The Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) has revealed it gave some 100,000 sensitive government emails to a third-party that did not have the necessary security clearance.
DPS gave law firm HWL Ebsworth the correspondence in 2023 – the same year the firm was hacked in a Russia-linked attack.
DPS secretary Jaala Hinchcliffe said all involved were cleared to receive the emails when she appeared before senate estimates in October.
But fronting the Senate Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee on Monday, she admitted that was false.
HWL Ebsworth used analytics group Transperfect Legal to sift through parliamentary inboxes.
One of the Transperfect Legal’s contractors did not have the needed security clearance, Ms Hinchcliffe said.
Liberal senator James McGrath says the Department of Parliamentary Services has ‘serious questions to answer’. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman
“We have a situation where an individual, without the required security clearance, was given access to highly sensitive data relating to the safety and security of everyone who works at Parliament House — without a second thought,” Liberal Senator James McGrath said.
“In my 11 years in the parliament I have never seen such blatant negligence.”
He added there were “serious questions to answer”.
