australian secret intelligence service interview australian secret intelligence service interview

Dealing with the mythology of the mystique is one reason that Australias top spy has gone before the camera for four ASPI interviews. This is great work guys. Section 6, which relates to the roles and functions of ASIS, amended quite recently, all of those amendments are in there. ASIS focuses on Australian security and potential threats from overseas. No flies on programatic's back either. Were here for Australia. We are Australia's overseas secret intelligence agency. Tom Ward, Chief Strategy Officer at Cummins & Partners said the agency worked closely with ASIS in order to design challenges that filtered out anyone who didnt fit a very specific personality profile: We know ASIS Intelligence Officers have excellent people skills, are great lateral thinkers, and notice things that others dont. The head of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, in a rare television interview . Answerable in an accountability sense to the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security, who has the powers of a standing royal commission. Graeme Dobell (GD): Paul Symon, welcome to ASPI. Please, The full transcripts and interviews can be found. Finding gold is always tough, as is searching for those intelligence nuggets. Australian Spy Chief Discusses Geopolitical Threats in First-Ever TV Interview. So at any time if they have concerns about legality or propriety of what we are doing they can actually go in and have a look. ASIS offers our people attractive salaries, salary packaging and workplace learning. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop, who launched the campaign, said the interview was designed to attract those who might never have considered a career in secret intelligence: Not many people know much about the Australian Secret Intelligence Service. The cornucopiacacophony line drew the most amused raised eyebrow from Australias chief spy in our interviews. A secret intelligence agency is a dynamic and fast-moving environment, that's as unpredictable as it is exciting. Our work requires skills and specialties from all kinds of areas - from Accountants to Academics, Lawyers to Locksmiths, and Property to Payroll Officers - meaning we hire Australians from every background, and just about any industry. Do ASIS want false info? As we did on the 13 May 1952, we continue to obtain for our government, intelligence from overseas.The second function is what I broadly describe as intelligence diplomacy. Beijing said it was not in competition with other countries for influence in the Pacific. Officers are involved in gathering intelligence for issues like counter terrorism, people smuggling, and following people who might be a threat to Australia. The second royal commission killed off ASISs special operations or attack function, meaning that for a couple of decades Australias spies couldnt carry guns. Were a component. . Obviously the highest risk ones, I will be the delegate, but there will be lower or moderate risk activities where people at lower levels can approve the activities or operations. Anyone watching this can get on the internet, and put in Intelligence Services Act 2001 (ISA), and its there. Some of us cannot have enough of either. The 68-year-old ethos of the spies of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service is never to speak publicly, just as they aim never to be seen or known. Firstly it collects intelligence. It has, in the past, accused Australia of anti-China hysteria as bilateral relations deteriorated over various political and trade disputes. For the first time in the 68 year history of Australias overseas spy service, the top spy Paul Symon has gone before the camera for a four-part series of video interviews, conducted by distinguished journalist Graeme Dobell on behalf of The Australian Strategic Policy Institute. ASIS is one of six intelligence agencies overseen by senior members of the government in Canberra and the defense department. There is a relationship that builds. If you're a curious, committed and innovative thinker, then chances are there's a role at ASIS that suits you. The Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) is Australia's primary foreign intelligence agency, tasked with intelligence, counter-intelligence and other missions. Prime Minister Menzies signed off on the charter for the Australian Secret Service as it was known originally and that charter is framed in my office. But actually allow us to undertake disruptions, whether its disrupting a terrorist plot or some type of activity where there is an action that occurs. ASIS resides within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and reports to the foreign minister. They will often have conversations where that line of communication can be on some very sensitive subjects that the diplomats prefer not to have or,indeed, countries on the other side would prefer conversations to be held between intelligence chiefs rather than diplomats. Insight Working at ASIS is not like James Bond. The first interview traces how ASIS was formed and grew to become a spy service with distinct Australian characteristics. And B&T should know, as we read the Daily Mail religiously. The other element of intelligence diplomacy is in the region, in our near region, there are countries that actually need