35-525: The Australian Signals Directorate ( ASD ), formerly the Defence Signals Directorate , is a statutory agency of the Government of Australia responsible for signals intelligence , providing intelligence support to Australian military operations, conducting cyberwarfare and ensuring information security . The ASD is a part of the larger Australian Intelligence Community , and its role within
70-424: A body corporate . '. A statutory authority is a generic term for an authorisation by Parliament given to a person or group of people to exercise specific powers. A statutory authority can be established as a corporate Commonwealth entity or a non-corporate Commonwealth entity. A statutory authority may also be a body within a Commonwealth entity, exercising the powers given by Parliament but administratively part of
105-573: A number of different names since its founding: ASD commissioned an official history in 2019, which will cover the organisation's history from its establishment to 2001. The principal functions of ASD are to collect and disseminate foreign signals intelligence (SIGINT) and to provide information security products and services to the Australian Government and Australian Defence Force (ADF), its foreign partners and militaries. ASD operates at least three receiving stations: ASD also maintains
140-602: A regional office, at midnight on 16 March. They located a document which implied that ASIO and "the departments of Foreign Affairs, Attorney-General's and Immigration" had conspired to withhold information from him about Croatian separatists in Australia. Murphy wanted to fly immediately to the ASIO headquarters in Melbourne but was delayed at Canberra Airport for several hours. The Director-General of Security (head of ASIO) Peter Barbour
175-560: A state-owned corporation as "a statutory authority that has corporate status". Statutory authorities at the State or Territory level are established under corresponding State or Territory laws. Each statutory authority tends to have its own enabling legislation, or originating act , even if it was established before the relevant over-riding legislation. For example, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
210-586: A workforce at Pine Gap in central Australia. ADSCS and Shoal Bay are part of the United States signals intelligence and ECHELON analysis network. These stations also contribute signals intelligence for many Australian Government bodies, as well as the other UKUSA partners. Electronic warfare operators in the Royal Australian Corps of Signals work closely with ASD. 7 Signal Regiment (Electronic Warfare) at Borneo Barracks, Cabarlah , Queensland
245-590: Is also associated with ASD.. In addition, it has been reported that many Australian embassies and overseas missions also house small facilities which provide a flow of signals intelligence to ASD. Australia joined the UKUSA Agreement in 1948, a multilateral agreement for cooperation in signals intelligence between Australia , Canada , New Zealand , the United Kingdom , and the United States . The alliance
280-732: Is also known as the Five Eyes . Other countries, known as "third parties", such as West Germany , the Philippines, and several Nordic countries also joined the UKUSA community. As the Agreement was a secret treaty, its existence was not even disclosed to the Australian Prime Minister until 1973, when Gough Whitlam insisted on seeing it. The existence of the UKUSA Agreement was discovered by
315-663: Is authorised to implement certain legislation on behalf of the relevant country or state, sometimes by being empowered or delegated to set rules (for example regulations or statutory instruments ) in their field. They are typically found in countries which are governed by a British style of parliamentary democracy such as the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth countries like Australia , Canada , India and New Zealand . They are also found in Israel and elsewhere. Statutory authorities may also be statutory corporations , if created as
350-628: The Australian Cyber Security Centre , a Signals Intelligence and Network Operations Group, and a Corporate and Capability Group. The Signals Intelligence and Network Operations Group is responsible for signals intelligence collection, analysis and production, and ASD's network based access and effects operations. The Group comprises an Intelligence Division and a Network Operations and Access Division responsible for foreign signals intelligence and offensive cyber operations. The Defence Signals-Intelligence (SIGINT) and Cyber Command (DSCC)
385-728: The ASIO was accused of withholding. Murphy was operating without any permission from the Prime Minister at the time, Gough Whitlam or the Cabinet . No warrants were obtained from the judiciary. Although called "raids", the only raid carried out was on the Canberra office as this was by surprise whereas the investigation of the Melbourne office (ASIO's headquarters) was done hours after the Director-General had been informed of Murphy's intentions. The Whitlam government came to office shortly after
