The most effective way for the DG ONI to influence agencies and their parent departments would be to have some control over the National Intelligence Community budget.
Both of those functions were envisaged in the legislation establishing ONA, enacted 40 years ago in 1977, after the seminal report by Justice Hope into the AIC.
<p>The ultimate issue will not be the politics of allocation of agencies to a new portfolio, but the increased effectiveness of the Australian Intelligence Community through the early implementation of these reforms.</p>
One of the significant growth areas in the Commonwealth sector over the years since 9/11 has been the disproportionate increase in the number of highly-paid senior managers.
Intelligence organisations cannot assume their job is done once a report is delivered but should instead seek to add value through expertise, focus, and access.