Today ASD has released its eighth tranche of records as part of the Declassification Program. The documents provide information about Australia’s signals intelligence (SIGINT) involvement during the Indonesian Confrontation, also known as Konfrontasi.

In 1963 conflict between Indonesia and Malaysia escalated, as Indonesia did not welcome the proposal for a Malaysian Federation. In May 1964 Australian Army personnel were deployed to Borneo to conduct signals intelligence activities, due to fears Indonesia sought to interfere in the federation process, either overtly or covertly. Further military assistance from Australia followed in January 1965.

The declassified records include signals, letters and reports that tell the story of Australian signals intelligence activities and contributions during the conflict. There are 91 documents sourced from ASD archived files and three photos from the Australian War Memorial.

For more information about the Konfrontasi declassification release and our other tranches of declassified information, explore the ASD Declassified page(Opens in a new tab/window).

Visit Australian Signals Directorate(Opens in a new tab/window) for more news and information.

27 April 2023

  • NIC
  • ASD

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