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Australian Security Intelligence Organisation
35°17′33.6″S 149°8′40.1″E / 35.292667°S 149.144472°E
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO /ˈeɪzioʊ/) is the domestic intelligence and national security agency of the Australian Government, responsible for protecting Australia from espionage, sabotage, foreign interference, politically motivated violence, terrorism, and attacks on the national defence system. ASIO is a primary entity of the Australian Intelligence Community.
ASIO has a wide range of surveillance powers to collect human and signals intelligence. Generally, ASIO operations requiring police powers of arrest and detention under warrant are co-ordinated with the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and/or with state and territory police forces. The organisation is comparable to that of the United States' FBI or the British MI5.
ASIO Central Office is in Canberra, with a local office being located in each mainland state and territory capital. A new $630 million Central Office named after Ben Chifley, the prime minister who created the organisation, was officially opened by then-prime minister Kevin Rudd on 23 July 2013.
ASIO is established and regulated under Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979 (Cwth), responsible to the federal parliament through the Minister for Home Affairs. ASIO also reports to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, Senate’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee and is subject to independent review by the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security. The head of ASIO is the Director-General of Security, who oversees the strategic management of ASIO within guidelines issued by the Attorney-General. The current Director-General of Security is Mike Burgess, who assumed office on 16 September 2019.
In 2018, ASIO had an average of 1,980 staff. Changes since to security measures have meant that the specific headcount is classified and not publicly available. The identity of ASIO officers other than the director-general and deputy director-generals remains an official secret. While ASIO is an equal opportunity employer, there has been some media comment of its apparent difficulty in attracting people from a Muslim or Middle Eastern background. Furthermore, ASIO has undergone a period of rapid growth with some 70% of its officers having joined since 2002, leading to what Paul O'Sullivan, director-general from 2005 to 2009, called 'an experience gap'.
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979 (the ASIO Act) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia which replaced the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1956, which had established ASIO as a statutory body. ASIO had been established in 1949 by Prime Minister Ben Chifley's Directive for the Establishment and Maintenance of a Security Service under the executive power of the Constitution, under the control of the Director-General of Security and responsible to the Attorney-General.
After passage of the National Security Legislation Amendment Act 2014 by the Australian Parliament, ASIO officers are exempt from prosecution for a wide range of illegal activities in the course of conducting "operations". ASIO officers may carry arms, and the Minister responsible has the ability under certain conditions to approve the provision of any weapon or training to any specified person, even outside of ASIO officers.
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Australian Security Intelligence Organisation
35°17′33.6″S 149°8′40.1″E / 35.292667°S 149.144472°E
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO /ˈeɪzioʊ/) is the domestic intelligence and national security agency of the Australian Government, responsible for protecting Australia from espionage, sabotage, foreign interference, politically motivated violence, terrorism, and attacks on the national defence system. ASIO is a primary entity of the Australian Intelligence Community.
ASIO has a wide range of surveillance powers to collect human and signals intelligence. Generally, ASIO operations requiring police powers of arrest and detention under warrant are co-ordinated with the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and/or with state and territory police forces. The organisation is comparable to that of the United States' FBI or the British MI5.
ASIO Central Office is in Canberra, with a local office being located in each mainland state and territory capital. A new $630 million Central Office named after Ben Chifley, the prime minister who created the organisation, was officially opened by then-prime minister Kevin Rudd on 23 July 2013.
ASIO is established and regulated under Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979 (Cwth), responsible to the federal parliament through the Minister for Home Affairs. ASIO also reports to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, Senate’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee and is subject to independent review by the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security. The head of ASIO is the Director-General of Security, who oversees the strategic management of ASIO within guidelines issued by the Attorney-General. The current Director-General of Security is Mike Burgess, who assumed office on 16 September 2019.
In 2018, ASIO had an average of 1,980 staff. Changes since to security measures have meant that the specific headcount is classified and not publicly available. The identity of ASIO officers other than the director-general and deputy director-generals remains an official secret. While ASIO is an equal opportunity employer, there has been some media comment of its apparent difficulty in attracting people from a Muslim or Middle Eastern background. Furthermore, ASIO has undergone a period of rapid growth with some 70% of its officers having joined since 2002, leading to what Paul O'Sullivan, director-general from 2005 to 2009, called 'an experience gap'.
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979 (the ASIO Act) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia which replaced the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1956, which had established ASIO as a statutory body. ASIO had been established in 1949 by Prime Minister Ben Chifley's Directive for the Establishment and Maintenance of a Security Service under the executive power of the Constitution, under the control of the Director-General of Security and responsible to the Attorney-General.
After passage of the National Security Legislation Amendment Act 2014 by the Australian Parliament, ASIO officers are exempt from prosecution for a wide range of illegal activities in the course of conducting "operations". ASIO officers may carry arms, and the Minister responsible has the ability under certain conditions to approve the provision of any weapon or training to any specified person, even outside of ASIO officers.