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#1732858151735420-535: The Agreement was not disclosed to the public until 2005. On 25 June 2010, for the first time, the full text of the agreement was publicly released by the United Kingdom and the United States, and can now be viewed online . Under the agreement, ASD's intelligence is shared with UKUSA signals intelligence partner agencies: The Australian Signals Directorate is led by a Director-General and a Principal Deputy Director-General who oversee strategy. The ASD also comprises
455-576: The Australian government during the 1973 Murphy raids on the headquarters of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). After learning about the agreement, Whitlam discovered that Pine Gap , a secret surveillance station close to Alice Springs, Australia, had been operated by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Pine Gap is now operated jointly by both Australia and the United States. The existence of
490-543: The Government has made has been to take the police into ASIO headquarters". James Jesus Angleton , the CIA's head of counter-intelligence at the time, was concerned by the raids. According to journalist Brian Toohey, Angleton sought to instigate the removal of Whitlam from office in 1974 by having CIA station chief in Canberra, John Walker, ask Peter Barbour , then head of ASIO, to make a false declaration that Whitlam had lied about
525-465: The authority) and a number. Just as with laws enacted by Parliament, all laws made by a statutory authority must be published in the Government Gazette. The Parliament of Australia , or a State or Territory Parliament , will delegate its authority to a statutory authority for several reasons; The power to enact legislation has been delegated by Australian Parliaments (State and/or Federal) in
560-549: The entity." A statutory corporation is defined in the government glossary as a "statutory body that is a body corporate, including an entity created under section 87 of the PGPA Act" (i.e. a statutory authority may be a statutory corporation). An earlier definition describes a statutory corporation as "a statutory authority that is a body corporate", and the New South Wales Government 's Land Registry Services defines
595-426: The following areas; 1973 Murphy raids Prime Minister of Australia Term of government (1972–1975) Ministries Elections Related [REDACTED] The Murphy raids on the offices of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) occurred on 16 March 1973. The purpose of the raids, instigated by Attorney-General Lionel Murphy , was to obtain terrorism-related information that
630-450: The organisation to be a partisan tool of the Liberal governments in the 1950s and 1960s. At the 1971 Federal Labor Party conference, only a single vote (22 in favour, 23 against) had defeated a proposed motion "that ASIO be abolished". Murphy, with the help of his advisor Kerry Milte—a former Commonwealth Police official and barrister—gained entry to the Canberra office of ASIO, which was then
665-406: The other officers waited outside. It was initially reported that ASIO's switchboard had been disabled or interfered with, however the government later denied these reports. Various files were inspected by Murphy and his staff – without the police – until 12:40 pm, when the inspecting party left. They replaced original documents but took "Photostat" copies with them. However, no evidence of conspiracy
700-588: The pursuit of draft dodgers and Vietnam demonstrators to the new situation where we ought to provide our interest in terrorist activities in our midst. Murphy had indicated on 1 March that he was going to make a statement on the issue of terrorism in Australia. However, the raids delayed this until 27 March. In the Australian Senate he explained that the Whitlam government saw political violence against persons and property as an illegitimate form of political expression
735-479: The raid in Parliament. Barbour refused to make the statement. The Murphy raids meant that the Whitlam government could not instigate the changes it wanted in ASIO in the short term. By September 1973 Whitlam indicated that an inquiry was likely to be commissioned. Labor took the policy of an inquiry to the election in 1974 and, after the controversy surrounding ASIO's leaked views on Deputy Prime Minister Jim Cairns ,
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#1732858151735770-432: The raids on ASIO are said to have ended the new government's 'honey-moon' period by throwing its competency into question. The raid also improved ASIO's image as it was shown that ASIO was not engaged in conspiracy. It also damaged the bilateral relationship between the United States and Australia because of the intelligence exchange between the two states. The Yugoslavian Prime Minister arrived in Australia five days after
805-486: The raids. At around the same time the Prime Minister's office was fitted with bulletproofed glass and the pregnant wife of Attorney-General Lionel Murphy , Ingrid, went into hiding after a series of death threats. At a reception for the visiting Prime Minister held at The Lodge , Whitlam said: It has taken regrettably long for the Commonwealth police force and ASIO to adjust themselves from such momentous activities as
