Public servants warned over social media security risk
Tony Burke said while the number of people publicly declaring they have a security clearance has fallen by 85 per cent, it still remained a problem.
Mr Burke said it will become a condition of a security clearance for the holder to not advertise it on social media.
"I get that people on their profiles want to make themselves as employable as possible for the next job, but the best way to show that you are worthy of future work is to be worthy of helping keep secrets," he told ABC Radio on Friday.
"That means you just must not be putting that sort of stuff up on social media so foreign people who want to engage in espionage and foreign interference ... should not begin with a simple Google search to see who are the people they would need to contact."
In an address on Thursday evening, ASIO director-general Mike Burgess said more than 35,000 Australians on a single professional networking site indicated they had access to classified or private information.
Almost 2500 people had boasted about having a security clearance.
Mr Burgess warned people were making it easier for them to be targeted by foreign agents.
Meanwhile, Mr Burke defended his decision not to announce a meeting with FBI director Kash Patel over dinner earlier this week due to security reasons.
"The visit to Australia was a personal visit, where he also engaged with a number of government authorities, and so there are simple security reasons why you wait sometimes for somebody to be out of the country," he said.
The meeting, which included Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw, was described by Mr Burke as "wide-ranging and warm".
Asked about criticism from the Greens that he met with the controversial figure, Mr Burke said it was his ministerial obligation to work with partners to keep Australians safe.
"There will never be a day where I have the choice between building a relationship to keep Australians safe and making political points about what happens in another country," he said.
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