The Defence Intelligence Organisation (DIO) is an Australian government

Government of Australia

The Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...

 intelligence agency

Intelligence agency

An intelligence agency is a governmental agency that is devoted to information gathering for purposes of national security and defence. Means of information gathering may include espionage, communication interception, cryptanalysis, cooperation with other institutions, and evaluation of public...

 responsible for assessing intelligence obtained from or provided by other Australian and foreign intelligence agencies, supporting Defence and Government decision-making and the planning and conduct of Australian Defence Force

Australian Defence Force

The Australian Defence Force is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy , Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force and a number of 'tri-service' units...

 operations. The DIO is located in Russell Offices

Russell Offices

The Russell Offices is a complex of office buildings located in the Canberra suburb of Russell.Together with Campbell Park, these two complexes are home to the Australian Department of Defence and contain the administrative headquarters of the Australian Defence Force.The Office of National...

, Canberra

Canberra

Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...

.

The DIO, along with the Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation

Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation

The Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation is an Australian government intelligence agency responsible for the tasking , exploitation , and dissemination of geospatial intelligence...

 (DIGO) and the Defence Signals Directorate

Defence Signals Directorate

Defence Signals Directorate is an Australian government intelligence agency responsible for signals intelligence and information security .-Overview:According to its website, DSD has two principal functions:...

 (DSD), are the three organisations that comprise the Defence Intelligence Group

Defence Intelligence Group

The Australian Department of Defence Defence Intelligence and Security Group is a division of the Australian Department of Defence and comes under the auspices of the Deputy Secretary for Intelligence and Security . The group provides intelligence for the Australian Government and the Australian...

, which in turn falls under the jurisdiction of the Deputy Secretary for Intelligence and Security.

Organisation

The DIO was established in 1990 as the strategic-level, all-source intelligence assessment agency for the Department of Defence. It is not an autonomous body; unlike the Office of National Assessments

Office of National Assessments

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

, the DIO is a subordinate organisation within the Department of Defence with no separate statutory mandate or direct budget line. The organisation's character and purpose is defined by its position within the defence portfolio.

The DIO is an integrated civilian–military organisation, with the majority of staff being public servants recruited through either the defence Graduate Program or direct entry.

Operations

The DIO's assessments focus on the Asia-Pacific region and cover strategic, political, defence, military, economic, scientific and technical areas. The DIO's intelligence products help inform decisions about Australia's military activities at home and abroad, Defence acquisition processes, force readiness decisions, strategic policy, international relations and defence scientific developments.

The DIO also maintains close links with the intelligence agencies of other allied countries. In addition, the DIO maintains links with the intelligence agencies of a range of other countries to foster dialogue and the exchange of information and as a contribution to defence relationships with regional countries.

Australian troops deploying to Afghanistan and Iraq were briefed by the DIO on enemy weapons and forces.

Joint Intelligence Bureau (JIB) 1947-1969

In the post-World War II period, the Defence and national intelligence functions were shared between the Navy, Army and Air Force intelligence directorates and the Joint Intelligence Bureau (JIB). The Bureau was responsible for geographic, infrastructure and economic intelligence – mainly in Australia’s region. In 1957, the JIB's responsibilities were expanded to include scientific and technical intelligence.

Joint Intelligence Bureau Directors

Mr	A.P. Fleming	CBE	1947–1949
Commander	A.S. Storey	DSC Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) The Distinguished Service Cross is the third level military decoration awarded to officers, and other ranks, of the British Armed Forces, Royal Fleet Auxiliary and British Merchant Navy and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries.The DSC, which may be awarded posthumously, is...  RAN Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...	1949–1952
Major General Sir	W. Cawthorn Walter Joseph Cawthorn Major-General Sir Walter Joseph Cawthorn CBE CIE CB was an Australian soldier and diplomat, commonly known as a former head of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service . Cawthorn was born in the suburb of Prahran in Melbourne...	CBE CIE CB	1952–1954
Mr	W. Harold King	MBE	1954–1968
Mr	A.W. McMichael	OBE	1968–1969

Joint Intelligence Organisation (JIO) 1969-1990

In 1970, the Joint Intelligence Organisation (JIO) was formed from a merger of JIB with most of the foreign assessment elements of the three armed services. Following the first Hope Royal Commission and establishment of the Office of National Assessments in 1977, JIO was reoriented to focus more closely on Defence interests. The second Hope Commission endorsed these arrangements in 1984. In 1989 Counter-Terrorism was added to JIO’s responsibilities.

Joint Intelligence Organisation Directors

Mr	R.W. Furlonger	CB	1969–1972
Mr	G.A. Jockel	CBE	1972–1978
Mr	A.W. McMichael	OBE	1978–1982
Mr	J.O. Furner	CBE	1982-1984
Mr	G.R. Marshall		1984-1987
Dr	P. Dibb		1987-1988
Major General	J.S. Baker John Baker (general) General John Stuart Baker, AC, DSM was an Australian army general. He was Chief of the Australian Defence Force from July 1995 to July 1998...	AO	1989-1990

Defence Intelligence Organisation (DIO) 1990-

Following a review of Defence intelligence in 1989 by the then Major General

Major General (Australia)

Major General is a senior rank of the Australian Army, and was created as a direct equivalent of the British military rank of Major General. It is the third-highest active rank of the Australian Army, and is considered to be equivalent to a two-star rank...

 John Baker

John Baker (general)

General John Stuart Baker, AC, DSM was an Australian army general. He was Chief of the Australian Defence Force from July 1995 to July 1998...

, the Defence Intelligence Organisation (DIO) was established in 1990 as Defence’s sole strategic level, all-source intelligence assessment agency.

Defence Intelligence Organisation Directors

Major General	J.S. Baker John Baker (general) General John Stuart Baker, AC, DSM was an Australian army general. He was Chief of the Australian Defence Force from July 1995 to July 1998...	AO	1990–1992
Major General	J.C. Hartley	AO	1992–1995
Major General	J.M. Connolly	AO	1995 - 1996
Major General	W.J. Crews	AO	1997 - 1999
Mr	F. Lewincamp	PSM Public Service Medal (Australia) The Public Service Medal is a civil decoration awarded to Australian public servants for outstanding service. The PSM was introduced in 1991 and replaced the Imperial awards discontinued in 1975, supplementing the Order of Australia introduced that same year...	1999 - 2005
Major General	M.R. McNarn	AO	2005 - 2009
Major General	R.G. Wilson	AO	2009 -