Appointment of new IGIS
4 March 2026
On 20 February 2026, the Law Council welcomed the appointment of Mr Michael Barnes as the next Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS).
The IGIS is an independent statutory office holder appointed for a five-year term by the Governor-General under the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Act 1986 (Cth).
The office is responsible for the oversight and review of Australian intelligence agencies’ activities in terms of legality, propriety, and compliance with human rights. Law Council of Australia President, Tania Wolff, acknowledged the key role the IGIS plays in this “oversight framework that ensures the vital balance between individual rights and collective security”.
“As greater powers are afforded to our intelligence and security agencies, the IGIS’s responsibility to ensure that Australia’s clandestine services act legally, with propriety, and consistently with human rights, is more important than ever,” President Wolff said in a media release on the day of the appointment.
The jurisdiction of the IGIS was recently expanded by the Strengthening Oversight of the National Intelligence Community Act 2025 (Cth) (SONIC Act). This Act improved oversight by ensuring that intelligence services as well as other agencies performing an intelligence function were subject to a consistent and more effective oversight framework.
The SONIC Act also extended the IGIS’s oversight jurisdiction beyond the existing core intelligence services to include the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission as well as the intelligence functions of the Australian Transactions Reports and Analysis Centre, the Australian Federal Police, and the Department of Home Affairs.
The Law Council thanked the outgoing IGIS, the Hon Dr Christopher Jessup KC, for his tenure in this office.
Last Updated on 03/03/2026