A former spy known only as Witness K has returned to court over a bugging scandal involving East Timor.
The ex-intelligence officer is poised to plead guilty to conspiring to share secret information with the East Timorese government in relation the 2004 diplomatic scandal.
After a brief procedural hearing in the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday morning, his case was adjourned until September 13.
Witness K faces potential jail time for sharing information about the bugging of the prime minister's office in Dili by Australian foreign agents.
At the time, Australia and East Timor were negotiating a lucrative oil and gas deal.
His lawyer Bernard Collaery faces the same charge but intends to fight it in the ACT Supreme Court.
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Concerns have been raised by senior legal figures that the cases will be shrouded in secrecy, with the media kicked out of proceedings.
But Attorney-General Christian Porter told the ABC this week he had confidence the courts would strike the right balance between the need to protect national security and the principle of open and transparent proceedings.
He said as far as possible the cases should be conducted in open court.
Mr Porter stands by the decision to prosecute, which was based on the commonwealth prosecutor's independent assessment of the evidence and external expert legal opinion.
Former East Timor president Xanana Gusmao offered to provide the courts with information on what he knew of the matter.
He has also called for the prosecutions to be dropped.
AAP
