Office of National Assessments
What ONA does
ONA provides assessments on international matters of political, strategic and economic significance to the Prime Minister, members of the National Security Committee of Cabinet and key senior policy makers in the government. ONA bases its assessments on information from a range of sources, both inside and outside the government.
While ONA reports directly to the Prime Minister and sits within the Prime Minister’s portfolio, responsibility for the preparation of assessments and day-to-day management issues falls to the Director-General of ONA. The Director-General of ONA is an independent statutory officer who is not subject to external direction on the contents of ONA assessments.
In addition to setting out ONA’s assessment function, the Office of National Assessments Act 1977 (ONA Act) charges ONA with responsibility for coordinating and reviewing Australia’s foreign intelligence activities and issues of common interest among Australia’s foreign intelligence agencies. ONA is also responsible for evaluating the effectiveness of Australia’s foreign intelligence effort and the adequacy of its resourcing.
Further information about ONA can be found at <http://www.ona.gov.au>.
Statutory Independence – 2006 Inspection
In my 2005–06 annual report I outlined my new role and responsibilities in relation to conducting periodic reviews of the statutory independence of ONA.
By way of background, the Intelligence Services Legislation Amendment Act 2005 which came into effect on 2 December 2005 inserted a new provision – s8(3)(c) – into the IGIS Act which requires the IGIS:
“(c) At the request of the responsible Minister or of the Inspector-General’s own motion, to inquire into any matter in relation to the statutory independence of ONA.”
There has also been an amendment to s35(2) of the IGIS Act so that the IGIS is required to include in his or her annual report, comments on any inquiry conducted in accordance with the new s8(3)(c).
In order to fulfil my new responsibilities, I began planning and undertaking inspection activity relating to ONA’s statutory independence in the last reporting period. This work essentially covered ONA’s assessments in the period December 2005 until October 2006. It involved examination of ONA’s formal assessment products, interviews with key ONA clients, a survey of ONA analysts and confidential interviews with selected analysts to explore survey responses and related issues.
I concluded this inspection activity in October 2006 and the report of my findings was sent to the Prime Minister, the Director-General of ONA and the Secretary of PMC on 15 December 2006. In March 2007 I addressed an ONA all-staff meeting on the findings of my first review of ONA’s statutory independence.
I found that the general view of analysts was that ONA judgements are not shaped to suit the political concerns of government ministers. There were no suggestions to me of improper pressure and/or attempted direction from ministers and their offices.
Analysts believed ONA assessments are not biased towards desired policy outcomes, although there were a number of analysts (but not a majority) who believed or were ambivalent about whether there may be some subjects with policy/political sensitivity on which ONA might self-censor (ie. touch on in a limited manner only). Examination of ONA products in the small number of areas nominated did not support this in some instances, but was inconclusive in others.
A copy of the complete executive summary of the report is at Annex 6.
Statutory Independence – Inquiry 2007
The inspection activity in 2006 was useful in establishing an outline of what independence means for ONA, in scoping how to best examine it and providing a preliminary review.
While the inspection results were generally positive, I decided that as a matter of proper process I should conduct a full inquiry using all the powers available to me on matters relating to the statutory independence of ONA. On 15 February 2007 I advised the Prime Minister and the Director-General of ONA of my intention to conduct such an inquiry.
The methodology used in conducting this inquiry, while largely consistent with the methodology used in undertaking the 2006 inspection activity, has been more wide-reaching. As well as undertaking the same review activities as in 2006, I requested:
- documentation on endnoting
- internal ONA reviews of key judgements
- documentation on dissent, and
- drafts of ONA product and documentation indicating changes made to drafts.
At the end of this reporting period my office was undertaking the analysis of this documentation and progressing with this inquiry. My findings will be reported in the next annual report.
Privacy guidelines
As mentioned in the previous chapter on DIO, ONA has also developed privacy guidelines that outline the handling, use, and further dissemination of information about Australian persons. The guidelines apply to references to personal information about Australians in external communications _ including reports, briefings, emails and advice _ emanating from ONA.
During this reporting period I conducted five inspections of ONA’s use of the privacy guidelines. I was satisfied with ONA’s application of, and compliance with, the privacy guidelines and was pleased with the quality and care taken in the documentation.
ONA continues to educate analysts on applying the guidelines and reporting on compliance with the guidelines. The implementation of the privacy guidelines at ONA has been conducted in a thorough manner and I was satisfied with the level of awareness of the privacy guidelines among analysts. I would emphasise the importance of refresher training to ensure that analysts maintain an awareness of their responsibilities.
I will continue to conduct inspections relating to ONA’s use of the privacy guidelines every three months.
Training
Following from my new roles and responsibilities in respect of ONA, I have continued to raise awareness about my office and also encourage greater interaction between my office and ONA.
Throughout the year I presented to the AIC common induction course, to which ONA staff are regularly allocated places. In March 2007 I addressed an all-staff meeting which covered my role in relation to ONA, a comparison of the roles and responsibilities of other Inspectors-General from around the world, and the findings from the 2006 review of ONA’s statutory independence. I believe that ONA staff have a well-formed appreciation of my role in reviewing the statutory independence of ONA.
Information about the role and functions of my office is also accessible on ONA’s internal web pages.
Complaints and inquiries
There were no complaints made to my office about ONA in the reporting period.
As mentioned above, I launched an own motion inquiry into the statutory independence of ONA (Section 8(3)(c) of the IGIS Act) in February 2007. I will report the findings of this inquiry in my next annual report.