Intelligence and government authorities are actively discussing how they will combat foreign actors who are spreading fake information. There is understood to be agreement among senior officials that there is a need for Australian authorities to do more and they are currently considering the best way to do this.

Sources said one of the issues problems is making sure the Australian public is informed. Some players believe sunlight on the issues presented in fake news and other cyber-information operations is part of the answer. By bringing to public in, they can understand what is happening and hopefully dispel any attempts to use false stories. However, the mechanisms for doing so are in their infancy.

In June, the Australian Electoral Commission, Department of Home Affairs, the Australian Cyber Security Centre and Australian Security Intelligence Organisation set up the Electoral Integrity Assurance Task Force.

Facebook, Google and Twitter are all in regular discussions with government authorities to weed out election tampering on their platforms. All three have been working on new measures to fight fake news. Google and Twitter declined to comment.

"We're also aware, however, that there are people who want to abuse our platform to harm the democratic process," a Facebook spokeswoman said.

"This is something we are strongly committed to preventing, and we're taking a number of steps to protect and preserve the integrity of upcoming elections around the world. Australia is no exception."

ASIO director-general Duncan Lewis, during a parliamentary committee hearing in March, noted "the unprecedented nature of the threat" of espionage against Australia.

"Hostile foreign spies are currently conducting harmful activity against Australia on an unprecedented scale," Mr Lewis said.


He noted cyber attacks simply did not exist when intelligence activity against Australia was last at its peak during the Cold War.

"The point here is that we are in a new and unexplored cyber-threat environment," Mr Lewis said.

An ASIO spokesperson said consistent with long standing practice, ASIO does not comment on intelligence matters.

A Department of Home Affairs spokesperson said the Electoral Integrity Assurance Task Force was established to ensure risks to Australian elections are identified and dealt with.

"The Australian Electoral Commission is statutorily responsible for the conduct of elections and other agencies on the Task Force will assist the Commission with technical advice and expertise," they said.

"This is a precautionary measure, which in this age of increasing levels of cyber-enabled interference and disruption, will need to become the norm. It is not targeted at any specific threat actor or impending malicious action."