Director-General's closing address to
ASIO's Overseas Liaison Officers
30 April 2008

• Good afternoon.
• It's great to see you back in Canberra, and I'd like to thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to attend this year's conference.
• It was particularly valuable to have the Attorney-General address us, and I think his emphasis on the importance of good cooperation and collaboration between Australian agencies onshore and offshore is something we really need to keep in the front of our minds.
• Our annual liaison conference is a valuable occasion because it allows you to catch up with colleagues, discuss current government and corporate priorities, and feed your experiences and insights into the mix so that we can apply your overseas knowledge to Australia's circumstances.
• I know there's a real cross-section of experience among you today, with some of you well and truly established at post, and others having recently begun, or just about to embark on, your time as an ASIO liaison officer.
• But each of you has been selected as one of our liaison officers on the strength of your record of service, your judgement and your ability to cultivate and manage good relationships with foreign services, and other Australian agencies working overseas.
• In closing this year's conference, I want to talk to you about your role and responsibilities as liaison officers in context of the external reviews currently underway and the evolving expectations placed on ASIO as the key source and manager of security-intelligence information.

• As you know, the Government has initiated a number of review processes concerning national security arrangements.
• These include:
• the Homeland and Border Security Review, carried out by the former Secretary of the Australian Department of Defence (2002-06), Mr Ric Smith AO PSM, which will report its findings to the Government by mid-year (30 June 2008); and
• the inquiry into the case of Dr Mohamed Haneef by former NSW Supreme Court Judge, the Hon John Clarke QC which will examine in some detail
• the arrest, detention, charging, prosecution and release of Dr Haneef; as well as the cancellation of his Australian visa; and the issuing of a criminal justice stay certificate.
• The Government is also developing a National Security Statement.
• In addition to these processes, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) commissioned - and recently released publicly the findings of - an internal Review of Interoperability between the Australian Federal Police and its National Security Partners, conducted by Sir Laurence Street QC (the 'Street Review').
• As a result of the Street review,
• a heads of agency forum comprising the AFP Commissioner, the Director-General of ASIO and the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions has been established;
• a Joint Operations Protocols for ASIO/AFP interaction will be formalised, and
• ASIO officers have been attached to the AFP Melbourne and Sydney Joint Counter-Terrorism teams.
• There are several AFP-specific recommendations that the AFP will implement, and these include:
• the adoption and adherence to national security standards in CT investigations;
• the development of a national security standard integrated information technology system; and
• the installation of desktop security telephones in appropriately secure common work areas.
• With the exception of the Street Review, the findings of which we are already working closely with the AFP and DPP to implement, I can't say what the end result of these processes will be - because we don't yet know - although we should expect some changes to current arrangements.
• ASIO has been actively engaged with these processes throughout, and this will continue once they are finalised, and the Government moves to implement whatever decisions it makes.
• There are, however, two very clear messages we should take from these reviews.
• The first is that the Government has a very strong expectation that all members of the AIC are working together, and with other parts of government, effectively; and that we are doing everything we can to share information and coordinate capabilities appropriately, both in Australian and overseas.
• The second is that the Government has a very strong expectation that in fulfilling our functions, we are conducting ourselves accountably within the legal and administrative frameworks in which we work, and to which we are subject - again, both onshore and offshore.

