Directive for the Establishment and Maintenance of a Security Service
Encyclopedia
On 16 March 1949, Australian Prime Minister Ben Chifley
issued a Directive for the Establishment and Maintenance of a Security Service, appointing South Australian Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey Reed as the first Director-General of Security
. The need for an Australian security service (to be modelled on the United Kingdom Security Service, MI5
) became apparent with the United States
administration of the day expressing disaffection with the state of security in Australia, particularly in counter-intelligence.
Justice Reed advised the Prime Minister in August 1949 that he had decided to christen the service the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation
(ASIO).
issued an expanded and more specific Directive titled Charter of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization
on the appointment of Colonel Charles Spry
as the new Director-General of Security.
Both the Establishment and Charter Directives have been now largely superseded by federal legislation, notably by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979.
Ben Chifley
Joseph Benedict Chifley , Australian politician, was the 16th Prime Minister of Australia. He took over the Australian Labor Party leadership and Prime Ministership after the death of John Curtin in 1945, and went on to retain government at the 1946 election, before being defeated at the 1949...
issued a Directive for the Establishment and Maintenance of a Security Service, appointing South Australian Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey Reed as the first Director-General of Security
Director-General of Security
The Director-General of Security is the executive officer of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation , the domestic security agency of Australia...
. The need for an Australian security service (to be modelled on the United Kingdom Security Service, MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
) became apparent with the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
administration of the day expressing disaffection with the state of security in Australia, particularly in counter-intelligence.
Justice Reed advised the Prime Minister in August 1949 that he had decided to christen the service the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation is Australia's national security service, which is responsible for the protection of the country and its citizens from espionage, sabotage, acts of foreign interference, politically-motivated violence, attacks on the Australian defence system, and...
(ASIO).
Text of the Directive
Expansion and revision
On 6 July 1950 Prime Minister Robert MenziesRobert Menzies
Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
issued an expanded and more specific Directive titled Charter of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization
Charter of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization
On 6 July 1950 Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies issued a Directive entitled the Charter of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization. The charter was an expanded and more specific form of the 1949 Directive for the Establishment and Maintenance of a Security Service issued by Ben...
on the appointment of Colonel Charles Spry
Charles Spry
Brigadier Sir Charles Chambers Fowell Spry, CBE, DSO was an Australian soldier, who from 1950 to 1970 was the second Director-General of Security, the head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation .-Early life:...
as the new Director-General of Security.
Both the Establishment and Charter Directives have been now largely superseded by federal legislation, notably by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979.