The Director-General of Security is the executive officer of the

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO ) is Australia's national security agency responsible for the protection of the country and its citizens from espionage, sabotage, acts of foreign interference, politically motivated vio ...

(ASIO),

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

's national

security agency A security agency is a governmental organization that conducts intelligence activities for the internal security of a nation. They are the domestic cousins of foreign intelligence agencies, and typically conduct counterintelligence to thwart other ...

. The Director-General, through ASIO, has overall responsibility for the protection of the country and its citizens from

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...

(especially sabotage of

critical infrastructure Critical infrastructure (or critical national infrastructure (CNI) in the UK) is a term used by governments to describe assets that are essential for the functioning of a society and economy – the infrastructure. Most commonly associated wit ...

), politically motivated violence, attacks on the Australian defence system,

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

and acts of foreign interference. The Director-General is assisted by two Deputy Directors-General, although only one of the former Deputies, David Fricker, has been publicly identified. David Fricker left ASIO in 2011.''The Australian'', 23 December 2011
From ASIO to archives
/ref> The Director-General is subject to the directions of the

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

, although convention allows the Director-General direct access to the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

. The Director-General of Security is often regarded as Australia's 'top spy', even though they may not have been previously engaged in

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can b ...

upon appointment.Howard adviser lands top spy job
''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'', 10 July 2005 The incumbent Director-General is Mike Burgess, appointed on 16 September 2019. The Director-General is appointed by the

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

on the advice of the

and holds office under the ''

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979 The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979 (the ASIO Act) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia which replaced the ''Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1956'', which had established the Australian Security Intel ...

''.AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION ACT 1979 - SECT 7
/ref> The normal term of appointment is limited to seven years, although the Director-General is eligible for reappointment.
/ref>

Directors-General of Security

References

External links

List of Directors-General of Security on the ASIO website
{{Australian intelligence agencies 1949 establishments in Australia *Australian Security Intelligence Organisation

Directors-General of Security

See also

References

External links