Security agencies to operate under new Home Affairs umbrella

Australia’s security agencies will retain their independence but report to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Peter Dutton will be the new Home Affairs minister. Picture: Gary Ramage

The creation of a new super portfolio will see Australia’s security agencies retaining their statutory independence, but housed for the first time within a single ministry of home affairs and presided over by a powerful senior minister.

The shake-up will also mean the functions of the Immigration Department will be absorbed into the establishment of a new ­Department of Home Affairs — the only departmental merger arising from the shake-up.

The decision to press ahead with a new home affairs portfolio is thought to have a neutral impact on public service numbers, with some staff being drawn into the new department from the ­Attorney-General’s Department and others drawn from Immigration.

The home affairs portfolio will be similar to the Home Office of Britain in which a central department provides strategic planning, co-ordination and support to a “federation” of independent ­security agencies.

These include the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Border Force, the Australian Criminal ­Intelligence Commission and the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre.

These agencies will no longer fall under the responsibility of the Attorney-General, George Brandis, but will instead be shifted into the domain of the new Home ­Affairs Minister, Peter Dutton.

While Justice Minister Michael Keenan has responsibility for the AFP, he does not sit in cabinet and he serves as the junior minister to the Attorney-General.

Malcolm Turnbull also clarified Senator Brandis would continue to issue warrants under the ASIO Act as well as ministerial authorisations under the Intelligence Services Act, triggering fears the changes could result in a double-up of red-tape.

Government sources said this “double approval” process was similar to the arrangement in Britain in which urgent warrant applications would first go to the Home Secretary before needing to be ­approved by a judicial commissioner within a 72-hour window.

Preliminary work on the shake-up was conducted by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, with the overhaul ­expected to take effect next year following the establishment of a special taskforce to manage the implementation. No firm figures were provided by government ­yesterday detailing the cost of the bureaucratic shake-up.

Government sources suggested the alignment of security agencies within the same portfolio would help the government in devising policy solutions to complex challenges like the return of foreign fighters from the Middle East.

Other changes will also be made to strengthen the Attorney-General’s oversight of the intelligence community. Under the shake-up, the independent statutory agencies of the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security as well as the independent National Security Legislation Monitor will be incorporated into the Attorney-General’s portfolio.

Several other important changes were also announced following a review of Australia’s ­intelligence community conducted by former Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade secretary Michael L’Estrange and a former director of the Defence Signals ­Directorate Stephen Merchant.

These include the establishment of a new Office of National Intelligence, headed by a director of national intelligence, which will absorb the Office of National Assessments. The Australian Signals Directorate will also be elevated to a statutory agency within the ­Defence portfolio.