• It would be a serious mistake on our part to see these reviews as aberrations, or reflecting merely a temporary focus on the efficacy of national security arrangements.
• I've spoken in some of my public addresses about the evolving uses of and expectations placed on security intelligence.
• While some aspects of our work remain very tightly compartmentalised, our client base continues to evolve and broaden, as intelligence-related advice and security-related expertise increasingly is being drawn upon across various areas of decision-making, inside and outside of government.
• This in large part reflects significant changes to the security environment - most obviously, although not only, connected to the rise of global terrorism - particularly the fact that the threats we collectively face tend now to be more diffuse.
• But it also reflects broader societal and economic dynamics, like globalisation processes, which are having ramifications for the nature, perception and management of risk within government, the private sector, and the community more broadly.
• To give you some examples of developments in the private sector, the report Under Attack? Global business and the Threat of Political Violence by Lloyd's and the Economist Intelligence Unit, documents significant levels of uncertainty within business internationally about the risks posed by geopolitical instability, political violence and terrorism.
• Noting this uncertainty, the Chairman of Lloyd's, Lord Levene, prefaces the report, saying: 'the importance of reflecting changing political violence risk in corporate risk management strategy has never been greater.'
• In the Australian context, the recent ASPI report Advancing Australian homeland security: leveraging the private sector, notes the: 'use of risk assessments to identify, analyse and manage security issues has changed the way industry thinks about security.'
• The authors make the point that the 'resilience of organisations is now a core concern'; and a resilient organisation is one that is 'risk intelligent, flexible and agile.'
• So it should be no surprise if there is growing demand for relevant and timely information and advice to facilitate the objectification and assessment of security-related risks and vulnerabilities; and the development of appropriate mitigation strategies.
• I draw attention to these trends because, inevitably, and rightly, they are changing expectations and judgements about our role and performance.
• ASIO's role as the key source and manager of security-intelligence information and advice - particularly in the CT context - has come to the fore.
• And how we perform, and are seen to perform, in this role is critical to the achievement of the Government's national security goals; it is also critical to enhancing our reputation as an organisation that is able to serve these goals by delivering an intelligence edge to Australia.
• The fundamental conclusion we need to reach, then, is that we're being looked to within and outside of government to be responsive and innovative in our role as security-intelligence information managers.
• This is no passing situation; it is our permanent horizon.
• So while the nature of our work imposes special obligations on us regarding the handling of information, there are significant ways we can engage with this growing galaxy of stakeholders; and we have and must continue to take positive steps to progress these efforts.
• One of the more recent examples, which you need to acquaint yourselves with, if you haven't already, being the joint Business Liaison Unit / NTAC initiative to establish a register of Australian commercial interests overseas,
• which will allow us to better target our overseas threat reporting to assist Australian companies understand the nature of the security environments in which they operate; and
• will greatly assist the Government carry out emergency response activities abroad, should that need arise.

• The external reviews currently underway, together with the points I have just made, provide a context for us to think about, and explain to others, what we do and, most importantly, why; and to generate and focus discussion within the Organisation about where we are, and where we need to go.
• In the context of our overseas liaison network, the review processes have focused our minds on answering fundamental questions like:
• Why does ASIO deploy officers overseas?
• Why don't we task other agencies to do this work for us?
• And what benefits does our liaison network deliver, not just to ASIO, but to the Australian Intelligence Community (AIC), the Government, and ultimately the nation?
• These are core questions for us to consider.
• The basic answer to the first question lies in the connection between our defined responsibilities and the trans-national character of the security environment in which we operate.
• As you all know, the common coinage that ASIO is 'Australia's domestic security agency' is an enduring frustration, because it fails to convey that our mandate to obtain, correlate, evaluate and provide security intelligence and advice is defined thematically, and therefore is purposely indifferent to the global source or location of threats to Australia, Australian interests, and Australians.
• Our national security function encompasses but extends beyond Australia's shores because, firstly, the sphere of Australian interests, activities and presence extends beyond our shores.
• In an increasingly globalised world:
• Australian citizens live, travel, and work overseas -
• and in large numbers, with some estimates indicating that more than a million Australian citizens are overseas in some capacity or other at any given time;
• Australians have significant offshore investments;
• Australian companies operate overseas; and
• the Australian Government has embassies and military, police and civilian staff deployed in various parts of the globe.
• Our national security function encompasses but extends beyond our shores because, secondly, so do the range of threats with which we deal:
• many of the threats to security that ASIO is mandated to investigate and assess emanate from off-shore;
• individuals and groups of concern in our domestic environment often have international connections, or travel overseas; and
• offshore circumstances and events colour and influence onshore security conditions.
• This is why our remit to collect intelligence, investigate threats and provide advice relevant to Australia's national security at once assumes and requires effective and strategic international engagement and reach.
• If we go back to the architect of our legislative mandate, Justice Hope, it is clear this is no accident of fortune but is, rather, purposely built into the very 'DNA', as it were, of Australia's security intelligence paradigm.
• As Justice Hope said:

  ...the international ramifications of many forms of modern terrorism, and particularly of that terrorism which is likely to affect Australia, make it important that Australia has an organisation with access to intelligence in and from other parts of the world about it and about identified or possible terrorists. It is general international practice for security organisations ... to hold and exchange this intelligence, and it is therefore important that ASIO should have this role in Australia.

• Justice Hope conducted his royal commission in the very early phases of what he called 'modern terrorism'.
• But his analysis and findings arguably are all the more relevant in the 21st century, with the rise of a global, and ever globalising, violent jihadi movement capable of leveraging trans-national networks of extremists for the purposes of ideological influence, recruitment, facilitation and attack capabilities.
• Indeed, recent experience has shown there is significant value in our international liaison network, not least because this allows us to shape and target our overseas presence flexibly and effectively to respond to changing or emerging security concerns.
• You only have to look at the way it has changed substantially over the last ten or so years to see this is the case.
• The liaison posts currently in operation are, from a security intelligence perspective, priority posts that call for, and benefit from, the active involvement of permanently stationed ASIO officers.
• With your focus on security intelligence - on the information, capability and knowledge that helps us protect Australia, Australians, and Australian interests from espionage, foreign interference and politically motivated violence - comes clarity of role and responsibility.
• Another advantage to posting our own officers comes from the intimate contextual and corporate understanding, not to mention the subject-matter expertise, you have acquired during your years of service in ASIO.
• It would be particularly difficult to replicate this, and, as I mentioned earlier, this is why we select officers with experience, judgement, and proven ability to represent the Organisation.
• These arguments, though, are mere debating points without strong performance.
• This is pivotal.
• So now I want to say a few words about my expectations of you as overseas-based ASIO liaison officers.

