Making A Complaint

If your security clearance was denied and you wish to appeal the decision, first contact the agency that sponsored your application and request information about the internal review options. You may also wish to seek independent legal advice about your review or appeal options. 

We do not review the substantive merits of a security clearance assessment and cannot overturn a decision. However, we may be able to examine procedural aspects of security assessments made by some agencies. Where we consider there has been a processing error, an assessment lacks balance or objectivity, or there are questions as to the legality or propriety of the process, the IGIS may ask the agency to conduct a fresh assessment.

If you believe there has been an error of this nature or the process has not been objective or fair, you may make a complaint to us.

Please note, for those agencies where we only have oversight of their intelligence functions, the IGIS does not manage complaints regarding the denial of a security clearance. These matters do not usually have a clear connection to the agency’s intelligence functions. More information about these functions can be found above. 

If your employer is suspending or withdrawing your security clearance, then you should have ordinarily been provided with written notice of this and details of any appeals process. If you have not received information about any appeals process available to you, you should first request this from your employer.

We do not review the substantive merits of decisions relating to security clearances. However, in some circumstances we may be able to review the legality and propriety of the decision-making process.

Please note, for those agencies where we only have oversight of their intelligence functions, the IGIS does not manage complaints regarding the suspension or withdrawal of a security clearance. These matters do not usually have a clear connection to the agency’s intelligence functions. More information about these functions can be found above. 

If your complaint is about the Department of Home Affairs, the IGIS can only consider complaints which have a clear connection to the intelligence functions of Home Affairs - more information about these functions can be found above.

Accordingly, for the Department of Home Affairs we do not manage complaints about

• delays in visa or citizenship applications
• visa and citizenship decisions
• Australia’s border protection policies, including regional processing and resettlement
• delays or adverse outcomes with regard to AUSCHECK’s role in the issuing of Aviation and Maritime Security Identification Cards (ASICs and MSICs).

These matters should be directed to the Department of Home Affairs in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response from the Department of Home Affairs, you may wish to contact the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

If your complaint is about the actions of another agency in our jurisdiction (other than the Department of Home Affairs) and is in relation to a visa, citizenship or border security matter we may be able to consider your complaint. You will need to provide as much information as possible about why you believe another agency beyond the Department of Home Affairs is responsible for the matter you are complaining about.

AFP intelligence functions are defined as the collection, correlation, analysis, production or dissemination of intelligence. Your complaint to the IGIS will not be looked at if it relates to:

• the arrest, charging or detention of suspected offenders or the gathering of evidence, or any activity undertaken to directly support the gathering of evidence
• the AFP’s functions with respect to the provision of policing services to the Australian Capital Territory, Jervis Bay Territory, and external Territories, or
• AFP’s functions with respect to witness protection functions.

These matters should be directed to the AFP in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response from the AFP, you may wish to contact the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

We welcome your feedback. If you have a complaint about the IGIS, please email complaints@igis.gov.au and share your concerns and any steps you think we could take to remedy those concerns.

If you are a current or former employee or contractor and wish to complain about an employment related matter, you should, where possible, first contact your employer for information about the grievance procedures that apply to your situation. In some cases, we may be limited in the action we can take if you have not attempted to resolve your concerns internally.

When contacting us, you should be conscious about the security requirements of the information you wish to provide. We can provide advice to potential complainants about the best way to securely share information with us.

For further details about sharing information securely with the IGIS, including classified information, please see the section below titled I'm bound by secrecy provisions - What information can I provide to IGIS?

Secrecy undertakings and obligations do not prevent you from disclosing information to IGIS. Subject to the below information, persons who disclose sensitive information or documents to us are protected from penalties and prosecution under other Commonwealth laws (see section 32AC of the IGIS Act for the precise limits of this protection).

All OIGIS officers hold an Australian security clearance and can receive sensitive and classified information.

However, if you wish to provide classified information to us, you should contact us before you do, so we can make arrangements for you to share the information in a secure manner.

Note: There are many restrictions that apply to disclosure of information to recipients other than the IGIS. Unless a secrecy undertaking specifically states a time frame, undertakings of this kind ordinarily have an enduring effect (that is, they are binding for life). Even if a secrecy undertaking specifies a time limit, you may also be bound by legal restrictions about conveying official information without authority (Crimes Act 1914), revealing the identity of ASIO or ASIS agency staff, or details of operational activities (under the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979 and the Intelligence Services Act 2001).

You can make an anonymous complaint to us however this may limit our ability to investigate your matter fully. Alternatively, you can provide your identity to us and request that it not be disclosed to the relevant agency.

In any case we ask that you provide some form of contact details, such as an email address. That way, we can contact you for more information where needed and provide you with updates about how your complaint is being handled.

If you do not provide us with a means of contacting you, we will not be able to seek further information from you which may limit our ability to take action on your complaint, and we will not be able to notify you of the outcome.

Our standard position is that we do not make details about individual complaints public. In some circumstances, we can provide a degree of protection to you by not revealing the source of a complaint to the agency we are investigating. However, this may limit our ability to take action on your complaint.

Details of complaints may be included in a way that does not identify you in our public reporting on our oversight activities, for example through our annual report. In some cases, we may also acknowledge the existence of a complaint and a complainant if the complainant themselves has made that knowledge publicly known.

If you make a complaint, we will consider your issues carefully and decide what action to take. We will advise you of what happens, as far as security considerations allow.

We will not confirm or deny whether you or anyone else is of interest to any agency. For example, we will not tell you whether or not you or anyone else is subject to surveillance, or is the subject of other activities undertaken by NIC agencies within our jurisdiction. 

We can look at the operational activities of NIC agencies to assess whether the activities are legal and proper. If we have concerns about the legality or propriety of an agency's activities, then these may be investigated further.