The contemporary Australian intelligence domain: A multi dimension examination

Open Access

Abstract

In the complex and interconnected post 9/11 world the roles and functions of intelligence have evolved beyond being a secret capability of governments focused on national security needs. Intelligence has become recognised as a critical function necessary to support decision making across the full breadth of government and corporate activity. The concept of an intelligence community being purely national security centric and bounded by secrecy has become limited. Intelligence in support of decision making has become a far broader domain than previously believed. This paper investigates the degree of intelligence embedded‐ness across government agencies and departments at the federal, state and local levels. Findings reveal that in excess of 75 discrete intelligence capabilities were identified, categorized by theme before being stratified into a three tier hierarchal intelligence domain map. Many of these categories were not in support of national security per se, but rather in support of broader government decision making.