Former Department of Defence and Australian Defence Force personnel who held access to sensitive information or higher-level security clearances have been officially warned they could need to check whether they will banned from working for foreign governments and state interests for up to 10 years.
Defence on Tuesday issued its toughest public warning yet to current and former staff that as of May 6, 2024, they are bound by the Safeguarding Australia’s Military Secrets Act 2024, which codifies and toughens restrictions and permissions for working for foreign interests.
The crackdown on Australians working for foreign governments comes as the Albanese government puts a range of new personnel security measures in place for military contractors and defence industries that are rapidly expanding under the AUKUS arrangements. Secretary of the Department of Defence Greg Moriarty has stressed is not an alliance, but a security partnership.
Whatever it is, the government has acknowledged that Australia will need to let a lot more cleared and vetted foreign defence industry, government and military personnel working in Australia to get the massive program up and running, including the local manufacturing of missiles and ordnance.
While the return to local manufacturing will create a jobs boom in the defence and sovereign industry sector, Defence and security agencies are also hedging against local talent being poached or lured by competing national interests seeking access to restricted or protected skill sets.
“There’s a number of exclusions people need to check and, if they fall into one, no problem,” first assistant secretary for Defence Security Peter West said.
“But if they don’t, you will need to fill in the online form, then we’ll assess if the work raises any national security issues.”
The Defence security chief was not shy about providing real-world and contemporary examples of how and where things can come unstuck, especially when a contractor or shell company doing the hiring may be used to cover for a foreign government that is the end beneficiary.
“You could be working for Boeing, a big US company, but if Boeing were employed by the Indian government to do flight training, you would be impacted by the legislation because India is the end beneficiary, not Boeing,” West said.
The reference to India is a pointed one, especially after Australian officials reportedly confirmed the expulsion of Indian intelligence service operatives from Australia.
In March 2021, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Director-General Mike Burgess used the agency’s annual threat assessment to reveal a “nest of spies” had been uncovered and sent packing, but did not attribute the operation to a nation.
While unofficial attribution initially revolved around Russia being the most probable suspect, that narrative has since changed to India being on the back of the Washington Post report.
Defence is also stressing that the new employment restrictions regime spans into areas, including computing and aviation.
“The Safeguarding Australia’s Military Secrets Act 2024 also applies to Australian citizens or permanent residents training in military tactics and use of software or technology with military applications,” Defence said.
“The Act follows a 2022 review into reports of China recruiting pilots from Five-Eyes countries to train carrier pilots.”
In fact, it really is down to Defence as to what is regarded as problematic, with the agency saying that “the legislation doesn’t exclude any specific types of work, so generic services such as cleaning could still require authorisation.”
“It gets very difficult being too specific. We can quickly approve the proposals that are innocuous and worry about the ones that could lead to the exposure of sensitive information,” West said.
However, restrictions in areas like computing and software development are unlikely to be uncontested by parts of the research community and academia that have previously pushed back against blanket over-classification of potential threats, especially dual-use technologies. The Group of Eight (G8) in 2018 went on the offensive against Defence’s efforts to obtain entry, search and seizure powers at the last minute as part of a legislative review of the Defence Trade Controls Act (DTC Act).
Part of that friction is that while Defence once used fairly specific or bespoke technology builds for its needs, including enterprise solutions, the military has also embraced far greater use of commercial off-the-shelf solutions where they are often a better, faster and cheaper solution.
The prime example in the AUKUS mix is the Virginia Class submarine, the latest models of which feature a heavy, aviation-style joystick to control a fully digital photonics mast (née periscope) with an X-Box controller. The innovation saves millions but also makes the photonics mast far more usable for a far greater number of submariners and crew.
However, despite the new post-Defence employment restrictions coming into force, the reality is there will likely be far more Australians working in or alongside foreign militaries, and their contractors and foreigners working here, because of the step-shift in posture and capability now underway.
“The requirement [to check an employer] lasts one, five or 10 years after discharge depending on someone’s Defence role and the sensitivity of the information they worked with,” Defence said. “There could be exceptions for jobs with Five-Eyes countries, Australian government activities or UN work.”
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