Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

OFFICE OF NATIONAL ASSESSMENTS ACT 1977 - SECT 5

             (1)  The functions of the Office are:

                     (a)  to assemble and correlate information relating to international matters that are of political, strategic or economic significance to Australia and:

                              (i)  to prepare reports in relation to such of those matters as are of current significance; and

                             (ii)  from time to time as circumstances require, to make assessments in relation to such of those matters as are of national importance;

                     (b)  to furnish reports prepared, and assessments made, in accordance with paragraph (a) to appropriate Ministers and other appropriate persons;

                     (c)  to ensure that international developments of major importance to Australia are assessed on a continuing basis; and

                     (d)  to carry out the coordination and evaluation functions specified in subsections (1A) and (1B).

          (1A)  The coordination functions of the Office are:

                     (a)  to coordinate the foreign intelligence activities that Australia engages in, including in relation to setting Australia’s foreign intelligence requirements based on Australia’s foreign intelligence priorities; and

                     (b)  to coordinate matters of common interest to Australia’s foreign intelligence agencies, including, but not limited to, the following:

                              (i)  policy in relation to foreign intelligence;

                             (ii)  long‑term planning and cross‑agency planning in relation to foreign intelligence;

                            (iii)  liaison with international partners, consistent with the capacity of the agencies to develop relationships with their counterparts in other countries.

          (1B)  The evaluation functions of the Office are:

                     (a)  to evaluate the foreign intelligence activities that Australia engages in, having regard to:

                              (i)  Australia’s foreign intelligence priorities and requirements; and

                             (ii)  the intelligence needs of relevant Ministers; and

                     (b)  to provide advice to the Minister or to relevant Departments on the adequacy of the resources available for foreign intelligence activities; and

                     (c)  to provide advice to the Minister on any improvements or changes that should be made to remedy inadequacies, including, but not limited to, inadequacies relating to coordination arrangements.

             (2)  A Minister, or a prescribed Commonwealth officer, may, for the purpose of obtaining assistance in the formation of policies or plans by the Commonwealth Government, request the Director‑General to prepare a report or make an assessment in accordance with paragraph (1)(a) and, where such a request is made, the Director‑General shall endeavour to comply with the request.

             (3)  The Director‑General may make arrangements with appropriate persons for the making of contributions by them, or by persons under their direction or control, for inclusion in reports or assessments, or for them or persons under their direction or control to participate in the preparation of reports or the making of assessments, that are being, or are to be, made in the performance of the functions of the Office referred to in paragraph (1)(a).

             (4)  Subject to subsection (2), the Director‑General is not subject to direction in respect of the content of, or any conclusions to be reached in, any report or assessment under this Act.