some support and help, some capability uplift, to let them defend their own national sovereigntybetter than they currently are. Those sorts of conversations are normally held in inner circles, and. It's a corporate job, but not as you know it. The Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) operates to collect and distribute foreign intelligence to help protect Australia's security, and promote Australia's interests. The campaignhasalready featured onSunrise,The Project,TodayandSky News. As Symon concludes in the first of the ASPI interviews, ASIS is in the people business, operating in the intelligence market for the cultivation, the recruitment and the validation of agents who are betraying the secrets of their nation. Should be proud! Well-informed, thoughtful individuals will recognise and appreciate what they say over telecommunications devices and what they say by way of email, that there are agencies that. Copyright 2023, The Australian Secret Intelligence Service speaks, The making of the Australian intelligence community, Keeping Australians and their civil liberties safe: The future of the Hope model, Intelligence oversight or out of sight? Were for Australians. Australian Secret Intelligence Service invites public to take The Most Interesting Job Interview in new recruitment drive via Cummins&Partners. By Graeme Dobell with the Australian Strategic Policy. Theres that element of intelligence diplomacy. Working in a similar way to ASIO (Australian Security Intelligence Operation), which works internally in Australia, ASIS was established in complete secrecy in 1952. Client:Australian Secret Intelligence Service. Symon says ASIS has a good story to tell the Australian people. So, our challenge was to build an online experience that tested these very human abilities in a creative, yet psychologically credible way.. You hear stories about Google and Facebook throwing all kinds of left-field questions at applicants in job interviews. Reaction to the ASIS interviews varies. We get a voice every three years, we go down to the local school and we vote. However, it could also be a vegan cafe in Chippendale. The Desert Stars: The Worlds Most Remote Rock Band. We, as a collection agency, are working to the intelligence requirements of the assessment agencies. And you actually become responsible for the way in which your citizens perceive leadership. Client: Australian Secret Intelligence Service, Creative Agency: Cummins & Partners, Melbourne. With ASIS having cover departments like Defence and like External Affairs, it brings to the fore concerns about Well, if mistakes are made, who carries the can? And probably in the early days when the service hadnt built up the centre of gravity that you need to be a foreign espionage service, I think there was probably very real concern that the risks outweighed the benefits and that any gems of intelligence that we provided for the Australian government were going to be very few and far between. The IGIS and the staff of the Inspector-General literally drop onto my, computer systems, my highly classified systems, they can look at any files, and it is all made available to them. If lockdown gave us anything it's the rise of the podcast, drinking by 11 and pyjamas as legitimate office attire. Spies and the military share an operational disposition, he says, and an understanding of risk as the heart and soul of what theyre trained to do. He specifically addressed the privacy of Australians and the special requirements that intelligence agencies have to do to protect the privacy of Australians. The lore hints at the mystique of the trade: the allure of secrets. Featuring a series of mind-bending audio and visual challenges,The Most Interesting Job Interviewis an interactive interview that gives ordinary Aussiesthe chance to step into the shoes of an aspiring ASIS Intelligence Officer. Its role is to: So, really, were talking about the low end of the spectrum of using self-defence techniques where lethal force is inappropriate, but there might be scenarios where using proportionate low-level techniques to achieve an outcome is appropriate. The full transcripts and interviews can be found here. And I think that, by 1952, weve got the Korean War underway, weve got the Cold War underway weve got concern that the cold war would become a hot war. Here's the questions they should be asking. The third main one under the Act, the Intelligence Services Act, theres a Section 6.1 e provision which indicates that the Minister can direct us to do activitiesand that has obviously the ability the government, the ability that if they. Recently, documents came to light that showed that the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) played a small but active role in the Chilean coup of 1973, when General Augusto Pinochet overthrew the elected government of President Salvador Allende. Symon says that what Hope established with his first royal commission means everything in the way that we go about doing our business and in the way we train our people. If you think you have what it takes to be a spy, then you should consider heading over to the testing page to put yourself through the test. GD: What is the legal basis for what you do?The Intelligence Services Act is the legal basis for what we do. A real secret intelligence agency is very different to what you might have seen portrayed in popular