The National Intelligence Coordination Committee (NICC) is a peak intergovernmental officials-level body of the

Government of Australia The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federalism, federal parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster system, Westminster-sty ...

responsible for the development and co-ordination of the

Australian Intelligence Community The Australian Intelligence Community (AIC) and the National Intelligence Community (NIC) or National Security Community of the Australian Government are the collectives of statutory intelligence agencies, policy departments, and other government ...

in accordance with the National Security Committee of Cabinet. The NICC is chaired by the Director-General of the Office of National Intelligence. The United Kingdom Joint Intelligence Committee and the United States

Office of the Director of National Intelligence The director of national intelligence (DNI) is a senior, cabinet-level United States government official, required by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 to serve as executive head of the United States Intelligence Comm ...

have similar but not analogous functions as the NICC.

History

The National Intelligence Coordination Committee can trace its origins back to the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) established during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in 1944 within 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 (Philipp ...

. The JIC was chaired by the Controller of Joint Intelligence and responsible for controlling and co-ordinating Defence intelligence policy, the preparation of intelligence reports, and liaison with the Joint Planning Committee of the

. The JIC operated concurrently with the Joint Intelligence Bureau (JIB), which was the predecessor to the Joint Intelligence Organisation, following the JIB's establishment in 1947. In 1969, the JIC was replaced by the National Intelligence Committee (NIC) which was supported by the National Assessments Staff (the predecessor to the

Office of National Assessments The Office of National Assessments (ONA) was an Australian statutory intelligence agency established by the ''Office of National Assessments Act 1977'' as an independent statutory body directly accountable to the Prime Minister of Australia as ...

) within the Joint Intelligence Organisation (the predecessor to 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 ...

) also established in 1969. In 1977, the 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 cit ...

, established on 21 August 1974 by Australia's 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 he ...

and led by Justice Robert Hope, called for the creation of a national intelligence committee and formation of an independent agency 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 through the ''Office of National Assessments Act 1977'', ensuring the ONA had statutory independence from government. ONA began operations on 20 February 1978, assuming the Joint Intelligence Organisations's National Assessments Staff and foreign intelligence assessment role. The ONA directly supported the NIC. During the Howard Government, the peak officials-level intelligence co-ordination body was the Heads of Intelligence Agencies Meeting (HIAM) chaired by the Director General of the

. HIAM developed as an informal deliberative and co-ordination body for the heads of the

agencies. In July 2004, former senior diplomat and Secretary 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 inv ...

Philip Flood Philip James Flood (born 2 July 1935) is a distinguished former Australian diplomat and a former senior public servant. The highlights of Flood's career include Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and former High Commissi ...

who was head of the Inquiry into Australian Intelligence Agencies (also known as the Flood Report) tabled recommendations for the

. Among its findings, the Flood Report recommended that the

staff be increased to provide improved foreign intelligence co-ordination and evaluation and that the Heads of Intelligence Agencies Meeting be formalised. The ONA then established the Foreign Intelligence Coordination Committee (FICC) with the responsibilities for

co-ordination and capabilities development. The FICC was chaired by the Director General of the

and was composed of the heads of ASIO, ASIS, DIO, DSD, DIGO and the AFP alongside Deputy Secretary-level representation from the Departments of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Defence, and Foreign Affairs and Trade. In 2008, Prime Minister

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and again from June 2013 to September 2013, holding office as the leader of the ...

revamped the Australian national security framework with the creation of the National Intelligence Coordination Committee which integrated the Foreign Intelligence Coordination Committee and tasked with broader

co-ordination responsibilities. Rudd also created the

public service A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...

position of National Security Adviser with the rank of Associate Secretary within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. The National Security Adviser was tasked with Chairing the National Intelligence Coordination Committee alongside a raft of other national security leadership and advice functions. The National Security Adviser was disbanded by Prime Minister

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott was born in Londo ...

in 2013 and with their roles integrated into the Deputy Secretary of the National Security and International Policy Group within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Role

The National Intelligence Coordination Committee plays a central role in advising National Intelligence Priorities and supporting a coordinated approach by the

according to directions by the National Security Committee of Cabinet and the Secretaries Committee on National Security.

Membership

* Director-General of the Office of National Intelligence (Chair) * Deputy Secretary (National Security) of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet * Deputy Secretary (Indo-Pacific) of the

* Deputy Secretary (Strategic Policy and Intelligence) of the

* Deputy Secretary (Intelligence and Capability) of the

Department of Home Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

* Deputy Secretary (Integrity and International) of the Attorney-General's Department * Director-General of the

Australian Secret Intelligence Service Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

Director-General of Security The Director-General of Security is the executive officer of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), Australia's national security agency. The Director-General, through ASIO, has overall responsibility for the protection of th ...

* Director-General of the

Australian Signals Directorate Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), formerly the Defence Signals Directorate (DSD) is the federal statutory agency in the Australian Government responsible for foreign signals intelligence, support to military operations, cyber warfare, and ...

* Director of the

Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation The Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation (AGO) is an Australian government intelligence agency that is part of the Department of Defence responsible for the collection, analysis, and distribution of geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in ...

* Commissioner of the

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the national and principal federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government with the unique role of investigating crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth of Australia. Th ...

* Commissioner of the

Australian Border Force The Australian Border Force (ABF) is a federal law enforcement agency, part of the Department of Home Affairs, responsible for offshore and onshore border control enforcement, investigations, compliance and detention operations in Australia. Thr ...

* Chief Executive Officer of the

Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) is a law enforcement agency established by the Australian federal government on 1 July 2016, following the merger of the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) and CrimTrac. It has specialist ...

Prior to the establishment of the

on the 20 December 2017, the Deputy Secretary for National Security of the Attorney-General's Department attended.

Subcommittees

The National Intelligence Coordination Committee is composed of two subcommittees to assist with setting intelligence requirements, evaluating intelligence collection efforts, and developing intelligence capabilities. The National Intelligence Collection Management Committee (NICMC) is responsible for setting specific requirements and evaluating collection effort against each of the National Intelligence Priorities (NIPs). It is chaired by the Director General of the

. The National Intelligence Open Source Committee (NIOSC) is responsible for enhancing the co-ordination and capabilities of the national intelligence community's open source efforts. It is chaired by the Director General of the

Secretariat

The National Security and International Policy Group of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet provides secretariat and support functions to the National Intelligence Coordination Committee and its subcommittees. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet 2013–2014 Annual Report National Security and International Policy Gro

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

References

{{Australian intelligence agencies Australian intelligence agencies Australian defence policies Australian Defence Force Foreign relations of Australia Australian Defence Organisation Law enforcement in Australia Terrorism in Australia