The SIS knew a young woman was being sexually abused by her father but failed to lodge a complaint with the police, effectively allowing the abuse to continue for years.
A former SIS agent says he had photographic evidence of serious sexual abuse gathered during covert entries into the man's home for the SIS in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
He says he was rebuffed by his supervisor when he tried to get the police involved at the time and believes the SIS then tried to shut him down when he complained about the case this year.
The Minister Responsbile for the SIS Minister Andrew Little says he is "extraordinarily disappointed at the moral framework" of the intelligence agency at the time, which meant the sexual abuse was not refered to police.
Investigative journalist Guyon Espiner has the story.
