Media advocates have raised major concerns about secrecy laws that could lead to journalists being jailed for breaches, during a Senate inquiry seven years after federal police raided the ABC and the home of a Sunday Telegraph reporter.
Call for Overhaul of Secrecy Laws
Australia's Right to Know Coalition (ARTK) told a Senate Committee that the government's secrecy legislation falls short of protecting media freedom and fails to comply with recommendations from reviews. The Secrecy Provisions Amendment (Repealing Offences) Bill 2026 aims to narrow secrecy laws so government insiders who disclose confidential information face prosecution. However, journalists could also be prosecuted for receiving and publishing leaked information and have no defence against 520 criminal offences under the legislation.
Evidence tabled by the Coalition detailed how the Bill fails to implement recommendations made by the Attorney-General's Department and the independent National Security Legislation Monitor. It warned the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee that democracy is at risk if secrecy laws can be used to prevent Australians from learning about maladministration or corruption.
AFP Raids Remembered
"Tomorrow marks exactly seven years since the Australian Federal Police raided the home of then-News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst," Free TV Australia Chief Executive Officer Bridget Fair said on behalf of the Coalition. "The very next day, the AFP raided the Sydney headquarters of the ABC. Those raids, targeting two entirely different public interest matters, sent shockwaves through the Australian media, the rule of law, and our democracy. They put a harsh spotlight on an undeniable truth: Australia's secrecy laws had become a direct threat to transparency and the vital role of the fourth estate."
Ms Fair told the Committee that journalists remain fully exposed to being prosecuted as accessories to "insider" offences when receiving information from a public sector source. "The Bill does not effectively support the needs of a well functioning democracy where journalists can, in the public interest, hold power to account," she said.
The AFP raided Ms Smethurst's Canberra home after a story was published in the Sunday Telegraph about government plans to expand domestic spy powers in June 2019. The story revealed top secret emails between Home Affairs Department Secretary Mike Pezzullo and Department Department Secretary Greg Moriarty, discussing plans to allow the cyber spy agency to snoop on Australian citizens without a warrant. The High Court later ruled the warrant authorising the search of Smethurst's property failed to meet the most basic legal requirements.
The Coalition warned that without proper protections, journalists could face jail for simply doing their jobs, undermining the public's right to know about government wrongdoing.