840-406: The raids. Under legal oath, before a Senate Committee erected by the hostile Senate to uncover more information about the raids, the Director-General said no complaint has been made. In August this was contradicted by a leaked letter revealing that the Director-General had made a complaint. This lie eroded the press' view of ASIO. In an interview with David Frost Whitlam said "The greatest mistake
875-610: The so-called Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance is to monitor signals intelligence in South and East Asia. The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) is an agency within the ASD. The unit was established in 1947 by executive order as the Defence Signals Bureau within the Department of Defence , and underwent several name changes until its current name ASD was adopted in 2013. ASD
910-407: The state has a right to pursue. The speech did not substantiate the raids nor did it discuss ASIO in depth. It was "a statement on terrorism and a political attack on the previous government" the same "conclusion reached by the United States, which had followed parliamentary debates and press coverage closely". In Parliament, Whitlam and Murphy said that ASIO has made no official complaint about
945-615: The terrorist attack at the 1972 Summer Olympics and the Sydney bombings involving Croatian separatist groups in Australia. One of the first acts of the new government was to help US-led efforts in the United Nations General Assembly to counter the rise of 'political violence' to person and property around the globe. These efforts failed because the Non-aligned Movement states believed that political violence or terrorism
980-402: The visit: "We will send more agents to Australia. We will crush these people [Croatian separatists]. We will destroy them root and branch". This indicated the possible presence of Yugoslavian secret service spies operating in Australia. In 2016 it was shown that such an operation existed from at least the late 1970s. Labor and the Whitlam government were highly suspicious of ASIO and perceived
1015-531: Was backed by former Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton , but was strongly opposed by some in Cabinet who argued it was not necessary. Under legislation, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) are already allowed to seek assistance from ASD in conducting investigations on Australian citizens and businesses. The Directorate has operated under
1050-649: Was converted to a statutory body by the Intelligence Services Act 2001 . ASD is based in Canberra , at the Defence Department Headquarters at Russell Offices . As of February 2020, Rachel Noble is the Director-General of ASD, replacing Mike Burgess , who was appointed Director-General of Security in September 2019. In April 2018, a proposal to empower ASD to collect intelligence on Australians
1085-533: Was established in 1949 by the Science and Industry Research Act , but it has since come under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 as legislation covering statutory authorities has evolved. Laws made by statutory authorities are usually referred to as regulations. They are not cited in the same fashion as an act of parliament, but usually with specific initials (depending on
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1120-738: Was established in January 2018 by the Chief of the Defence Force consolidating all ADF personnel within the ASD within the Joint Cyber Unit and Joint SIGINT Unit. The Commander of the DSCC is responsible to the Head of Information Warfare under the Chief of Joint Capabilities to the Chief of the Defence Force . Statutory body A statutory body or statutory authority is a body set up by law ( statute ) that
1155-414: Was found. Later on the 16th, Murphy explained that the reason for the raids had been the safety of the visiting Yugoslavian Prime Minister. According to Murphy the press had been alerted to the investigation of ASIO's headquarters by George Negus , who was then Murphy's press secretary. Footage was obtained of Murphy arriving at the building surrounded by plain clothed police officers. Politically,
1190-415: Was informed of Murphy's intentions at 5:20 am and arrived at the Melbourne headquarters of ASIO at 6:45 am. 27 Commonwealth Police officers in plain clothes arrived "with orders to seal all file containers" at 7:40 am in order to "preserve and ascertain certain information". Murphy arrived at 9:45 am and instructed three officers with "special acquaintance with matters of Croatian terrorism" to assist him while
1225-688: Was not inherently illegitimate, given resistance and revolutionary activities in the former colonies. A planned visit by Džemal Bijedić , the Yugoslavian Prime Minister, in March 1973 generated considerable angst within the government about the security situation and the safety of the visiting dignitary. There was also much concern in Yugoslavia, which was a member of the Non-Aligned Movement. The President of Yugoslavia Josip Tito said before
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