Australia will "likely continue to be behind the curve" in responding to foreign interference and espionage, as technological advancements embolden our adversaries, Home Affairs warned its new minister in the middle of the year. In a briefing document handed to incoming Home Affairs Minister, Tony Burke, and released to The Canberra Times under freedom-of-information legislation, the department spelled out the challenges the federal government faces in responding to our primary security threat. "Australia is the target of sophisticated and persistent activity from nation states. They do this primarily for political and economic leverage, with some actors pre-positioning for higher-end acts of sabotage and destruction (and the ability to coerce Australia accordingly)," a summary of the overarching strategic environment reads. "We have severe challenges in trying to mitigate those threats, particularly as the open and inclusive nature of our systems, institutions and communities makes us particularly vulnerable to exploitation." William Stoltz, an expert associate at the Australian National University's National Security College, said this vulnerability refers to Australia's free press, free elections, and a relatively unconstrained online environment. "Adversaries exploit freedom of speech to spread disinformation; they exploit election contests to try and create social division, and they exploit privacy protections to prepare malicious activities beyond the reach of law enforcement and intelligence agencies," he said. Though parts of the document are redacted, an edited version reveals the department also singled out the online environment, and the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) for the minister's attention. "Technological advancements and increasingly proficient mis- and dis-information powered by artificial intelligence (AI) will make it challenging to stay ahead of threat actors and we will likely to continue to be behind the curve," it reads. Australia's top spy, Mike Burgess, has been amplifying his efforts to draw attention to foreign espionage ploys against Australia in annual threat assessments for several years. Mr Burgess, the director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, this year spectacularly singled out a former Australian politician, who he said had "sold out their country" to foreign spies several years ago. He did not release the identity of the politician, setting off media speculation and reaction which kept his warning in the public domain for weeks. Dr Stoltz said Australia was responding as fast as it could, with new technical capabilities, and legislation enabling new powers, demanding time. "Threat actors, whether they are foreign spies, cyber criminals, or terrorists are always going to be faster than government agencies at taking up new technologies and adapting to new environments because they are, by their very nature, acting without constraints and acting beyond the law," he said. Nigel Phair, a Professor of Cybersecurity at Monash University, agreed with this assessment, saying Australia is not "anymore behind the curve [than] some other similarly advanced economies". "But this is a journey which will never end and we need to adjust our tools and techniques constantly as the threat evolves. "AI will play a big role and there needs to be more guidance across government ... for how organisations should address any threats, yet gain as much advantage as possible from this tool set." Aside from the threat of cyber attacks, the department briefed Mr Burke on the counter-terrorism environment, reiterating concerns about lone-actor, spontaneous attacks in the context of deteriorating social cohesion and trust in government. "We now face a threat that involves a potentially increasing number of disturbed individuals motivated by multiple external factors to perpetrate violence in the community or against government targets," the brief reads. It also calls attention to the devolving nature of national security, which experts - and the department - say Australia is still adapting to. "A key theme across all issues that we are grappling with is that the Commonwealth does not hold the levers to mitigate threats and risks directly," the brief states. READ MORE: "We need to work in partnership with other portfolios, government agencies, with businesses and with communities to have the effect we desire. "Solving national security issues are no longer solely the provenance of national security agencies, and we need to be prepared to share more and partner better to make changes." Dr Stoltz said bolstering this network should start with state authorities, whose training and capability to respond to foreign interference is "patchy at best". "State police forces are more likely than not to be the first people contacted or to encounter instances of foreign interference and espionage in the community, for example if a diaspora group are being harassed by foreign agents as is sometimes the case among Australian-Chinese [communities]," he said. "We've had great success at empowering state police forces to address the threat of terrorism, and the approach should be the same here, because federal agencies are simply not going to be able to deal with every instances that occurs."