Spying reform laws to be unveiled

The Morrison government will unveil plans to reform national security legislation, particularly around telecommunications and surveillance devices.

Former­ ASIO head Dennis­ Richardson.

The Morrison government will unveil plans to reform national security legislation, particularly around telecommunications and surveillance devices, as a major review into the legal framework governing the intelligence community is released­.

Attorney-General Christian Porter confirmed that a 1300-page review conducted by former­ ASIO head Dennis­ Richardson would be published on Friday, after he was commissioned by the Turnbull government in 2018 to scrutinise intelligence legislation.

There are 190 unclassified recommendations, all but four of which the government has agreed to in part or in principle. About 70 recommendations relate­ to telecommunications and surveillance devices.

“(This) has been and will be the most significant review since the Hope royal commission (on intelligence and security) in the 1970s and 80s,” Mr Porter told parliament on Thursday.

“I can fairly summarise the essential conclusions of that critical work are that the key principles underpinning Aust­ralia’s intelligence legislation are sound and of enduring rele­vance; that the legislation framework when viewed as a whole has been well maintained and is largely fit for purpose; and that also importantly the work of our agencies to keep us safe has been of extremely high quality and that the work has been consistently undertaken within the proper limits of the law.

“Of course, in those 1300 pages that we will release tomorrow there are also a range of suggestions for improvement and some of them very complex.”

The Coalition has introduced and passed 19 tranches of national security legislation since 2013.

Mr Porter said that, given the scale and pace of change of threats to national security, legislation had to continually be tested and the structure that underpin­ned it fit for purpose.

The Australian understands the report is actually 1600 pages long but 300 are classified. The government’s full response will also be published on Friday.

The review was a recommendation of the 2017 independent intelligence review by experienced former bureaucrats Mich­ael L’Estrange and Stephen Merch­ant.

It considered legislation relatin­g to the six intelligence communities agencies as well as the Australian Federal Police, Australian Criminal Intel­ligence Commission, Aust­ralian Transaction Reports Centre and Departme­nt of Home Affairs.

The review took 18 months and the classified version of the report was delivered to government late last year. Government sources said its release was in part delayed due to COVID-19.