Australian Security Intelligence Organisation - Command, Control and Organisation

Command, Control and Organisation

ASIO is a statutory body under the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979 and is responsible to the Parliament of Australia through the Attorney-General. The Organisation also reports to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, and is subject to independent review by the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security. The head of ASIO is the Director-General of Security, who oversees the strategic management of ASIO within guidelines issued by the Attorney-General. The current Director-General is David Irvine, who assumed office in March 2009.

In 2012, ASIO had a staff of around 1,760 personnel. The identity of ASIO officers, apart from the Director-General, remain an official secret. While ASIO is an equal opportunity employer, there has been some media comment of the Organisation's apparent difficulty in attracting people from a Muslim or Middle Eastern background. Furthermore, ASIO has undergone a period of rapid growth with some 70 per cent of the Organisation's officers having joined since 2002, leading to what Paul O'Sullivan, Director-General of Security from 2005 to 2009, called 'an experience gap'.