THE Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit (JCPAA) will be holding a hearing on Friday for its inquiry into the 2023–24 Defence Major Projects Report.
Date: Friday, 7 November 2025
Time: 9am – 11am (AEDT)
Venue: Committee Room 2S3, Parliament House
Witnesses: Department of Defence; Australian National Audit Office
The hearing will be broadcast live and will be accessible from the Parliament House website at https://www.aph.gov.au/live.
Details on the inquiry—including terms of reference and submissions—are available on the Committee’s website.
THE Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works (the committee) will be holding a site inspection and a series of public hearings on Friday (November 7) for three of its current inquiries.
The committee will conduct a site inspection at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisations (CSIRO) Black Mountain site in Canberra, with a public hearing at Australian Parliament House to follow.
The proposed works seek to replace critical infrastructure, including greenhouses, on Black Mountain which were damaged during the January 2020 hailstorm. The proposed works have a total estimated cost of $37.9 million.
The committee will conduct a public hearing into the Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO) proposed works which seek to fit-out levels 5 to 10 of its office at 152 Wharf St, Brisbane, Queensland. The proposed works have a total estimated cost of $29.17 million.
The committee will also conduct a public hearing into Services Australia’s proposed works which seek to fit-out its office at 90 Crown St, Wollongong, NSW. The proposed works have a total estimated cost of $22.34 million.
Mr Zappia MP said, "These public hearings will provide the committee with greater clarity about how the government continues to pursue the best value for taxpayer money in an evolving construction market."
The committee will hear from relevant officers from CSIRO, the ATO, and Services Australia at the hearings. Interested members of the public are encouraged to listen in to the public hearing via the APH website or attend the hearing in person at the location listed below.
Public hearing details
Date: Friday, 7 November 2025 Time: 10:15am–10:55am – CSIRO (AEDT) Time: 12:05pm–12:45pm – ATO (AEDT) Time: 2:20pm–3pm – Services Australia (AEDT) Location: Committee Room 1R4, Australian Parliament House
Note: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works is not involved in the tendering process, awarding of contracts or details of the proposed works. Enquiries on these matters should be directed to the relevant Commonwealth entities.
The Pacific Resilience Facility agreement proposes a regional financing mechanism aimed at supporting disaster preparedness and resilience initiatives in Pacific Island countries. The committee will examine the potential implications of Australia’s participation in this initiative.
The Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions sets out a framework for international cooperation to address match-fixing and related threats to the integrity of sport. The committee will assess the treaty’s relevance and potential impact on Australia’s existing legal and regulatory frameworks.
Further information about the inquiries, including the full treaty text and National Interest Analysis for both treaties are available on the inquiry website.
Submissions to each inquiry are open until Friday, November 21, 2025, and can be lodged online via the Committee website.
THE Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) has tabled its report on the review of the Strengthening Oversight of the National Intelligence Community Bill 2025 (the ‘SONIC’ Bill).
The SONIC Bill expands the oversight functions of the PJCIS and the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) to cover all 10 agencies of the National Intelligence Community, by including:
All of the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC); and
The ‘intelligence functions’ of the Australian Transaction Report and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Department of Home Affairs.
The Bill also strengthens the role of the PJCIS and broadens the own-motion powers of the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor (INSLM) in relation to all Commonwealth national security and counter-terrorism legislation.
PJCIS Chair, Senator Raff Ciccone, said, “The SONIC Bill represents the most significant reform to oversight of Australia’s intelligence community since the 1980s.
“The Bill delivers important and long-awaited reforms recommended by multiple independent reviews over successive Parliaments, ensuring Australia’s intelligence oversight framework evolves with the increasingly complex intelligence and security environment.
“The PJCIS plays a critical role in overseeing the national intelligence agencies and scrutinising national security legislation to ensure it remains necessary, proportionate and effective," Senator Ciccone said.
“The Bill also contains amendments affecting how the PJCIS operates, for example, allowing the PJCIS to bring areas of concern to the IGIS’s attention that may warrant review of particular operations.
“The committee has carefully reviewed these amendments and made several recommendations aimed at making the provisions as effective as possible," he said.
“Strong and effective oversight mechanisms are an essential part of advancing Australia’s national security interests and the measures in this Bill will ensure our intelligence oversight bodies are well placed to provide that assurance to the public – now and into the future.”
A full copy of the report and further information on the inquiry can be obtained from the committee’s website.
Committee Chair, Tim Watts MP, said, "Australia’s multicultural identity is a national asset. Our people, their lived experiences, and cultural knowledge are tools of influence that must be represented in our institutions.
"While we have more work to do to fully break the ‘bamboo ceiling’, Asian Australians have increasingly broken through into positions of leadership in our national institutions in recent times and have directly demonstrated the Asia Capabilities latent in our diaspora communities.
"However, these diaspora communities require support to build and maintain their Asia capabilities too. Asia capabilities, particularly language fluency, tends to diminish through the generations and requires real effort to maintain. Structured learning can increase impact of all forms of tacit cultural knowledge," Mr Watts said.
"The committee is looking forward to hearing firsthand perspectives in identifying structural and societal barriers to building Asia capability. This hearing will examine not only how to make the most of the existing Asia capabilities of our diaspora communities, but also how we can maintain and develop these capabilities into the future."
Submissions to the inquiry are open until Friday, November 7, and the committee will schedule further public hearings soon.
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