Following decades of investment, legislative reform, and structural adaptation to changing threats, Australia’s national security apparatus is now one of the most complex and sophisticated in the world. Yet, the parliamentary and ministerial structures for guiding Australia’s national security institutions have evolved surprisingly little.

The result is that Australia’s Parliament and Cabinet face a number of limitations to scrutinising and guiding our security and intelligence organisations.

This policy options paper proposes reforms to bolster the capacity of our leaders to hold national security institutions accountable as Australia moves into an era of heightened strategic complexity and risk.