Australians targeted by autocratic regimes on our shores will be protected and sensitive technology cordoned off in major changes to stop countries such as China and Iran from meddling in the nation’s affairs.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil has announced the Albanese government’s first reforms to bolster defences against foreign interference by countries trying to quash dissent in diaspora groups and secretly infiltrate media, universities and critical infrastructure.

Australians with Iranian, Chinese, Cambodian, Rwandan and Indian backgrounds have reported foreign agents harassing and assaulting them on local soil in recent years.

The government fears nations are learning from one another how to target people in other countries.

Some Australian subjects, including anti-Chinese Communist Party activists, have said their phone calls have not been followed up or adequately dealt with by authorities, prompting O’Neil to create a community hub providing mental health support, legal resources and advice for overseas travel.

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“This world-leading package of reforms addresses emerging elements of this constantly evolving threat,” O’Neil said in a statement.

A senior intelligence source, not authorised to share classified information publicly, said foreign agents were befriending and bribing bank workers, university staff and policemen to gather the home addresses and financial details of Australians critical of countries from which their families hailed.

In one case cited by the source, a foreign agent hired an Australian private investigator to snoop around the home of a target and asked how much it would cost to have them “disappeared”.