ASIO’s mission is to secure Australia and protect its people. All of our ASIO officers contribute to this mission when they come to work each day. If you’re interested, read on to find out more about ASIO and how to join the mission.
What is ASIO?
ASIO stands for Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. We are Australia’s security service, which means we collect information (we call it intelligence) that helps keep Australians safe from things like terrorist attacks and spies who want to steal our secrets.
A lot of people think ASIO employees are a bit like the spies you see in movies—wearing trench coats and dark glasses—but really, we’re regular people. We have all kinds of backgrounds, from teachers, nurses and musicians to sports people, computer programmers and even fire fighters!
The boss of ASIO is called the Director-General of Security. The current Director-General is Mike Burgess.
Why was ASIO created?
In 1949, just after the Second World War, the Prime Minister of Australia Ben Chifley established ASIO. Prime Minister Chifley decided ASIO was needed after the United Kingdom and the United States discovered there were spies operating in Australia, and recommended we set up our own spy catching agency. The Prime Minister and the Australian Government agreed, so they established ASIO.
When ASIO began, there were about 15 officers and its focus was mainly on espionage (spying by foreign governments). Now, ASIO has over 1800 staff working to protect Australia by stopping terrorists and catching spies.
What rules does ASIO have to follow?
Even though most of our work is a secret, we still follow a lot of rules and laws. These laws clearly define and limit what ASIO can do. We also have strict and thorough oversight from a number of people outside ASIO, such as the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS). The IGIS has access to ASIO’s files, building and materials to ensure ASIO’s work is lawful, impartial and proportionate.
The rules include the Guidelines. We follow these guidelines to make sure we are doing what the Australian people expect us to do, and the actions we take are appropriate for the potential threat.
You might hear people joke that ASIO knows everything about everyone. That is not true—imagine how much time it would take to collect and look through all that information! We don’t spy on people without a good reason, and we also require warrants from the Attorney-General. We only collect intelligence when we think it might help us find out about a potential threat. When we get intelligence, it has to be assessed before we can investigate it further. The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979, or the ASIO Act, is the law that tells us that ASIO can only investigate people or organisations that may threaten Australia’s security.
How does ASIO collect intelligence?
ASIO collects intelligence in lots of ways. Some of the main ways are: talking to people in the community to find out what they know; using the internet; and cracking codes or secret messages. Sometimes, ASIO officers need to use special equipment to gather information, such as secret cameras and listening devices.
Imagine someone has hidden all the pieces of a puzzle and you have to find as many pieces as you can to work out what the picture is. That is what it’s like for our intelligence officers and analysts, who have to put the pieces of intelligence together to get the whole story.
How can I become a spy?
If you’re interested in working for ASIO, it’s never too early to start preparing. ASIO officers are ordinary people who do extraordinary things.
There are lots of different jobs at ASIO, including intelligence officers (who collect intelligence), intelligence analysts (who work out what the intelligence means) and surveillance officers (who keep an eye on people to find out what they are up to).
We have plenty of other options too—all of which are part of our mission. We have the same jobs you might find in other organisations like lawyers, psychologists, graphic designers, finance experts, information technology specialists, communications professionals, cleaners, tradies, and many more. It takes a lot of different skills and people to keep Australia and Australians safe. No matter what you’re good at, if you are creative, clever, trustworthy and honest, there’s probably a job for you at ASIO.
While there is no ASIO ‘type’, there are some things you can do to prepare for a career with ASIO.
It is important to work hard at school, especially English and mathematics. Making friends is an important skill for an ASIO officer as you will need to meet and work with a lot of different people. Another important thing is to be discreet. This means being careful with who you tell certain things to. Most ASIO officers are undeclared, which means we don’t tell people where we work. We even ask people who apply for a job with ASIO not to tell anyone they have applied. Once you work at ASIO, you can tell a few people who you are close to and you trust, but if you’re thinking of working for ASIO, it’s good to start practicing being discreet.
If you want to hear from real ASIO officers about what it’s like to work at ASIO, check out our Why I Spy series. While you’re listening to their stories, you’ll notice we haven’t shown their real faces—can you figure out why?
And if you want to test your skills, try some of our puzzles, there are some easy ones among them!