Experts Warn Home Affairs 'Drowning' Under New Hate Group Listing Regime
The Department of Home Affairs faces significant challenges in maintaining and enforcing a newly established designated hate group listing regime, according to former senior officials. Without a substantial boost in staffing and financial resources, the department will struggle to effectively implement the framework.
New Legislation and Enforcement Challenges
Under legislation passed last week, Home Affairs becomes responsible for identifying potentially thousands of individuals both overseas and within Australia who are involved with prohibited hate groups. The laws grant ASIO chief Mike Burgess authority to recommend groups for listing when the agency determines they have engaged in activities that could increase the risk of politically motivated violence.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has indicated that Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir and the recently disbanded neo-Nazi organisation, the National Socialist Network, could be among the first groups designated as illegal under the lowered threshold. The legislation also introduces increased penalties for hate preachers following December's Bondi attack.
Resource Concerns and Operational Strain
The bill's explanatory memorandum confirmed there were no financial implications tied to the legislative changes, leaving uncertainty about whether Home Affairs will receive additional resources to manage the new framework in this year's federal budget. Neither Minister Burke's office nor a Home Affairs spokesperson responded to questions regarding resource allocation.
Former Immigration deputy secretary Abul Rizvi expressed serious concerns about the department's capacity, stating that Home Affairs is already "drowning" under a high volume of visa applications. He warned that without substantial budget increases, the department would struggle to effectively monitor the new listing regime.
"Unless they put a huge amount of resources into listing these people it will probably not be as effective," Rizvi explained. "You've got to find their middle names, you've got to find their birth dates, you've got to find their passport numbers, that's a big job."
Application Volume and Investigative Complexity
Home Affairs received 9.5 million migration and temporary visa applications in the last year alone, with application volumes in the final quarter surging by 4 per cent compared to the previous year. This existing workload creates significant challenges for implementing the new hate group monitoring responsibilities.
Australian National University counter-terrorism expert Dr Levi West highlighted the complexity of the required work, noting uncertainty about how the department could undertake such tasks without additional funding and staffing, or by ceasing other activities.
"This process would require some form of investigation, intelligence or law enforcement assumedly, then analysis and verification, to inform the listing process," Dr West stated. "This in turn would then need something like a conventional prosecution process for those who breach the law, meaning additional work for investigators, prosecutors, etc."
Penalties and Ongoing Reviews
Individuals deemed to be members of proscribed hate groups face penalties of up to seven years imprisonment, with leaders potentially receiving maximum sentences of up to 15 years. The legislation represents a significant expansion of the government's powers to combat extremist organisations.
Meanwhile, former spy chief Dennis Richardson is conducting an internal review into federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies' handling of the Bondi attack, expected to be completed by the end of April. The probe is anticipated to examine why one of the alleged Bondi shooters may not have been placed on an electronic watchlist overseen by Home Affairs following an ASIO investigation in 2019.
The combination of existing operational pressures and new legislative responsibilities creates a challenging environment for Home Affairs, with experts warning that without adequate resourcing, the effectiveness of the hate group listing regime could be compromised.
