Richardson made dozens of recommendations for how such a new Act should work, and 203 recommendations in total.
It took an entire year for the government to respond, in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic s impact on business, but eventually, in its formal response of December 2020, it agreed that such a reform was needed.
Indeed, the government agreed, or agreed in principle, to the vast majority of Richardson s unclassified recommendations. The central area for reform is a new electronic surveillance Act, which will be a new landmark in Australia s national intelligence legislation, the government wrote. A new electronic surveillance Act will be generational in its impact. This legislation will require careful and detailed consideration, with extensive public consultation, to establish a framework that will support Australia s intelligence collection and law enforcement agencies in the years to come.
The Australian coat of arms over parliament house, Canberra (John/Flickr) Published 11 Jan 2021 06:00 0 Comments
The Richardson review, released last month, amounts to the most significant review of Australia’s intelligence legislative framework since the Hope Royal Commission on Intelligence and Security in the 1970s. Back then, as David Irvine has noted, former judge Robert Hope laid out operating principles to ensure the intelligence community was properly managed and accountable. Dennis Richardson, a veteran public servant, former head of ASIO and the departments of Defence and Foreign Affairs, as well as ambassador to Washington 2005–2010, has sought to ensure the intelligence community of the modern era is still subject to the same goals following sweeping changes.
Foreign Relations Bill set to increase federal government
oversight of state and territory arrangements
Last week, Australia s Foreign Relations (State and
Territory Arrangements) Bill 2020 (
Bill) passed
both houses, bringing state and territory government arrangements
with foreign territories within the domain of federal government
oversight.
The Bill is intended to ensure consistency between state and
territory arrangements and the broader national interest by
allowing the federal government to veto arrangements that are
inconsistent with Australia s foreign policy or that may
adversely affect relations with a foreign country. The Bill means
that the federal government will be able to ensure that state and