THE veil of secrecy obscuring what Australia knew about Indonesia's 1975 invasion of East Timor will be pulled back a little, after a successful court challenge against the censorship of secret intelligence briefings.

It follows a four-year battle with the government waged by an Australian Defence Force Academy academic, Clinton Fernandes, to reveal what he believes is evidence of Australian complicity in the invasion, which led to a bloody 24-year occupation.

The documents may also shed light on the fate of the five Australian-based newsmen killed in the East Timorese border town of Balibo in October 1975, when the Indonesians swept through.

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal ruled yesterday that about 250 lines in a total 42 intelligence ''situation reports'' written by the Joint Intelligence Organisation (JIO) should not have been censored.

Once the national archives has reinstated the relevant lines, Dr Fernandes will be able to inspect the reports, dated between October 1 and December 31, 1975.