Australian Intelligence Community
The Australian Intelligence Community and the National Intelligence Community or National Security Community of the Australian Government are the collectives of statutory intelligence agencies, policy departments, and other government agencies concerned with protecting and advancing the national security and national interests of the Commonwealth of Australia. The intelligence and security agencies of the Australian Government have evolved since the Second World War and the Cold War and saw transformation and expansion during the global war on terrorism with military deployments in Afghanistan, Iraq and against ISIS in Syria. Key international and national security issues for the Australian Intelligence Community include terrorism and violent extremism, cybersecurity, transnational crime, the rise of China, and Pacific regional security.
The National Security Committee of Cabinet is a Cabinet committee and the peak Australian Government decision-making body for national security, intelligence, foreign policy, and defence matters. It is chaired by the Prime Minister and is composed of the Deputy Prime Minister, Attorney-General, Treasurer, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister for Defence, and Minister for Home Affairs.
History
During World War I, in January 1916, the UK Government established an Australian branch of the Imperial Counter Espionage Bureau, known as the Australian Special Intelligence Bureau. In 1919 the Commonwealth Police Force and the Special Intelligence Bureau merged to form the Investigation Branch.During World War II Commonwealth Security Service was established.
In 1946 Commonwealth Investigation Service took over security intelligence functions. In 1949 Australian Security Intelligence Organisation was established.
In the late 1940s the Australian Government established a foreign intelligence organisation in the Department of Defence. In 1952 it became the Australian Secret Service, renamed as the Australian Secret Intelligence Service in 1954.
In 1947 a permanent signals intelligence agency in the Department of Defence was established, called the Defence Signals Bureau. It changed its name to the Defence Signals Branch in 1949, the Defence Signals Division in 1964, the Defence Signals Directorate in 1978, and the Australian Signals Directorate in 2013.
In 1947 the Department of Defence established the Joint Intelligence Bureau which was renamed the Joint Intelligence Organisation in 1969 and then the Defence Intelligence Organisation in 1989.
In 1977 an additional intelligence analysis agency, the Office of National Assessments, was created in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. It was renamed the Office of National Intelligence in 2018.
Overview
The Australian government's National Security Strategy includes six core intelligence agencies in the Australian Intelligence Community, and defines the National Intelligence Community as comprising policy departments and other government agencies. The Office of National Intelligence further classifies the six AIC agencies as collection or assessment agencies, and plays a unique all-source intelligence assessment and intergovernmental co-ordination role.Australian Intelligence Community
National Intelligence Community
Roles and threats
The Australian Government 2008 National Security Strategy defined the Australian Intelligence Community as the six core intelligence agencies, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Australian Secret Intelligence Service, Defence Intelligence Organisation, Australian Signals Directorate, Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation ) and the National Intelligence Community as policy departments and other government agencies such as the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Australian Federal Police. The Office of National Assessments further classifies the six agencies of the Australian Intelligence Community as collection or assessment agencies. The Office of National Assessments itself plays a unique all-source intelligence assessment and intergovernmental co-ordination role.As a middle power and G20 economy in the international community and a regional power in the Asia-Pacific and Indo-Pacific, Australia has played a major role in international security. The Australian Government is a member of the Five Eyes intelligence community, the ANZUS treaty, the Five Power Defence Arrangements, and the Commonwealth of Nations. The foreign policy of Australia is guided by its commitment to multilateralism and the United Nations and regionalism with the Pacific Islands Forum and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations alongside strong bilateral relations particularly in Oceania, Southeast Asia, the alliance with the United States, and Australia–China relations.
The Australian Defence Force has also deployed around the world for United Nations peacekeeping, regional peacekeeping operations including with the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands and the International Force for East Timor, humanitarian relief, counterterrorism and special operations, border security in Operation Resolute, airborne surveillance operations and maritime monitoring operations in the South China Sea and South West Pacific, counterinsurgency and security assistance such as with the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan with Operation Slipper and Operation Highroad, and the fight against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant with Operation Okra.
Domestically, the rise of violent extremism and threats of both Islamic and right-wing terrorism are key concerns of the Australian Government. Crime in Australia, including cybercrime and transnational crime such as human trafficking, arms trafficking, and the illegal drug trade, are ongoing risks to the security and safety of Australia.
Governance and Coordination
National Security Committee of Cabinet
The National Security Committee of Cabinet is a Cabinet committee and the peak ministerial decision-making body on national security, intelligence and defence matters. Decisions of the Committee do not require the endorsement of the Cabinet. It is chaired by the Prime Minister and the membership includes the Deputy Prime Minister, Attorney-General, Treasurer, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister for Defence, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, and the ministerial Cabinet Secretary. Attendance also includes the Secretaries for each respective public service department, as well as the Chief of the Defence Force, the Director-General of Security and the Directors-General of the Office of National Assessments and the Australian Secret Intelligence Service.Secretaries Committee on National Security
The Secretaries Committee on National Security is the peak interdepartmental officials-level committee considering national security matters in support of the National Security Committee. It considers all major matters to be put before the NSC and has a strong role in ensuring that Australia maintains a coordinated policy approach on all national security issues. Membership of the SCNS includes the Secretaries of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Attorney-General's Department, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Department of Defence, the Department of the Treasury, the Chief of the Australian Defence Force, and the Director-General of the Office of National Assessments. Other senior officials including the Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, the Commissioner of the Australian Border Force, and the chief executive officerof the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, the Director-General of Security, the Director-General of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, and the Directors of the Defence Intelligence Organisation, the Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation, and the Australian Signals Directorate.National Intelligence Coordination Committee
The National Intelligence Coordination Committee was formed in 2008 to provide strategic co-ordination for the effectiveness and integration of the national intelligence efforts. It is chaired by the Deputy Secretary of National Security and International Policy of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. The National Intelligence Coordination Committee comprises the chiefs of the ONA, ASIS, ASIO, DIO, ASD, AGO, AFP, ACIC, ABF, as well as the Deputy Secretary for Strategic Policy and Intelligence of the Department of Defence, the Deputy Secretary for National Security and Emergency Management of the Attorney-General's Department, and the Deputy Secretary responsible for international security of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.The National Intelligence Collection Management Committee is a subcommittee of the National Intelligence Coordination Committee and is responsible for setting specific requirements and evaluating collection effort against each of the National Intelligence Priorities. It is chaired by the Director General of the Office of National Assessments.
The National Intelligence Open Source Committee is a subcommittee of the National Intelligence Coordination Committee and is responsible for enhancing the co-ordination and capabilities of the national intelligence community's open source efforts. It is chaired by the Director General of the Office of National Assessments.