2011 Independent Review of the Intelligence Community

The 2011 report of the Independent Review of the Intelligence Community (the Review) was the first comprehensive review of the Australian intelligence community since the 2004 inquiry conducted by Mr Philip Flood AO. 

Appendix 4

Methodology

The Review conducted detailed investigations into the key issues raised by the Terms of Reference.

The Review invited and received thorough briefings and detailed submissions from the six intelligence agencies and several departments.

In addition, at the commencement of this Review, we called for public submissions in an advertisement published in:

  • The Australian Financial Review on Friday 11 February 2011, and
  • The Australian, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Canberra Times and the Age on Saturday 12 February 2011.

A list of submissions received by the Review is set out below in Table 1.

We conducted interviews with a wide range of interviewees including:

  • The Prime Minister, Ministers, Shadow Ministers, Members of Parliament and former Ministers
  • Heads of intelligence agencies, departmental Secretaries, heads of other Commonwealth organisations, senior military officers, think tanks and other commentators
  • Heads or senior officials of counterpart intelligence agencies in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and New Zealand, and
  • Officers engaged in operations in Afghanistan.

A list of organisations and people interviewed during the course of this Review is set out below at Table 2.

The Reviewers or members of the Review Secretariat conducted focus group sessions with middle ranking officers in each of the six intelligence agencies and some relevant departments.  The focus groups are set out below in Table 3.

In all of its activities, the Review received full cooperation and assistance from the intelligence agencies, other interviewees and our international allies.