• It's important that you remember liaison posts are an international extension of ASIO, and that as liaison officers -- particularly if you are the senior liaison officer at post -- you are my representative in your host country.
• And not only to your host country, but to the other Australian agencies at post, as well as to the agencies of other countries.
• You are sent, and speak, with my authority, and with this authority there is a responsibility to ensure there is a very high standard of engagement.
• Your role is to provide focused, responsive and expert-level engagement with the relevant services of your host country, and to feed the results of your engagement back into the organisation, and through us, into whole-of-government efforts, by providing:
• high quality and timely reporting - whether on strategic level issues, or fast breaking sisuations or events of consequence to national security, or events of broader national significance;
• significant border security services, particularly at key international transport hubs; and
• ongoing opportunities to strengthen our dealings and cooperation with overseas services across a spectrum of analytical, operational and capability-enhancing matters.
• To do this, you need to work hard to earn the trust and respect of your partner agencies, and meaningfully show your interlocutors that it is not a one-way street ... that we genuinely want to assist them with their objectives, if and when we can.
• Of course, to achieve and maintain this level of engagement is easier said than done, and takes resourceful, thoughtful and persistent work to deal with obstacles, uncertainties, and new challenges.
• Your efforts will be greatly assisted if you are fluent in your host country's language, knowledgeable about their history, culture and national traditions, and aware of their outlook and concerns.
• But you're not alone, and you're usually not the first, so there is a wealth of experience you can tap into not only within ASIO, but also among AIC colleagues, other Australian agencies, and, in some cases, our close foreign partners.
• It's essential, particularly in light of my earlier comments, that you draw on and contribute to the efforts of representatives of other AIC and Australian government agencies.
• Think about the possible usefulness of information you acquire for other Australian agencies.
• Something may be incidental in relation to our specific functions, but have value for the work done by other AIC or Australian government agencies.
• In terms of the way you interact with Australian agencies at post, I can say that I, and all of the other heads of the relevant departments and agencies, fully expect embassies or task forces deployed overseas to work as 'team Australia'.
• In today's environment, the risks associated with not working together are high; the repercussions great.
• As I said last year, this means you will often have to take the initiative to ensure ASIO contributes towards broad, whole-of-government efforts,
• noting, of course, that there will be times when you have actively to promote our particular role, or advocate strongly for our interests.
• These are matters of judgement, but it behoves you to do so constructively, with due courtesy, and with regard to long-term, and not just short-term, goals.
• We often say that the security challenges Australia faces cannot be overcome by the efforts of one agency acting alone; nor, more broadly, can they be overcome by the efforts of a single country.
• So high quality engagement is impossible if you don't keep across developing issues, initiatives and priorities here in Australia.
• It is also impossible if you don't work hard to understand with some refinement and depth your geographic area of responsibility; or work out how best to operate within its political and administrative milieux.
• The embassy is a valuable resource for you to draw on - particularly when it comes to understanding the political lay of the land - and beyond this, the embassy can provide you with valuable support as you (and for some of you, your families) adjust and settle into a new life overseas.
• This is not always easy and, speaking as someone who has spent a significant portion of my career at overseas posts, I understand that some present real challenges.
• Given that our international liaison network reaches into some very different geopolitical and cultural environments, we can't expect a one size fits all approach to get very far.
• We are here to support you, and I cannot stress how important it is that you avail yourself of assistance if in need.
• As our officers on the ground overseas, you are also in place to provide unique insights into how well existing arrangements are working.
• So it's important, particularly for those of you established at post, that you continue to feed thoughtful, constructive, and forward-looking advice into the mix.

• In the volatile security environment, we need to do everything we can, within our legislated responsibilities, to maintain an intelligence edge for Australia.
• As members of our overseas liaison team, you have unique responsibilities and opportunities to drive a significant part of these efforts.
• I would like to thank you all for your hard work over the last year, and ask that you continue to leverage our overseas network to the best of your abilities in the year ahead.
• There are strong arguments for the significance of your role, the clearest evidence for which, as always, is the evidence of strong and ongoing performance and results.
• Thank you.