Abstract
This article examines recent amendments to the Intelligence Services Act 2001 (Cth) (IS Act). The amendments provide Australian Secret Intelligence Service staff and agents with additional protection from Australian criminal prosecution when using force under certain circumstances in overseas jurisdictions. The authors assert that while well-intentioned, and despite new and existing oversight provisions, the amendments allow pre-emptive use of force that could potentially be used to justify carrying out extraterritorial killings of Australians and foreign nationals, thereby breaching the lawful boundaries of Australian Secret Intelligence Service’s functions.
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