The Joint Intelligence Organisation (JIO) was an Australian government

intelligence agency An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives. Means of inf ...

that existed between 1969 and 1990 and which was responsible for the analysis of

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...

and

foreign Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

intelligence. The JIO was staffed by civilian officers of the

Department of Defence Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philippin ...

, foreign service officers of the

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the department of the Australian federal government responsible for foreign policy and relations, international aid (using the branding Australian Aid), consular services and trade and ...

, and service personnel from the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), who ...

, the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister o ...

, and the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

. The JIO also maintained the National Assessments Staff (NAS) which supported the National Intelligence Committee (the predecessor to the National Intelligence Coordination Committee) until 1977 when it was assumed by the Office of National Assessments. The NAS was responsible for preparing long–range analytical assessments of international issues. The foreign intelligence assessment functions of JIO were assumed by the Office of National Assessments (ONA) in 1977 and the JIO was fully replaced by the

Defence Intelligence Organisation The Defence Intelligence Organisation (DIO) is an Australian government military intelligence agency responsible for strategic intelligence and technical intelligence assessments, advising defence and government decision-making on national se ...

(DIO) in 1990.

History

Following World War II, defence and foreign intelligence functions were shared between the

, the

and the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

. There also existed a Joint Intelligence Bureau (JIB) within the

responsible for geographic, infrastructure, economic, scientific and technical intelligence in the Asia-Pacific region. In 1969, the foreign intelligence functions of the individual armed services were merged into the JIB and the Joint Intelligence Organisation (JIO) was formed. The existence of JIO was initially a secret, but was revealed by Prime Minister

William McMahon Sir William McMahon (23 February 190831 March 1988) was an Australian politician who served as the 20th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1971 to 1972 as leader of the Liberal Party. He was a government minister for over 21 years, ...

when he blurted out something about "J-ten". The 1977 tabled recommendations of the

Royal Commission on Intelligence and Security Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a c ...

, established on 21 August 1974 by Prime Minister

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the h ...

and led by Justice Robert Hope, called for an independent authority to provide intelligence assessments on political, strategic and economic issues directly to the Prime Minister. As such, Prime Minister

Malcolm Fraser John Malcolm Fraser (; 21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983, holding office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Fraser was raised on hi ...

established the Office of National Assessments (ONA) through the ''Office of National Assessments Act 1977''. ONA assumed the National Assessments Staff and foreign intelligence assessments capabilities of JIO. Following the formation of the ONA in 1977 to handle assessment of foreign intelligence, the JIO was changed to focus on intelligence relating solely to defence matters. Following a review of intelligence structures, the JIO became the

in 1990 as the Department of Defence's strategic, technical, and all-source intelligence assessment agency.Office of National Assessments
History of the ONA

References

{{Reflist
About the Defence Intelligence Organisation
��The Australian Department of Defence, Defence Intelligence Organisation Government agencies established in 1969 Australian intelligence agencies

History

See also

References