A new national security agency combining Customs and Immigration officers will oversee Australia's borders, in what the Government is describing as "sweeping new changes" to how Australia's borders are managed.

 

Australian Border Force (ABF) will begin operating in July next year and will act as the nation's single frontline enforcement agency.

 

The combined mega-agency follows one of the recommendations in the Commission of Audit.

 

ABF will be led by a commissioner who will be the nation's "most senior border law enforcement officer" and will focus on border operations.

 

The commissioner will have the same standing as other security heads including the AFP Commissioner, Chief of the Defence Force and Director General of spy agency ASIO.

 

The commissioner will report directly to the Immigration Minister and their position will be enshrined in law.

 

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison says the combined agency will result in "hundreds of millions [of dollars] in savings" but says it is a "reform measure" not a "savings measure" and the money will be reinvested back into the ABF.

 

Mr Morrison predicts the ABF will be better able to crack down on revenue evasion and deliver more money into Treasury's coffers.

 

The Minister says ABF will be "intelligence-led, mobile" and "technology enabled", and will operate strategically to ensure officers are deployed "to greatest effect".

 

"Disciplined, uniformed Border Force officers, some armed, will carry out these tasks and will be supported by mobile and other portable technology which will enhance their ability to clear cargo, remotely access data and information, and wirelessly report back to Strategic Border Command," Mr Morrison told the Lowy Institute in Sydney.

 

The Federal Government is also planning to buy six new patrol boats so it can patrol inaccessible territories including rivers, estuaries and reefs. Three of them will be deployed in the Torres Strait.

 

A new intelligence agency and training college will also come under the auspices of the ABF, whose headquarters will be established in Canberra.