Andrew Shearer, the Director-General of National Intelligence, has acknowledged the findings of the 2024 Independent Intelligence Review.
‘As the National Intelligence Community (NIC) has warned for some time, Australia is facing some of its most complex strategic circumstances in recent history and our immediate security environment continues to deteriorate. We are facing a growing array of concurrent and cascading threats. In response, members of Australia’s NIC are working tirelessly to protect and support our national security, prosperity and sovereignty.
The 2024 Independent Intelligence Review, led by Dr Heather Smith PSM and Richard Maude, recognised that Australia faces both a more dangerous international environment and a growing need to defend itself against threats to its democracy, social cohesion and essential infrastructure.
The reviewers concluded that, in response, Australia’s intelligence agencies have worked hard and with considerable success to protect the nation and support government priorities.
I am proud they found the NIC to be highly capable and performing well. As they noted, significant effort has been expended to help build the NIC as it is today – a more capable and integrated intelligence enterprise.
The Prime Minister has noted the Australian Government will continue to invest in capability to ensure Australia’s intelligence agencies can deal with emerging threats and challenges. The Office of National Intelligence will drive initial implementation of key priorities identified in the review, in line with the Government’s funding commitment. We will continue to ensure the NIC maintains its high performance, including on economic security, crisis warning and preparedness, and open source intelligence.
I would like to thank Dr Smith and Mr Maude for their work on the Review.’
The full text of the unclassified report of the 2024 review is available on the PM&C website(Opens in a new tab/window).
21 March 2025