Sydney counter-terrorism raids: Spies turn back on agencies over pay

AUSTRALIA’S war on terrorism is being compromised because crack spies are deserting our intelligence agencies.

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AUSTRALIA’S war on terrorism is being compromised because crack spies are deserting our intelligence agencies.

International Cyber Policy Centre director Fergus Hanson said vetting delays and lower wages were driving intelligence workers to private security firms or major tech giants such as Google.

And while private companies are poaching our top people, some of our best and brightest are also being turned off applying in the first place because of “unacceptably long” vetting times.

Australian Federal Police officers on patrol.

International Cyber Policy Centre director Fergus Hanson.

“Fixing this broken system should be the number one priority of government right now and there should be heads on the chopping block if it is not  resolved soon,” Mr Hanson said.

It comes amid revelations it now takes “more than 18 months on average” for a spy to be given “Top Secret” clearance.

READ MORE: Australia has more than 400 operations into IS terror extremists

“The length of time taken by the Australian Government Security Vetting Agency to complete Top Secret security clearances is exacerbating the intelligence community’s existing workforce challenges,” the Independent Intelligence Review said.

The Turnbull government has accepted the report’s findings as a “sound basis to reform Australia’s intelligence arrangements”.