COUNTER-TERRORISM WHITE PAPER
Securing Australia | Protecting Our Community
Chapter 4: Analysis
An intelligence-led response to terrorism driven by a properly connected and properly informed national security community
Terrorist networks are clandestine. They hide and obfuscate their activities to avoid detection and disruption. To be effective against terrorism, the Government needs access to intelligence that will uncover terrorists, their methods and plans.
An intelligence-led approach
As Australia confronts an evolving and increasingly complex national security environment, the importance of intelligence to inform our responses to challenges will increase. Intelligence is information, obtained covertly or otherwise, that provides insight and advantage. It is by its nature sensitive information. It can be a single piece of information, or a conglomerate of fused, corroboratory material from various sources that is the result of careful analysis and assessment. Intelligence is collected in many forms by agencies across the national security community including, but not limited to, the intelligence collection agencies of the Australian intelligence community. Numerous agencies utilise this intelligence to identify emerging threats and determine operational or policy responses.
4.1 An effective intelligence capability
The ability to collect, analyse and share information expeditiously is critical to protecting Australia and its people from attack. The Australian intelligence community comprises agencies charged with collecting human intelligence, signals intelligence and imagery, and assessment agencies which analyse and interpret intelligence and data from other sources. Both arms of the intelligence community – collection and assessment – contribute to all aspects of our counter-terrorism effort.
The terrorist threat demands close cooperation between Australia’s foreign intelligence, security intelligence, law enforcement, financial intelligence and criminal intelligence agencies, and also with international partners. Our intelligence capabilities must also evolve to ensure that they keep pace with changes in the operational security methods of terrorist groups or their use of new technologies. The nature of intelligence, which is often fragmentary or imprecise, is such that there can be no guarantee of prior warning of terrorist attacks.
4.1.1 A new approach to counter-terrorism intelligence coordination
The Government has moved to strengthen Australia’s counter-terrorism intelligence activities by better integrating and coordinating capabilities across the national intelligence community through the establishment of a Counter-Terrorism Control Centre.
The Counter-Terrorism Control Centre
The Government has decided to reshape the way it manages its counter-terrorism work. A multi-agency Counter-Terrorism Control Centre will be established in the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) to set and manage counter-terrorism priorities, identify intelligence requirements, and ensure that the processes of collecting and distributing counter-terrorism information are fully harmonised and effective across the spectrum of Australia’s counter-terrorism activity. It will support the established roles of federal and state law enforcement authorities. It will be the key Commonwealth body for evaluating and integrating counter-terrorism intelligence. By strengthening the integration of our counter-terrorism capabilities, the Centre will improve the ability of agencies to operate against terrorism and to detect and prevent terrorist threats to Australians and Australia’s interests.
4.1.2 Working in partnership
Australia’s response to terrorism is driven by our understanding of current and emerging threats and the intent, capability and operational methods of terrorist groups. Intelligence underwrites Australia’s understanding of terrorism. It can play a vital role in preventing and disrupting the activities of terrorists threatening to attack Australia and our interests. It can also drive preventive operational responses across Australia’s national security community.
Intelligence assessments are often built from fragmentary pieces of information. For this reason, our agencies work collaboratively and share information to ensure that all of the capabilities of Australian agencies are leveraged to minimise the risk of intelligence failure. The establishment of the National Intelligence Coordination Committee (NICC) in 2009 has strengthened cooperation across Australia’s intelligence agencies and the broader national security community.
The National Intelligence Coordination Committee
The National Intelligence Coordination Committee (NICC) is chaired by the National Security Adviser and comprises the heads of the Office of National Assessments, the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation, the Defence Intelligence Organisation, the Defence Signals Directorate, the AFP, the Australian Crime Commission, and Customs and Border Protection. The departments of Defence, Foreign Affairs and Trade, Immigration and Citizenship, and Attorney-General’s are also represented at the Deputy Secretary level.
The NICC enhances the ability of Australia’s security agencies to share information, coordinate effort and identify opportunities to improve the whole-of-government response to terrorism and other national security challenges.
Australia’s relationships with foreign partners are also vital to prevent terrorist acts from occurring within Australia. These relationships maximise the capabilities of our agencies and increase our access to information and shared intelligence to support international counter-terrorism efforts. Our relationships with key intelligence allies, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand, as well as wider partnerships and exchanges including within the Asia-Pacific region, South Asia, the Middle East and Europe, continue to enhance Australia’s own capabilities, and add to the contestability and robustness of our intelligence product.
The Australian Intelligence Community
- The Office of National Assessments (ONA) provides all-source assessments on international political, strategic and economic developments to the Prime Minister and senior ministers in the National Security Committee of Cabinet.
- The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) collects security intelligence and identifies and investigates threats to Australia’s security, wherever they arise, and provides assessments and advice to protect Australia, its people and its interests.
- The Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) is Australia’s overseas secret human intelligence (HUMINT) collection agency. ASIS’s mission is to protect and promote Australia’s vital interests through the provision of unique foreign intelligence services as directed by the Government.
