The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security is required under Section 29(1)(a) of the Intelligence Services Act 2001, to conduct an annual review of the administration, expenditure and financial statements of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS), Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation (AGO), Defence Intelligence Organisation (DIO), the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) and the Office of National Intelligence (ONI).

For the Committee’s review of the Administration and Expenditure of the Australian intelligence agencies, the Committee continues to seek evidence as to:

• each agency’s ability to meet its objectives within budget parameters; and
• the health of each agency’s financial statements and general administration.

More specifically, the Committee has determined that its 2019-20 review will focus on the following areas and is seeking submissions that specifically address:

• the impact of COVID-19 on agencies’ administration and expenditure;
• recruitment and retention, including positive vetting processes across the National Intelligence Community;
• the implications of a constantly evolving threat environment to agency’s administrative practices and expenditure; and
• the health of agencies’ cyber security, including cyber resilience.

As flagged in the Committee’s public statement for its Review of Administration and Expenditure No. 18 (2018–19), the Committee will explore in further detail any matters it may have identified through the evidence received from this review, as part of the 2019–20 review.

The Committee request submissions to the inquiry by Friday, 4 December 2020.

Making a submission
Prospective submitters are advised that any submission to the inquiry must be prepared solely for the inquiry and should not be published prior to being accepted by the Committee. Further information about making a submission to a committee inquiry can be found at www.aph.gov.au/makesubmission.