Australia's domestic security agency, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), is responsible for collecting and analysing intelligence of relevance to Australia's national security, and advising Government accordingly. As specified in the ASIO Act 1979, ASIO's investigations are restricted to only those activities involving espionage, sabotage, politically motivated violence, the promotion of communal violence, foreign interference...

Raids conducted by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in June 2003 on the homes of Iranian Australians reportedly suspected of involvement with the Iranian opposition group, the MeK, have raised questions about the justification for such action, particularly as the MeK is not a proscribed organisation in Australia.

Claims by the federal government that Australia is potentially at risk of an attack by Hezbollah, a group blamed for a number of terrorist attacks worldwide, have led to the introduction of amendments to the criminal code which would provide a mechanism to proscribe Hezbollah. If passed, Hezbollah will be the first organisation banned in...