ASIO, Secrecy and Lack of Accountability

Abstract

This article seeks to place the debate generated by the counter-terrorism legislation enacted in Australia since 2002 and, in particular, the expanded powers afforded to the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) within an historical context. The author particularly examines the powers granted to ASIO to secretly detain and interrogate people without charge, together with the agency’s expanded powers to carry out surveillance. He argues that, on the basis of the historical record, there is a danger that these capacities will be exploited for political purposes. The author further suggests that these dangers are heightened by the lack of any effective legal scrutiny of ASIO’s assessments of national security.

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