Block the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2025
Petition to the Honourable President and Members of the Senate in Parliament Assembled
The petition of the undersigned citizens of Australia respectfully shows:
That the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2025 seeks to make substantial and permanent changes to Division 3 of Part III of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979 (the ASIO Act), particularly by repealing the existing sunset clause in section 34JF. This clause was originally inserted when the compulsory questioning powers were introduced in 2003 and has required periodic parliamentary review and extension (now due to expire on 7 March 2027).
These compulsory questioning powers are extraordinary in nature. They authorise ASIO to compel individuals — who need not be suspects or charged with any offence — to attend secret questioning sessions, answer questions under threat of imprisonment for non-compliance, and face significant restrictions on legal representation and procedural safeguards. The powers engage fundamental common law rights, including the privilege against self-incrimination, the right to silence, freedom of association, and protections against arbitrary interference with liberty and privacy.
When these measures were first enacted over two decades ago, Parliament rightly recognised their intrusive character by making them temporary, subject to regular scrutiny through a sunset mechanism. This has allowed successive reviews by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS), independent oversight bodies, and the Parliament itself to assess necessity, effectiveness, and proportionality in light of the evolving security environment. Multiple extensions have occurred, but the sunset clause has preserved democratic accountability.
Removing the sunset clause would entrench these broad coercive powers indefinitely, without the automatic requirement for fresh parliamentary debate and re-authorisation. This shift risks normalising exceptional powers that were intended as temporary responses to specific threats. Concerns have been raised by legal bodies, including the Law Council of Australia and state law societies, that permanent entrenchment — especially alongside any expansions of the grounds for issuing questioning warrants (such as to sabotage, promotion of communal violence, or threats to territorial integrity) — could undermine public trust in intelligence agencies and weaken safeguards against potential misuse or mission creep over time.
While national security remains a paramount responsibility of government, history demonstrates that extraordinary powers granted in times of perceived threat can endure beyond their original justification if not subject to rigorous, periodic re-evaluation. Retaining the sunset clause would ensure continued oversight, allow future Parliaments to adapt the framework to changing circumstances, and reinforce the principle that coercive state powers over citizens must remain exceptional and justified, not permanent fixtures of the legal landscape.
Your petitioners therefore ask the Senate to:
1. Oppose any amendments or provisions in the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2025 that would repeal or remove the sunset clause applying to Division 3 of Part III of the ASIO Act.
2. Support the retention (and, if appropriate, extension) of the existing sunset clause to maintain periodic parliamentary review and accountability.
3. Ensure that any reforms to ASIO’s compulsory questioning powers include robust, mandatory independent reviews at regular intervals to assess their ongoing necessity, effectiveness, proportionality, and impact on civil liberties.
4. Reject the permanent entrenchment of these extraordinary powers without further democratic scrutiny.
Adrian Rees Contact the author of the petition