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IGIS Annual Report 1995-96 |
Australian Secret Intelligence Service
Monitoring Activities
92. Monitoring of ASIS' handling of foreign intelligence information concerning Australian persons continued during the year. Very few breaches were detected and those that were, were of a technical nature only. The rules governing the manner in which ASIS reports and distributes foreign intelligence information it collects are approved at Ministerial level. The present Rules have been in force since 1988.
93. The Director-General ASIS has instituted a review of the current Rules and has sought assistance from my Office. Some changes are warranted in my view. I will be contributing to the review which, when complete, will be passed to the Minister for Foreign Affairs for his consideration.
94. During the year, at the invitation of the Director-General, I commenced examining a sample of operational records of the Service. The Samuels Commission of Inquiry into ASIS recommended that the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security widen its examination of ASIS activities as part of the enhanced accountability framework it proposed. This activity will form the basis of a regular audit of ASIS' operational files and will strengthen the level of assurance I am able to provide to the Minister on ASIS' compliance with its approved charter and operating procedures. My inspections to date have not revealed anything untoward warranting being drawn to the attention of the Minister.
95. It is pleasing to report that no complaints about ASIS were lodged with my Office during the year, nor did I receive any references from the Minister.
96. My Office provided assistance to ASIS and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in the settlement of the legal claims of the major complainants who were the subject of recommendations emanating from the Samuels Commission of Inquiry.
Monitoring Activities
97. DSD's adherence to the Rules relating to signals intelligence and Australian persons and companies continues to maintain the high standards of past years.
98. This year there were only eight breaches detected, which is an extremely small proportion of the volume of material handled. None of the breaches was of a substantive nature and in all cases the agency withdrew the original reports upon detection of the errors and replaced them with modified reports which conformed with the current Rules.
99. I have suggested to the Director that there would be value in the Ministerial Rules being reviewed. He agreed, and in the course of the next financial year I propose to make some suggestions on how the current Rules could be improved. The Minister's agreement will be sought when the modifications have been developed.
100. During the year my Office, at the initiative of the Director, observed certain testing activities conducted by the Agency. The presence of my Office on these occasions is of value in confirming that DSD conducts these development activities strictly in accordance with approved arrangements.
101. Like ASIS, DSD was not the subject of any complaints lodged with my Office during the year.
Defence Intelligence Organisation
102. The former Minister for Defence, the Honourable Senator Robert Ray, requested me to conduct an inquiry into an aspect of the activities of DIO during the year. As a consequence of my inquiry, recommendations were made involving a strengthening of certain internal operating procedures within the Organisation. My recommendations were accepted and have been implemented.
103. There were no other matters involving the agency which warranted my attention during the year.
Office of National Assessments
104. I received no requests from Ministers to conduct investigations into ONA and there were no references from the Human Rights Commission in relation to human rights. My involvement with the agency was confined to maintaining contact with the Director-General and some of his senior staff at a personal level.
105. As a small agency, the Office relies on the assistance of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in handling staff and other administration issues and in providing general support. I would like to record my grateful thanks for the Department's continued assistance.
106. The staff resources available to assist me with my work remained constant for most of the financial year, comprising five full time staff, including one Senior Executive Service Officer.
107. In the course of a portfolio funding review conducted in the lead up to the 1996-97 Budget, I agreed to make a contribution to the portfolio savings target by converting a full time position to a part time capacity in addition to a reduction in my Office's non-salary related administrative expenses.
108. Overall my baseline running costs are expected to reduce by about 8 to 9% in 1996-97.
109. I believe resources at this level are adequate to meet my responsibilities providing the workload demands on the Office remain at a normal level. However, being a very small Office if the complaint and inquiry workload during 1996-97 is substantially greater than expected, there may be the need to seek assistance if reasonable standards of responsiveness are to be maintained.
110. The installation of the secure Local Area Network (LAN) in the Office was completed in October 1995. This LAN has been provided on loan by the Department of Defence. It has improved the efficiency of the Office and has greatly enhanced the security of the electronic records held within the Office. Again we would like to record our gratitude to the Department of Defence and the Defence Signals Directorate for its assistance.
111. During 1995-96 a consultant was engaged to provide services in the area of archival records management. The Office is now almost ten years old and a local management plan for the on-going management of records was required. A Record Disposal Authority (RDA) covering the specialised records of the Office has been developed in association with Australian Archives and is awaiting formal approval by the Director-General of Australian Archives.
Internal and External Scrutiny
112. The Office continues to meet all requirements for internal and external scrutiny of its finances and administration.
113.The Office received an unqualified audit report from the Australian National Audit Office in relation to its financial statement.
114.During the year the Assistant Inspector-General represented the Office at hearings of the relevant Senate Legislation Committee, which considered the Office's estimates and additional estimates.
115. During 1995-96, staff of the Office comprised:
Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security
(Statutory office-holder, Secretary equivalent)Mr Ron McLeod AM
Assistant Inspector-General
(Senior Executive Band 1)Mr Philip Moss
Senior Investigation Officers
(Senior Officer Grade C)Mr Matthew Collett (until 15 December 1995)
Mr Rod Tier (until 29 March 1996)
Ms Jane Trevor (from 1 February 1996)
Mr Neville Bryan (from 1 April 1996)
Personal Assistant to the Inspector-General
(Administrative Officer Class 5)Ms Sandy Thomas
Executive Officer
(Administrative Officer Class 5)Ms Robyn Kelly (acting from 14 August 1995)
Administrative Assistant/Personal Assistant to the Assistant Inspector-General
(Administrative Service Officer Class 3)Ms Robyn Kelly (vacant from 14 August 1995)
116. During the 1995-96 financial year, two members of staff were paid performance pay.
Social Justice: Access and Equity
117. The Office continues to be committed to the Social Justice Strategy and to the concept of Access and Equity in service delivery.
118. Given the Office's small size and its co-location with the Department of PM&C, the Department's EEO Plan applies to this Office by agreement between the IGIS and the Secretary of PM&C.
Occupational Health and Safety.
119. The Office is covered by PM&C's Occupational Health and Safety Plan.
120. The Office has its own Industrial Democracy Plan, which continues to be implemented.
121. During the year staff attended courses covering investigative/interview techniques, writing skills, financial training, management training and APS-wide issues.
122. Ernst and Young provided assistance with the preparation of the financial statements in this report.
123. A consultant was also engaged by this Office to provide services in the area of archival records management.
Advertising and Market Research
124. The Office incurred no expenditure on general advertising during 1995-96.
125. No market research and no advertising campaigns were undertaken by the Office during the reporting period.
126. This Office is an exempt agency for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act.