Australia's secret intelligence organisations made a string of bungles during the past financial year, according to the annual report by their watchdog.

In one case, the domestic spy agency ASIO bugged the wrong phone, while other officers risked penalties for impersonating Commonwealth officers when trying to give themselves so-called "light-cover" stories to hide their real jobs.

ASIO bugged the wrong phone line during an exercise but realised the error after seven minutes. Credit:Tanya Lake

ASIO agents handed out the wrong phone number to the targets of search warrants executed on numerous homes across Sydney last year.

In separate incidents, Australia's foreign spy agency, ASIS, sent private information about Australian citizens to foreign intelligence organisations without permission. It also spied on Australians without ministerial authorisation, had officers fire weapons they were not authorised to do and was chided about official record keeping.