Nearly 200 documents and a Department of Defence witness statement will now be suppressed after the Queensland magistrate found national security outweighed the principle of open justice.
Kira Korolev, a 42-year-old Russian-born Australian Army private, and Igor Korolev, a self-employed labourer aged in his early 60s, were arrested in Brisbane in July 2024.
The Korolevs were charged with one count each of preparing for an espionage offence and held in custody on remand.
The Australian Department of Defence and Australian Federal Police on Monday made applications for non-publication orders in Brisbane Magistrates Court.
Barrister Dylan Kerr, acting for both government agencies, told Deputy Chief Magistrate Anthony Gett the orders were needed to protect Australia's defence capabilities and those of its partner nations.
"It's been a substantial body of work to review hundreds of documents and assess thousands of pages for potential harms to national security," Mr Kerr said.
Mr Gett approved the applications in the interest of protecting Australia and its people as well as the security of foreign partners.
"When balancing the principles of power vested in this court and noting the nature of the importance of open justice, it seems to me the orders should be made," Mr Gett said.
The suppression orders do not prevent the Korolevs' defence lawyers from reviewing the evidence.
The orders also cover only part of the brief of evidence, which Mr Gett previously heard now totals more than a million pages of documents and several seized electronic devices.
The names of multiple Australian Federal Police and Department of Defence witnesses will also be kept secret and referred to by pseudonyms in court.
Police allege Kira Korolev travelled to Russia without declaring it to authorities while on long-term leave from the defence force in 2023 and coached her husband to access her official work account.
She is accused of guiding her husband on how to access specific information and send it to her private email account while in Russia.
If one or both of the Korolevs face a committal hearing to determine if they should face trial, some evidence and witnesses will have to be heard in closed court, Mr Gett was told.
The magistrate asked Mr Kerr if there needed to be a special provision for the court to prevent "inadvertent leaks or error" around the Korolevs' court files.
Mr Kerr said he would not see an order about court security.
"A locked cabinet or locked safe would be ideal," he said.
Queensland's chief magistrate's chambers will now work with the office of the Australian government solicitor to determine how to keep the Korolev case files secure ahead of any committal hearing.
The Korolevs' barristers did not oppose the non-publication orders.
Mr Gett ordered the couple remain in custody on remand before their case's next court mention on May 11.
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