URGENT: The Senate could vote on this from Monday 22 June 2026.

This petition is starting to move, but we are fast running out of time.

The ASIO Amendment Bill puts ordinary people at risk of being subjected to invasive counter-terrorism powers that many comparable democracies would never accept as normal.

In the United States, a proposal like this would run straight into the Fifth Amendment and provoke a constitutional firestorm. Yet here in Australia, it is being rushed toward a Senate vote with far too little public debate.

In the next few weeks, we need to reach enough Australians to spark a real democratic conversation, and show the Senate that it needs to slow down before writing such coercive and rights-eroding powers into law.

Please repost this on social media so more Australians can have their say before the Senate votes.

The ASIO Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2025 threatens to expand the reach of government surveillance and compulsory questioning powers, risking the use of invasive counter-terrorism tools against ordinary citizens. This is exactly the kind of proposal Australians should debate openly and extensively. These powers affect fundamental freedoms, privacy, legal rights, and the relationship between citizens and the state. Yet the bill is moving through Parliament without the level of public attention and democratic scrutiny that such a serious expansion deserves.

My video about the risks can be found here.

If passed, this bill would grant sweeping and permanent powers to intelligence agencies, eroding individual liberties in the name of national security. The potential for abuse, mission creep, and long-term damage to civil liberties is too serious to ignore. If these powers are made permanent, they will not only be available to today’s government, but also to any future government decades from now, including one that may be far less restrained. Once rights are ceded, reclaiming them becomes an uphill battle.

We, the undersigned, believe that citizens’ rights should not be allowed to quietly evaporate through permanent counter-terrorism powers that most Australians have barely had a chance to scrutinise. For these reasons, we call on the Australian Senate to halt the advancement of the ASIO Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2025 until there has been thorough, public, and accessible debate about its necessity, risks, proportionality, and safeguards.

VIDEOS

Zali Steggall MP - Zali Steggall MP speaks against ASIO overreach
Punter's Politics - ASIO Can Now Legally Abduct You (And You Can't Tell Anyone)
Aussie Overlaw'd - ASIO's Compulsory Questioning Powers Just Got Scarier
Constitutional Clarion - Is the ASIO Bill Constitutionally Valid?
Australian Citizens Party - Repeal, don't expand, ASIO's authoritarian secret police powers

WRITTEN PIECES

Law Council of Australia - Extraordinary ASIO powers should not become permanent without further justification
NSW Council for Civil Liberties - Joint Councils for Civil Liberties Submission to Terrifying ASIO Powers
Tom McIlroy / The Guardian - Asio's 9/11-era questioning powers to become permanent despite warnings from human rights advocates
Marcus Reubenstein / Michael West Media - Civil liberties. Senate to approve extraordinary ASIO powers
Paul Gregoire / Sydney Criminal Lawyers - ASIO's Police State Compulsory Questioning Powers to Be Made Permanent
Paul Gregoire / Sydney Criminal Lawyers - ASIO's Compulsory Questioning Regime to Be Expanded and Made Permanent
Aslan Shand / The Echo - Balancing safety and individual rights
Allegra Spender MP - Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Amendment Bill (No 2) 2025
Zali Steggall MP - Zali Steggall MP speak against ASIO child laws
Australians for Better Government - Security Must Not Come at the Expense of Australian Freedoms
Australian Citizens Party - Stop Permanent Secret Police Powers