culture. How do those origin stories shape your Service?PS: I think it was a significant factor in the formative years of ASIS. Contaminate may be perhaps too harsh a word to use. Although Im a legroom upgrade master so I beg to differ on me not getting that one. Online Status. The Intelligence Services Act is the legal basis for what we do. Chaser's Chris Taylor delivers his first column for B&T. The full interviews and transcripts can be downloaded from the Australian Strategic Policy Institutes website here. GD: The culture clash between ASIS and External Affairs in that first decade; ASIS is based in Melbourne, not in Canberra; ASIS looks towards the British Secret Intelligence Service, which is referred to as Head Office; On post under diplomatic cover, ASIS officers sometimes come up against their Ambassadors who worry about the dangers of spying; And ultimately, the head of External Affairs Arthur Tange seeks to abolish ASIS. For journalists, sex and secrets must lead to James Bond (racy without careening into the red zone of camp). It has also gained rapid global interest, appearing onCNN NYand news programs in Germany, France and Spain. Enable ASIS to collect foreign intelligence through the delivery of corporate technology, data and operational technology services. How much harder is it, how much riskier is it, to actuallyget human intelligence now?PS: Well there has always been risk involved. Tom Ward, chief strategy officer at Cummins&Partners, said the agency worked closely with ASIS in order to design challenges that filtered out anyone who didnt fit a very specific personality profile. And the other thing that Hope did very well, for which the legacy continues to this day, is the delineation between intelligence assessment and policy. Spooks must fear algorithms and facial recognition technologies, Cave says, because everyone leaves a trace online: Spies cant always teleconference like the rest of us.. Online. If you were to walk into our offices right now, they probably wouldn't look all that different to your own workplace. Symon said his agency was working hard to keep the government in Canberra informed of Chinas strategic ambitions in the Pacific. GD: Where does human intelligence fit in the cyber age / the digital age?Well, humans are a social animal. Symon says ASIS has a good story to tell the Australian people. The effort to clarify purposes and principles is where Symon starts and finishes the final ASPI interview: We are not some maverick organisation sitting outside. For the Melbourne spy service, the SIS in London was seen as head office. Recommendations for legislative review, National security: the public debate and the end of 'just trust us', The intelligence review: our Hope for years to come. Step inside the world of secret intelligence. International Standard 31000 (ISO31000) which is the international standard to assess risk, the likelihood of those risks being realised, the consequences of those risks. But if you're a curious, committed and innovative thinker, then chances are there's a role at ASIS that suits you. I got through too, maybe a new career change. We have a whole areaseparate of the operational line-areas that undertake compliance and risk management, so they oversight operations independently to ensure that risk management techniques are adopted in the way that many organisations think about risk management. Featuring a series of mind-bending audio and visual challenges, The Most Interesting Job Interview is an interactive interview that gives ordinary Australians the chance to step into the shoes of an aspiring ASIS Intelligence Officer. People come from all over Australia to live and work at ASIS's office in the nation's capital. The third main one under the Act, the Intelligence Services Act, theres a Section 6.1 e provision which indicates that the Minister can direct us to do activitiesand that has obviously the ability the government, the ability that if theywish for us to undertake disruptions or activities that are probably going to be enabled by good intelligence. All Rights Reserved. A Sense of Place Magazine, ASIS, aspi, auspol, Australia, Australian Independent News Sites, Australian intelligence services\, Australian politics, Graeme Dobell, Paul Symon, 2023 A Sense of Place Magazine Powered by WordPress, Australian Secret Intelligence Service: The Interviews, We just Discovered the Impossible: How Giant Baby Galaxies are Shaking up our understanding of the earlyUniverse, Australian Soldiers Train for Population Protection against Protesters, The Australian Government Assaults Separated Dads. Answerable in an accountability sense to the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security, who has the powers of a standing royal commission. Most of us think that others get more than we do. That is one motivation. Put your skills to work. In the ASIS interviews with ASPI, Australia's chief spy has covered the formation of the service and its purposes and principles. Linktree has added three executives to its global leadership roster: Monica Austin as chief marketing officer; Farnaz Azmoodeh as chief technology officer, and Sam Rogoway as chief product officer. Women Leading Tech finalists revealed! Or the Virus for the Vaccine? The web value rate of asis.gov.au is 6,249 USD. The Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS), via agency Cummins&Partners, Melbourne, has