Reforms to Commonwealth secrecy offences
We are supporting the Australian Government to progress a comprehensive package of reforms to Commonwealth secrecy offences.
The government’s reforms implement the:
- Review of Commonwealth Secrecy Provisions
- Australian Government response to the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor review Secrecy Offences: Review of Part 5.6 of the Criminal Code Act 1995.
Review of Commonwealth Secrecy Provisions
We conducted a review of secrecy provisions across Commonwealth laws in 2023. This review addressed concerns raised by multiple reviews about the number, inconsistency, appropriateness and complexity of Commonwealth secrecy offences.
The government publicly released the final report of the review of secrecy provisions in November 2023 and agreed to the 11 recommendations.
Read the final report of the review of secrecy provisions as well as its terms of reference
Government response to the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor Secrecy Review
The Attorney-General tabled the Australian Government’s response to the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor review: Secrecy Offences: Review of Part 5.6 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (INSLM Secrecy Review) on 25 November 2024.