Mr Mike Burgess
Mike Burgess is Australia’s fourteenth Director-General of Security.The Director-General of Security is a statutory office holder who leads the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) and provides impartial advice to government on threats to Australia’s national security.
Mr Burgess has spent more than three decades as an intelligence, security and technology professional, in both the public and private sectors.
Prior to joining ASIO, Mr Burgess was Director-General of the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD). The agency’s motto is ‘Reveal their Secrets, Protect our Own’.
Mr Burgess first joined ASD’s predecessor, the Defence Signals Directorate (DSD), as a collection engineer in 1995. He held a range of senior roles including Deputy Director for Cyber and Information Security, and Deputy Chief of Facility at the Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap.
After nearly twenty years at the agency, Mr Burgess moved to the commercial sector. He worked as Chief Information Security Officer at Australia’s largest telecommunications provider, Telstra, and as an independent cyber security consultant. In early 2018, the Prime Minister asked him to return to ASD as Director-General.
Mr Burgess has also served as a member of the Naval Shipbuilding Advisory Board, the Prime Minister’s expert panel for Australia’s 2016 Cyber Security Strategy and the boards of SC8 Limited and the Australian Cyber Security Growth Network.
He has a degree in electronics engineering from the South Australian Institute of Technology.
Speeches and Statements
2021
- Director-General of Security: Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Additional Estimates Monday, 22 March 2021
- Director-General of Security: Annual Threat Assessment Wednesday, 17 March 2021
2020
- Director-General of Security Statement: ASIO Amendment Bill 2020 Thursday, 10 December 2020
- Director-General of Security: PJCIS Review of the ASIO Amendment Bill 2020 Friday, 30 October 2020
- Director-General of Security: Senate Budget Estimates 2020-21 Tuesday, 20 October 2020
- Statement from the Director-General of Security Mike Burgess - I Spy A New Twitter Account Monday, August 17 2020
- Director-General of Security: PJCIS Review of the amendments made by the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Act 2018 Friday, August 7, 2020
- Parliamentary Submission: Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade inquiry into issues facing diaspora communities in Australia Friday, July 24, 2020
- Director-General of Security: Director-General Mike Burgess podcast with the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA) Tuesday, June 9, 2020
- Parliamentary Submission: PJCIS Review of the ASIO Amendment Bill 2020 Friday, May 29, 2020
- Director-General of Security: Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee Monday, March 2, 2020
- Director-General of Security: Director-General’s Annual Threat Assessment Monday, February 24, 2020
2019
- Statement from the Director-General of Security, Mike Burgess - response to reporting on foreign interference Sunday, November 24, 2019
- Statement from the Director-General of Security, Mike Burgess - comments on ASIO 2018-2019 Annual Report Thursday, October 17, 2019