launched a new recruitment campaign aimed at attracting Australias next generation of intelligence officers. Image: ASPI. If people become leaders of everything in their country, if power is concentrated and centralised, then ultimately you become responsible for everything. The full transcripts and interviews can be found here. Then to Parliament through the Parliamentary JointCommittee of Intelligence and Security who looks more at our administrative aspects of the Service. Graeme Dobell is ASPIs journalist fellow. The face of Australia's overseas intelligence gathering efforts, ASIS Intelligence Officers plan, develop and manage intelligence operations. Symon sees a dynamic but positive tension between assessment and collection: There is a risk if collection and assessment are merged, that one can contaminate the other. Secondlyintelligence diplomacy. Nice work to all those involved. Secondlyintelligence diplomacy. Australias Therapeutic Goods Administration Approves Certain Psychedelic Treatments, Convoy to Canberra One Year On: Aftershocks, Convoy to Canberra One Year On: Glorious, Chaotic, A Profoundly Moving and Historic Event, Convoy to Canberra One Year On: Dusty Starr: Make A Stand While You Can, Canberra Convoy One Year On: The Sad and Brutal Final Hours, Convoy to Canberra One Year On: The Great March, Convoy to Canberra One Year On: Are we the Last Fort? GD: Where does human intelligence fit in the cyber age / the digital age?Well, humans are a social animal. The Sir Martin-owned business now resides in the International Towers Barangaroo complex, part of the Barangaroo South development, owned by Lendlease. The Australian Secret Intelligence Service ( ASIS / ess /) is the foreign intelligence agency of Australia, tasked with the covert collection of information overseas through personal contacts and other means of human intelligence. Now, todays top spy, Paul Symon, scores another first, with a series of video interviews with ASPI. But my follow-on line (Theres a lot of noise out there.) worked because, apparently, that touches concepts ASIS is using, as Symon explains: There are jewels there, and thats what drives usto find those jewels. Its got Seans hands all over it. Graeme Dobell (GD): Paul Symon, welcome to ASPI. Irvine cites this wonderful bit of fruitiness from a top British diplomat, Rodric Braithwaite: The subject of intelligence attracts attention out of proportion to its real importance. For those in the diplomatic service in the early years, I can read into the history a very real anxiety about having the overt and covert elements of government working in parallel. The very worst are at the pub moaning about their colleagues. GD: What does ASIS do today?PS: Three main functions. And, no, she's not being linked to The Panel like everyone else in media. Intelligence Officers But while the interview might be a simulation, it also has real-world implications, with high-performing candidates receiving an application code that they can use to inform ASIS assessors of their performance. This is great, really engaging. It is essential that you maintain a similar level of confidentiality and that you do not discuss your application with anyone, as this could impact your career with ASIS. For 68 years, ASIS has dwelt in the most secret spaces of the spook universe. The classified nature of the agencys work, combined with Hollywood spy-movie stereotypes, often gives the public a false impression of what working in intelligence is actually like. The fact that we have counterpart organisations almost in every country of the worldintelligence agencies talk to intelligence agencies, they share information. GD: Where does human intelligence fit in the cyber age / the digital age? Australia Secret Intelligence Service The Most Interesting Job Interview. GD: Lets finish this with a discussion of risk. New research finds attention-optimised digital ads produce 63% less CO2. Information is power, and the head of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service has for the first time appeared on national television to explain how his secretive organization operates, in a bid to publicly explain its workings as it celebrates its 70th anniversary. Youre a f*cking idiot? With ASIS having cover departments like Defence and like External Affairs, it brings to the fore concerns about well if mistakes are made, who carries the can?. There is human along with other forms of intelligence, you mentioned cyber. Answerable in an accountability sense to the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security, who has the powers of a standing royal commission. So cos its got most in the title, its the same idea? Secondlyintelligence diplomacy. How do those origin stories shape your Service?PS: I think it was a significant factor in the formative years of ASIS. The full interviews and transcripts can be downloaded from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute's website here. We accept risk, we cant be cavalier. When anyone in the B&T office is dunking their hobnobs or ginger nuts, rest assured a Tetleys won't be too far off. Held to accountpolitically by my Minister, the Foreign Minister, to whom I am answerable. Humans will develop trusting relationships and share secretsthey are willing to build a relationship with a service like ours that cultivates, recruits and validates them. That's understandable - you don't come across ASIS employees every day. is that the Minister authorises an activity like that, she also needs to consult other Ministers including the Prime Minister, who may be affected or impacted by those activities that we do. It basically directs its initial and first Director of the Australian Secret Service, Alfred Deakin Brookes to do two things:Undertake the collection of foreign intelligence offshore; and secondly conduct special operations. The covert directorate was abolished and ASIS officers were banned from carrying weapons. When speaking to the media,Bishop said:It is not quite James Bond and driving an Aston Martin.. Or a mixture of the two. We dont give people a licence to kill. Advertisement for an Australian Financial Review expose which revealed details of ASIS's operations in 1972. Yet, the joke may well be on him when he sends the invoice in. The Strategist The Australian Strategic Policy Institute Blog. Share your interview experience Interview experience Based on one interview Favourable Interview difficulty Based on one interview Difficult Interview process length Not yet available My theory is that this is because secrets are like sex. Risk has always been part and parcel of what weve done, but I would say it, is deeply entrenched in the way we think about our activities and operations, and depending on the overall risk at the end, the overall risk determines who ultimately is the delegate is to approve an, Obviously the highest risk ones, I will be the delegate, but there will be lower or moderate risk activities where people at lower levels can approve the activities or operations. We are Australia's overseas secret intelligence agency. How horrible it would've been to hear from new, emerging talent. I think there was very much a sentiment amongst the political leadership and many senior officials that Australia needed to have an arm of government that could collect foreign intelligence and it could undertake what it called special operations in those days. You hear stories about Google and Facebook throwing all kinds of left-field questions at applicants in job interviews, but compared to being an intelligence officer at ASIS, those jobs are a walk in the park, he said. Then to Parliament through the Parliamentary Joint. Theres that element of intelligence diplomacy. If you don't see this please check behind this window, and if it is still not there check your browser settings and turn off the pop-up blocker. How do we use that cacophony? He has, one would suggest, an ego, aspects of narcissism that wouldnt fit comfortably with my people. Hope called the exercise poorly planned, poorly supervised and poorly run. I think weve got it about right, in terms of, strong thread of risk, right through the organisation in the waywe plan activitiesbut an agility through the delegation through to overall risk that lets us generate activities quite quickly, certainly at the more low-to-moderate end. GD: What does ASIS do today?PS: Three main functions. For those in the diplomatic service in the early years, I can read into the history a very real anxiety about having the overt and covert elements of government working in parallel. Or, Are they keeping tabs on the number of attempts? There is a very strong thread of education, knowledge and understanding about risk management. Houston has appointed Daye Moffitt (left) as executive strategy director, Sydney and promoted Cara Meade (right) to executive strategy director, Melbourne. He articulated the legality and propriety of the work that we did.. What is Artificial Intelligence (AI), Exactly? In its defence, MAFS seems rather well behaved this year. But its there in the ISA and observed in the breach every day by the Minister and the Inspector General. There is a very strong thread of education, knowledge and understanding about risk management. The AustraliansBen Packhamthought getting the top spy in front of a camera for the first time made for a landmark series of video interviews. Those sorts of conversations are normally held in inner circles, andare between humans, and will always be that way.GD: Why are people willing to take those risks, why are people willing to betray their countrys secrets?Well, there can be a range of reasons, as a general proposition, I would argue that if youre in a closed society than there is a stronger possibility that you will be concerned about the direction of the country. ASIS will take appropriate action, consistent with applicable legislation, to protect and promote Australia's vital interests through the provision of unique foreign This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. But there are a lot of people that dont. Intriguingly, it has also gained rapid global interest appearing on CNN NY and news programs in Germany, France and Spain. And, unlike their male counterparts, there's no fascination for the Matrix films. So, again, we help with training programs and deliver some capabilities to countries in our near region. As we did on the 13 May 1952, we continue to obtain for our government, intelligence from overseas.The second function is what I broadly describe as intelligence diplomacy. What is the Difference Between Ai and Machine Learning? ASIS employs Australians from all backgrounds, with many different kinds of skills, and we're always looking for passionate, motivated people to join our team.