PJCIS supports reform to strengthen oversight of Australia’s intelligence agencies

THE Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) has tabled its report on the review of the Strengthening Oversight of the National Intelligence Community Bill 2025 (the ‘SONIC’ Bill).

The SONIC Bill expands the oversight functions of the PJCIS and the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) to cover all 10 agencies of the National Intelligence Community, by including:

• All of the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC); and
• The ‘intelligence functions’ of the Australian Transaction Report and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Department of Home Affairs.

The Bill also strengthens the role of the PJCIS and broadens the own-motion powers of the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor (INSLM) in relation to all Commonwealth national security and counter-terrorism legislation.

PJCIS Chair, Senator Raff Ciccone, said, “The SONIC Bill represents the most significant reform to oversight of Australia’s intelligence community since the 1980s.

“The Bill delivers important and long-awaited reforms recommended by multiple independent reviews over successive Parliaments, ensuring Australia’s intelligence oversight framework evolves with the increasingly complex intelligence and security environment.

“The PJCIS plays a critical role in overseeing the national intelligence agencies and scrutinising national security legislation to ensure it remains necessary, proportionate and effective," Senator Ciccone said.

“The Bill also contains amendments affecting how the PJCIS operates, for example, allowing the PJCIS to bring areas of concern to the IGIS’s attention that may warrant review of particular operations.

“The committee has carefully reviewed these amendments and made several recommendations aimed at making the provisions as effective as possible," he said.

“Strong and effective oversight mechanisms are an essential part of advancing Australia’s national security interests and the measures in this Bill will ensure our intelligence oversight bodies are well placed to provide that assurance to the public – now and into the future.”

A full copy of the report and further information on the inquiry can be obtained from the committee’s website.

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