-compliance and provide us with advice of the context in which the activities were conducted. Reports of key inspections and other activities are provided to each responsible Minister on a biannual basis.
Information on complaints can be found on our Complaints page.
Information on PIDs can be found on our PIDs page.
An important part of the role of the IGIS is to assist the Government in assuring the parliament and, to the extent possible, the public that there is effective oversight and scrutiny of the NIC agencies. Our regular program of inspections and inquiries into the activities and procedures of NIC agencies, as well as the management of complaints and PIDs, contribute to providing this assurance.
A crucial element of assurance is communicating information about our role and our work to ministers, the parliament, and the public. We accomplish this through a series of complementary activities; these include submissions to Parliamentary inquiries and other reviews of national security matters, and providing comments on matters relating to oversight and accountability in draft legislation. As far as possible, submissions prepared by IGIS are not classified and are made public, via the IGIS website or the websites of parliamentary committees. We do not comment on policy, but consider the operation of NIC agencies and the appropriate oversight and accountability requirements.
We also deliver presentations and participate in engagements with the public and experts across the national intelligence community, the legal profession, oversight bodies, and academia, in Australia and internationally. We make public as much information as possible, including through the production of an annual report that includes – with consideration for protective security requirements – details of inspection, inquiry, complaint and PID activities and findings for each NIC agency.
The Office’s executive also regularly meets with each agency’s senior officers and provides regular updates to the agencies’ Ministers on the key issues for each agency and the Office.