This 2011 Independent Review of the Australian Intelligence Community was announced in the following media release issued by the Prime Minister on 23 December 2010:

• Prime Minister Julia Gillard today announced arrangements for an Independent Review of the Intelligence Community to start in early 2011.
• Intelligence plays a key role in preserving Australia’s national security and supports a wide range of our national interests.
• The Prime Minister said the review will ensure Australia continues to have a well-coordinated, appropriately resourced and adaptable intelligence system that supports our national interests.
• The aim of the review is to ensure Australian intelligence agencies are working effectively together and are well positioned for challenges in a constantly evolving security environment.
• The Review will also consider working arrangements between intelligence agencies and their international partners.
• It will take into account the significant growth in the intelligence community’s resources and capabilities over the past decade.
• The timing of the review meets a recommendation of the Inquiry into Australian Intelligence Agencies in 2004 by Mr Philip Flood AO, that the intelligence agencies undergo further external review every five to seven years. Funding for the Review was announced in the Budget in May this year.
• The 2011 Review will be led jointly by Mr Robert Cornall AO and Associate Professor Rufus Black.
• Mr Cornall has extensive experience at a high level in public administration, particularly as the Secretary of the Attorney-General’s Department until his retirement in 2008.
• Associate Professor Black is the highly regarded Master of Ormond College at the University of Melbourne, and a notable ethicist, management consultant and theologian.
• The Review will produce its final report to the Government around the middle of 2011.

The Nature of the Review

It is worth making six introductory points about the nature of this Review. It is the first comprehensive review of the Australian Intelligence Community since the 2004 Inquiry conducted by Mr Philip Flood AO^[1]. There have of course been various reviews of individual agencies or aspects of their operation over the last seven years but no detailed consideration of the AIC as a whole.

Secondly, this Review is being conducted as a periodic review. It is not, as has usually been the case in the past, in response to a precipitating cause or event. As a result, the broad Terms of Reference require a general analysis and assessment of the intelligence community.

Thirdly, the primary focus of this Review is the work of the six agencies that have traditionally formed the Australian Intelligence Community – that is, the Office of National Assessments, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, the Defence Signals Directorate, the Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation and the Defence Intelligence Organisation.

However, while they are not directly the subject of this Review, a number of other agencies make significant intelligence contributions in their own areas of operation. Those agencies include military intelligence, the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Crime Commission, the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.

The operational relationship and cooperation between the six core agencies and this wider group is important now and will become more important over time.

Fourthly, some significant policy changes have affected the intelligence community since 2004. A number of these changes were outlined in the National Security Statement delivered in Parliament on 4 December 2008. The changes include:

• The adoption of an all hazards approach to national security and the consequent increase in the number of agencies that comprise the national security community, and
• The appointment of a National Security Adviser and an increasing role for the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in intelligence and national security matters.

Fifthly, the intelligence agencies have evolved substantially in the period covered by the Review. From agencies whose outputs were primarily directed to the development of policy, they now have a substantial operational role as well. The intelligence agencies have been integrally involved in supporting military operations, protecting our maritime borders, stopping weapons proliferation and thwarting terrorist activities in Australia and our region.

Sixthly, the Flood Inquiry had its primary focus on issues concerning the intelligence that had been provided to government on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. Those issues had already received a great deal of public attention and had been the subject of a parliamentary inquiry. As a consequence of this general awareness, Mr Flood was able to publish a comprehensive unclassified version of his report.

This Review is different. It is not directed to a particular and well-known area of concern. The Terms of Reference called for a broad investigation into many highly classified or sensitive areas of the agencies’ operations and resulted in detailed recommendations, which cannot be made public.

Accordingly, this unclassified version of our Report provides a brief introduction to:

• The nature of intelligence
• What the government can reasonably expect from intelligence, and
• The Australian Intelligence Community.

Then we set out a general overview of the matters we considered and the conclusions we reached. However, in relation to topics where there has been public comment about broad policy questions – such as overall structure of the AIC or the balance between security and safeguards – we have set out our reasoning in more detail in appendices.