Overview
- Attorney‑General Michelle Rowland granted parole on Thursday and McBride will be released from the Alexander Maconochie Centre to serve the remaining three years of his five‑year‑eight‑month sentence in the community under supervision and conditions.
- McBride pleaded guilty in 2024 to three federal charges, including theft for taking and sharing classified defence material, and had served about two years and three months when he became eligible for parole.
- Parole authority remained with the Commonwealth because federal offenders are still overseen by the attorney‑general’s office; parliament passed laws in April to create an independent federal parole board but that body is not yet operational.
- McBride disclosed in a statement that he has been diagnosed with treatable early‑stage lung cancer and will undergo surgery and a period of recovery after his release, a development his lawyer and supporters said helped inform calls for his immediate freedom.
- The case traces back to McBride’s 2017 leak that led to the ABC’s Afghan Files, police raids and public debate over whistleblower protections and national security, and the parole decision is likely to intensify scrutiny of how federal parole and whistleblower policy are handled.