DPFX and Director-General of Security

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application by an individual, referred to as the Applicant, to review an adverse security assessment (ASA) issued by the Director-General of Security (the Respondent). The Applicant, a member of the Australian Army Reserves, sought to challenge the ASA which recommended the revocation of his NV1 security clearance. The assessment was based on concerns regarding his associations with individuals holding neo-Nazi and white supremacist ideologies, his alleged dishonesty and concealment of information during the security assessment process, and a breach of a confidentiality undertaking.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether there were reasonable grounds to support the adverse security assessment, specifically concerning the Applicant's suitability to protect security-classified information. This involved determining if the Applicant's associations, conduct, and omissions demonstrated a risk to security, and whether these factors were consistent with the Protective Security Policy Framework and its personnel security adjudicative guidelines. The Tribunal also had to consider the impact of certificates issued under the *Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975* (Cth) and the *ASIO Act 1979* (Cth), which resulted in certain information being withheld from the Applicant and his legal representatives.

The Tribunal reasoned that the Applicant had not demonstrated the requisite level of honesty, openness, and maturity necessary to protect security-classified information. While acknowledging the Applicant's submissions regarding his changed circumstances and his own evidence, the Tribunal found that the evidence, including the closed material, supported the conclusion that the Applicant had deliberately omitted information and concealed relevant facts during the security assessment process. This conduct, coupled with his associations, led the Tribunal to conclude that he posed a risk to security.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the adverse security assessment issued by ASIO on 14 May 2021, meaning the Applicant's NV1 security clearance was not reinstated.