Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Minister for Defence Stephen Smith recently announced that the Government has decided to rename the Defence Signals Directorate and the Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation to better reflect their roles – notably, the names no longer contain the term ‘defence’.

An effective national security strategy requires effective partnerships across the National Security Community, and cooperation between Commonwealth Departments and Agencies is planned to intensify over the next five years, as whole-of-government arrangements are put into place in areas such as cyber security, responses to national disasters and responses to national security events, including the G20 Summit and the Commonwealth Games.

“The 2013 Defence White Paper recognises that Defence makes a significant contribution to Australia’s broader national security arrangements. In particular, it recognises the Defence Signals Directorate (DSD) and the Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation (DIGO) play critically important roles in the support of Australia’s national security,” said Ms Gillard.

As outlined in the 2013 Defence White Paper, the Government has decided to rename these agencies the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) and the Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation (AGO), to more accurately reflect their national roles.

The renaming of the agencies will see no change to the current functions, powers or accountability responsibilities of the agencies under the Intelligence Services Act 2001.  Both agencies remain in the Department of Defence.

Externally, the compliance of ASD and AGO with legislation and ministerial directions will, as is the case now, be monitored by the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security.

The Government will bring forward legislation to amend the Intelligence Services Act 2001 to reflect the renaming of the agencies.  The change will take effect on the enactment of the enabling legislation renaming the agencies.