National security agencies

The protection of Australia’s national security is the responsibility of a number of agencies, which operate under a variety of different portfolios. These include the Attorney-General’s Department (and within it, the Justice and Customs portfolio), the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Department of Defence, and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Unlike the United States and its Department of Homeland Security, Australia does not have a central public service department overseeing national security and governing the responsible agencies. The Howard Government maintained that none was required. Although most aspects of Australia’s national security apparatus enjoy bipartisan support, the issue of whether Australia needs its own department of homeland security became a key point of difference between the major parties in the lead-up to the 2007 election. The Australian Labor Party (ALP) committed to establishing such a department, which, under its plans, would govern all non-military agencies involved in protecting national security and would also include a coastguard service.

The Australian Intelligence Community currently comprises the:

• Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO)
• Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS)
• Office of National Assessments (ONA)
• Defence Signals Directorate (DSD)
• Defence Intelligence Organisation (DIO), and the
• Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation (DIGO).

There are also several other Commonwealth agencies involved in federal law enforcement and the protection of national security. These include the Australian Federal Police (includes the Protective Service), the Protective Security Coordination Centre, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), the Australian Customs Service, the Australian Defence Force (ADF), and to a lesser extent, the Australian Crime Commission.

As Australia’s domestic security service, ASIO is the lead agency responsible for collecting information and producing intelligence about activities that potentially threaten Australia’s national security. The ASIO Act 1979 defines ‘security’ as ‘the protection of Australia and its people from espionage, sabotage, politically motivated violence, the promotion of communal violence, attacks on Australia’s defence system, and acts of foreign interference’. On 12 October 2007, the then Attorney-General, Phillip Ruddock, issued new guidelines regarding ASIO’s responsibility for obtaining intelligence relevant to security and politically motivated violence. While the amendments reflect the significantly different security environment that exists today, Ruddock emphasised in a press release that the new guidelines did not broaden ASIO’s powers beyond the provisions of the existing ASIO Act. He also said that the new guidelines had been developed in consultation with the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security and that they ‘enhance accountability by providing clearer guidance in a range of areas’.

ASIO currently has a total of 1356 staff, 246 more than 2006 and more than double the number of staff in 2002–03, the first full year following the attacks of 11 September 2001. The 349 new staff who joined ASIO during 2006–07 represent the most staff ever recruited into ASIO in a single financial year. ASIO is continuing with its high level of recruitment and expects to grow to just over 1860 staff by 30 June 2011.

By comparison, Defence continues to experience difficulty in finding and keeping people, both in military and civilian jobs. The situation is exacerbated by a shortage of skilled labour in defence industry. The ADF plans to increase its size from the current 51 000 to 57 500 by 2016, but has to compete for its labour with an ongoing booming civilian economy.

Proscription

Like a number of other countries, Australia can outlaw a group it considers to be a terrorist organisation. For the government to proscribe a particular group, either a court must determine the group to be a terrorist organisation, or the Attorney-General must be satisfied on reasonable grounds that the organisation is directly or indirectly engaged in, preparing, planning, assisting in or fostering the doing of a terrorist act. Australia has to date proscribed 19 organisations, all of which are Islamic-based.

Long-term planning

In October 2007, the ALP announced that, if elected, it would produce a Counter-terrorism White Paper to ‘provide an assessment of the threat we face as a nation, lay out a co-ordinated approach for a whole-of-government response, and form the basis of future strategic planning’.

Both the Howard Government and the ALP had indicated that the development of a new Defence White Paper was necessary. Australia’s most recent Defence White Paper, which outlines Australia’s strategic direction, was published in 2000, with updates provided in 2003, 2005 and 2007.

Also in development is the new Defence Capability Plan (DCP) for 2008–18, the ten-year program of new capital equipment investment. The publication of the unclassified version of the new DCP will be accompanied by an unclassified version of a new Priority Local Industry Capabilities Statement as foreshadowed in the Defence and Industry Policy Statement 2007.

Other significant issues in the defence portfolio are covered in the following briefs.