A former spy and his lawyer face up to two years in jail after being charged for exposing the Australian government's bugging of East Timorese ministers during a dispute over maritime oil and gas rights.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie revealed under parliamentary privilege that a former Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) agent, who can only be identified as Witness K, and his lawyer, former ACT attorney-general Bernard Collaery, had been charged by the Commonwealth Department of Public Prosecutions.