Alan Wrigley
Australian security intelligence director
| Alan Wrigley
| |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Australian |
| Occupation | Public servant; intelligence director |
| Known for | Director-General of Security, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation 29 July 1985 – 7 October 1988[1] Author of The Defence Force and the Community (1990) |
| Predecessor | Harvey Barnett |
Alan Wrigley led the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) as director-general of security, from 1985 to 1988.[1]
Office held
| Office | Start | End | Predecessor | Successor | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director-General of Security, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation | 29 July 1985 | 7 October 1988 | Harvey Barnett | John Moten | [1] |
ASIO relocation and reform
Alan Wrigley led the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation during its relocation from Melbourne to Canberra in late 1986. In a lecture based on the official history, John Blaxland described him as determined to carry out the move, which brought the service closer to ministers and the Commonwealth public service.[2]
John Blaxland presented the move as improving responsiveness and accountability to government. Former intelligence officer John Miller, by contrast, argued that the relocation and Wrigley’s changes to specialist careers cost the service valuable experience when officers left. These are differing assessments of the organisational consequences of the reforms.[2][3]
Parliamentary review framework
During Alan Wrigley’s leadership, amendments to the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act in 1986 provided for a Parliamentary Joint Committee on ASIO. The service’s institutional history records the change as part of the new oversight framework. It also dates the opening of the Canberra central office to 2 December 1986. The parliamentary mechanism was a separate development from the administrative relocation and gave legislators a defined institutional role.[4]
Defence review after ASIO
Alan Wrigley subsequently wrote The Defence Force and the Community: A Partnership in Australia’s Defence, a report dated June 1990. The Australian War Memorial catalogue identifies it as a 602-page Australian government publication issued in Canberra.[5]
Succession
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s published chronology records Alan Wrigley succeeding Harvey Barnett on 29 July 1985 and serving until 7 October 1988. John Moten followed him the next day.[1]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Directors-General of Security, archived 12 February 2010, accessed 8 November 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 John Blaxland, Australia’s Secret Cold War, The Sydney Institute, speech delivered 5 December 2016, accessed 8 November 2026.
- ↑ John Miller, A view from an ASIO Director-General’s desk, National Observer, no. 67, Summer 2006, pp. 26–39, accessed 8 November 2026.
- ↑ Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, ASIO history, archived 13 October 2007, accessed 8 November 2026.
- ↑ Australian War Memorial, The defence force and the community: a partnership in Australia’s defence, catalogue record for Alan K. Wrigley’s June 1990 report, accessed 8 November 2026.