- The Defence Intelligence Organisation (DIO) is an intelligence assessment agency that supports Defence and Government decision-making and assists with the planning and conduct of Australian Defence Force (ADF) operations.
- The Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation (DIGO) provides geospatial intelligence, from imagery and other sources, in support of Australia’s defence and national interests.
- The Defence Signals Directorate (DSD) supports Australian Government decision-makers and the ADF with high quality foreign signals intelligence products and services. DSD also plays a key role in protecting Australian official communications and information systems.
Australia’s national counter-terrorism effort also requires strong partnerships between relevant agencies and the public. Information from the public has been vital in assisting our agencies to conduct successful investigations into terrorist activities in the past. Knowledge and information about potential threats needs to flow between all sections of the community and our law enforcement and security agencies.
The National Security Hotline has operated 24 hours a day since December 2002 as a direct point of contact for the public to report possible indications of terrorism. The hotline is one of the ways members of the public can work with governments to protect Australia from terrorism. As every piece of information can be critical, its role in providing leads against terrorist threats is widely recognised across Australia’s national security and law enforcement agencies. The National Security Hotline number is 1800 123 400.
The National Threat Assessment Centre
The multi-agency National Threat Assessment Centre (NTAC) is located within ASIO and assesses intelligence and information from a wide range of sources to prepare threat assessments in relation to specific people, places, and events. These assessments inform the risk management decisions made by operational agencies, the implementation of protective security measures and the travel advisories regarding potential threats when travelling overseas that are prepared by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for the Australian public. ASIO also provides protective security advice to Australian Government agencies and, with the approval of the Attorney-General, to state and territory governments and private sector companies to protect vulnerable facilities.
4.1.3 Financial intelligence
Financial intelligence is an important tool in Australia’s operational counter-terrorism response. The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) is both Australia’s Financial Intelligence Unit and the regulator of Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime. AUSTRAC cooperates closely with law enforcement agencies and provides unique, expert advice on suspicious movements of funds, both domestically and offshore. It analyses this data to develop financial intelligence that is provided to law enforcement and national security agencies, and to international counterparts as appropriate. The use of sophisticated technology to draw links between otherwise unconnected transactions and personal information strengthens the Australian law enforcement community’s ability to detect and disrupt groups that pose a threat to Australia’s security.
Financial intelligence
AUSTRAC collects, analyses, and disseminates financial intelligence to 34 Australian law enforcement, national security, revenue and social justice agencies, and to 56 overseas counterparts. This financial intelligence comes from a range of financial transaction reports that are submitted to AUSTRAC.
Financial intelligence can play an instrumental role in identifying and prosecuting individuals involved in terrorist financing, both in Australia and overseas. AUSTRAC works cooperatively with counterpart agencies overseas to share and develop expertise and contribute to global action against money laundering, serious crime and terrorism.
4.1.4 Enhanced information sharing
The Government has also implemented new initiatives designed to strengthen information sharing across the Australian Government national security community. This includes the appointment of a National Security Chief Information Officer (NSCIO) to provide strategic coordination of the national security community’s information management arrangements.
A key element of the NSCIO’s work is the development of a Roadmap detailing key measures to achieve by 2020 a more secure, coordinated and effective national security information management environment.
4.2 International intelligence cooperation
Intelligence cooperation with international partners forms a critical element of collective counter-terrorism efforts. Australia’s intelligence agencies have a broad network of international partners around the world. These relationships provide the basis to share intelligence, assessments, expertise and capabilities. They also enable us to collectively ‘join the dots’ and take action to disrupt terrorist networks and activities around the globe. This cooperation is essential to countering terrorism – a crime that transcends borders and requires intelligence capabilities that are flexible, dynamic and integrated.
Effective intelligence cooperation assists significantly in Australia’s ability to disrupt terrorist planning and operations before they can target Australians or Australia’s interests, and to implement a range of measures to mitigate emerging threats or to inform and contribute to international counter-terrorism efforts. An understanding of a potential threat allows our agencies to respond appropriately – whether through increased or changed protective security measures, or more targeted operational responses. Australia also works to develop the capacity of security services in countries where Australia has counter-terrorism interests.
A tangible example of the value of international intelligence cooperation is Australia’s Counter-Terrorism Intelligence Training Program (CTITP), established in 2005. It delivers counter-terrorism training and capacity building. CTITP contributes to the development of trusted, cooperative relationships with counterpart agencies.
4.3 A commitment to open and accountable oversight
The Inspector-General for Intelligence and Security (IGIS) provides independent assurance to the Government and Parliament that the six agencies comprising Australia’s intelligence community act legally and with propriety. The IGIS has broad powers to review, inspect, and inquire into the activities of the intelligence agencies and report on their performance, including their counter-terrorism activities.
Effective oversight and accountability of the intelligence community remains crucial to ensure that the closer integration between intelligence agencies and their partners remains consistent with our values and democratic traditions. In recognition of the joint operational relationships between intelligence and law enforcement agencies in counter-terrorism investigations, the Government is progressing legislative amendments to allow inquiries by the IGIS to extend as necessary to other Commonwealth agencies that are not members of the Australian intelligence community.