Australian Security Intelligence Organisation
| Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO)
| |
|---|---|
| Logo |  The ASIO central office in Canberra. |
| Type | Domestic security intelligence service; non-corporate Commonwealth entity. [1] |
| Founded | 16 March 1949. [2] |
| Founder(s) | Government of Ben Chifley; first director-general Geoffrey Reed. [2] |
| Registration ID | Australian Business Number 37 467 566 201. [1] |
| Status | Statutory functions under the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979; Home Affairs portfolio from 13 May 2025. [3] |
| Headquarters | Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. [1] |
| Location | Australia |
| Area served | Security of Australia and Australians; foreign intelligence collection within Australia. [3] |
| Services | Counterespionage; counterterrorism; security intelligence and assessments; vetting. [3] |
| Key people | Mike Burgess — director-general of security from 15 September 2019. [3] |
| Website | asio.gov.au |
| Remarks | 2024–25 funding: A$598.59 million operating and A$150.61 million capital. [4] Operational oversight: Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security. [5] |
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) was established in 1949 as Australia’s domestic security intelligence service.[6]
History and legal basis
ASIO was established on 16 March 1949 during the government of Ben Chifley, initially to protect the Commonwealth against espionage, sabotage and subversion. Geoffrey Reed was its first director-general. [2]
Its statutory functions are set out in section 17 of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979. The Act’s definition of security includes espionage, sabotage, politically motivated violence, promotion of communal violence, attacks on defence systems, foreign interference and serious threats to territorial and border integrity. ASIO obtains, correlates, evaluates and communicates security intelligence; it also has a function of collecting foreign intelligence within Australia. [7] [3]
Role and organisation
The director-general is an independent statutory officeholder responsible for limiting the organisation’s work to what is necessary for its functions and excluding irrelevant political or sectional considerations. In 2024–25 the corporate plan grouped its work under counterespionage and foreign interference, counterterrorism, influence and impact, and Top Secret–Privileged Access Vetting. These are intelligence, assessment and advice functions, rather than a general police mandate. [3]
ASIO moved from the Home Affairs portfolio to the Attorney-General’s portfolio on 29 July 2024, then returned to Home Affairs on 13 May 2025. The 2024–25 annual report explicitly distinguishes these changes from the director-general’s statutory responsibilities. [3]
Funding
For 2024–25, ASIO reported A$598.59 million in operating funding and A$150.61 million in capital funding. The operating and capital allocations are separately reported funding categories, rather than measures of actual expenditure. [4]
Oversight and controversies
Oversight arrangements
The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security inspects operations, investigates complaints and conducts inquiries into legality and propriety. The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security reviews administration and expenditure and relevant legislation; Senate estimates provide another channel of scrutiny. The annual report also describes the roles of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, Independent National Security Legislation Monitor and independent reviewers of adverse security assessments and security-clearance decisions. [5]
Timor-Leste documents case
The December 2013 searches associated with lawyer Bernard Collaery and Timor-Leste’s legal proceedings are covered in the contemporary resource linked below. In proceedings brought by Timor-Leste against Australia, the International Court of Justice ordered provisional measures on 3 March 2014: seized material was not to be used to Timor-Leste’s disadvantage, was to remain sealed, and Australia was not to interfere with relevant legal communications. After Australia offered to return the material, the court authorised its return in April 2015; Timor-Leste discontinued the case in June 2015. These procedural orders were not a final merits judgment establishing the underlying espionage allegations. [8]
Resourcing scrutiny, 2026
In June 2026, ABC News reported that the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion was examining ASIO’s balance of counterterrorism and counterespionage resources in the years before the December 2025 Bondi attack. Director-general Mike Burgess defended the decisions, saying the service had to address multiple threats simultaneously and had increased counterterrorism resources when the threat level rose in 2024. He said ASIO had disrupted 31 major terrorism plots since 2014. These are his statements as reported during an inquiry, not the commission’s final conclusions. [9]
People
Directors-General of Security
- Justice Geoffrey Reed 16 March 1949-30 June 1950
- Colonel (later Brigadier Sir) Charles Spry 6 July 1950-21 January 1970
- Peter Barbour 22 January 1970-28 September 1975
- Frank Mahony 29 September 1975-8 March 1976
- Justice Sir Edward Woodward OBE 9 March 1976–4 September 1981
- Harvey Barnett 7 September 1981-28 July 1985
- Alan Wrigley 29 July 1985-7 October 1988
- John Moten 8 October 1988-10 January 1992
- David Sadleir 27 April 1992-10 October 1996
- Dennis Richardson 11 October 1996-27 May 2005
- Paul O'Sullivan 21 July 2005-28 February 2009
- David Irvine — 30 March 2009–September 2014 [10]
- Duncan Lewis — September 2014–September 2019. [11]
- Mike Burgess — from 15 September 2019. The Australian Government Directory records the subsequent appointment term as 15 September 2024–14 September 2029. [3] [1]
Contact
- Website: Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.
- Postal address: GPO Box 2176, Canberra ACT 2601. [1]
External resources
- Tom Allard, ASIO raids office of lawyer Bernard Collaery over East Timor spy claim, The Age, 3 December 2013.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Australian Government Directory, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Australian Government, updated 16 May 2025, accessed 7 November 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 National Archives of Australia, Ben Chifley: timeline, National Archives of Australia, entry for 16 March 1949, accessed 7 November 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Annual Report 2024–25: Overview of ASIO, ASIO / Australian Government Transparency Portal, tabled 30 October 2025, accessed 7 November 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Annual Report 2024–25: Report on financial performance, ASIO / Australian Government Transparency Portal, 2025, accessed 7 November 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Annual Report 2024–25: External scrutiny, ASIO / Australian Government Transparency Portal, 2025, accessed 7 November 2026.
- ↑ Overview, ASIO, accessed 19 February 2013.
- ↑ Commonwealth of Australia, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979, Federal Register of Legislation, current compilation consulted 7 November 2026, sections 4 and 17, accessed 7 November 2026.
- ↑ International Court of Justice, Questions relating to the Seizure and Detention of Certain Documents and Data (Timor-Leste v. Australia), ICJ, case overview and orders, 2013–2015, accessed 7 November 2026.
- ↑ Tom Lowrey, ASIO chief Mike Burgess defends resourcing decisions and warns of “unprecedented number of threats”, ABC News, 24 June 2026; updated 25 June 2026, accessed 7 November 2026.
- ↑ Directors-General of Security, ASIO, archived at the Internet Archive, 12 February 2010, accessed 18 February 2013.
- ↑ Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Appointment of new Director-General of Security and nomination of new Australian Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg, the European Union and NATO, 15 May 2014; Australian Minister for Home Affairs, Appointment of Director General of Security, 29 August 2019, accessed 7 November 2026.