Although the Minister for Foreign Affairs is accountable to Parliament for ASIS on a day-to-day basis, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) forms a crucial oversight role for all Australian Intelligence Community (AIC) agencies.
The functions of the PJCIS are set out in section 29 of the Intelligence Services Act. In addition to reviewing the administration and expenditure of ASIS and the other AIC agencies, the PJCIS examines any matters relating to the agencies that have been referred to it by the responsible minister or through a resolution from either House of Parliament.
The activities of the PJCIS provide significant parliamentary oversight of the intelligence community.
The PJCIS’s review of administration and expenditure is conducted at least annually and the findings are published in its annual report. The PJCIS may initiate its own inquiries into aspects of AIC administration and expenditure.
The PJCIS’s focus on budget and administration reflects the complementary role that the Committee serves when compared to the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) who deals with legality and propriety issues, including the detailed operational activities of intelligence and security agencies.
