New national security laws, which could see journalists jailed for up to 10 years, are likely to restrict the legitimate scrutiny of Australia's security agencies, according to human rights commissioner Tim Wilson.
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The first tranche of the federal government's national security reforms passed the Senate last week with the support of the Coalition, Labor and the Palmer United Party. They are expected to sail through the House of Representatives when they are introduced this week.
The bill states that anyone – including journalists or bloggers – who discloses information about an ASIO "special intelligence operation" faces five years in jail. If the disclosure endangers anyone's health or safety or the effective conduct of an operation they face 10 years in jail.
"The law is too broad," Tim Wilson, who was appointed to the Human Rights Commission by Attorney-General George Brandis last year, said.
"There is the potential for botched operations to go unreported when ASIO really needs to be held accountable.
"Security operations should not be reported on if lives are at risk or if they are current operations. The media would usually approach this in a cautious and considered manner."
Mr Wilson, a former policy analyst at the libertarian Institute of Public Affairs, is known as the "freedom commissioner" because of his commitment to civil and political rights such as freedom of expression.
The union representing journalists, the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, has described the new penalties as an "outrageous attack on press freedom".
Mr Wilson said he was comfortable with other contentious elements of the reforms – including harsher penalties for intelligence officers who leak confidential information. Public sector whistleblowers should go to their superiors with any concerns rather than the media, he said.
Mr Wilson said he was also unconcerned that ASIO would be able to theoretically access an unlimited number of computer networks with a warrant. It would be "absurd" for ASIO to seek to monitor the entire internet, he said.
Senator Brandis has said the laws are not aimed at journalists.
Labor sources said they had been convinced that only highly reckless reporting would be penalised and that a slight rebalancing to security over press freedom was justified in the present climate.
Labor believes only a small number of operations – fewer than 10 – will be classed as "special intelligence operations" each year.
The opposition is expected to take a tougher approach to the second tranche of national security reforms which, among other things, will allow the Foreign Affairs Minister to declare countries such as Syria and Iraq as "no-go zones". Anyone returning from a proscribed area would be compelled to prove they had not been engaging in terror-related activity.
