Editing Office of National Assessments (section)

== History ==
The origins of ONA stem from recommendations of the [[Royal Commission on Intelligence and Security]] (also known as the First Hope Commission) which was established on 21 August 1974 by Australia's Prime Minister [[Gough Whitlam]] and led by [[Robert Marsden Hope|Justice Robert Hope]], for the formation of an independent agency to provide intelligence assessments on political, strategic and economic issues directly to the Prime Minister.<ref>[http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/explore/security/royal-commisson/ National Archives of Australia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190605052047/http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/explore/security/royal-commisson/ |date=5 June 2019 }} Records of the Royal Commission on Intelligence and Security</ref><ref>Gyngell, A. and Wesley, M. (2003) Making Australian Foreign Policy. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. (page 146)</ref> The Commission reported in 1977 to the Australian Government led by [[Malcolm Fraser]], and four of its eight reports were tabled in Parliament.

The ONA was established under the ''Office of National Assessments Act 1977'', which ensured ONA's statutory independence from government. ONA began operations on 20 February 1978, assuming the [[Joint Intelligence Organisation (Australia)|Joint Intelligence Organisation]]'s foreign intelligence assessment role. The Joint Intelligence Organisation retained its defence intelligence assessment role until it was restructured as the [[Defence Intelligence Organisation]] in 1990.<ref>[https://www.ona.gov.au/about-ona/overview/history-ona Office of National Assessments] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122092203/https://www.ona.gov.au/about-ona/overview/history-ona |date=22 November 2018 }} History of the ONA</ref>

The formation of the Office of National Intelligence was announced by [[Prime Minister of Australia|Prime Minister]] [[Malcolm Turnbull]] on 18 July 2017 in line with recommendations from the 2017 Independent Review of the [[Australian Intelligence Community]] led by [[Michael L'Estrange]] and Stephen Merchant. The Office of National Intelligence subsumes the Office of National Assessments with an expended role in the strategic development and enterprise management of the National Intelligence Community.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/2017-Independent-Intelligence-Review.pdf| title = 2017 Independent Review of the Australian Intelligence Community}} [[Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Australia)|Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet]]</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=A Strong and Secure Australia |date=18 July 2017 |url=https://www.pm.gov.au/media/2017-07-18/strong-and-secure-australia |publisher=[[Prime Minister of Australia]] |access-date=18 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170718050420/http://www.pm.gov.au/media/2017-07-18/strong-and-secure-australia |archive-date=18 July 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> On 1 December 2017, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced [[Nick Warner]], then Director-General of the [[Australian Secret Intelligence Service]] and former Secretary of the [[Department of Defence (Australia)|Department of Defence]], to serve as the Director-General of the Office of National Intelligence.<ref>[https://www.pm.gov.au/media/maintaining-strong-and-secure-australia "Maintaining a Strong and Secure Australia"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180324165801/https://www.pm.gov.au/media/maintaining-strong-and-secure-australia |date=24 March 2018 }} Prime Minister of Australia press release, 1 December 2017</ref><ref>[http://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/public-service/malcolm-turnbull-names-spy-chief-nick-warner-to-lead-new-security-agency-20171201-gzwx5g.html "Malcolm Turnbull names spy chief Nick Warner to lead new security agency"] The Canberra Times, 1 December 2017</ref> ONI was formally stood up on 20 December 2018.<ref name="Office of National Intelligence"/>

===Media reporting===
Although not a secret organisation, ONA usually attracts little attention. However, a striking exception occurred in 2001 when Prime Minister [[John Howard]] publicly relied upon an ONA assessment to support his claims about asylum seekers on the [[MV Tampa|MV ''Tampa'']], in an incident which became known as the "[[Tampa affair]]". The ONA assessment was later leaked to the public in its entirety, showing that the assessment was ultimately based on nothing more than [[news release|press releases]] from various government ministers.

In 2003, in the lead-up to the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]], an ONA intelligence officer named [[Andrew Wilkie]] resigned from the agency, citing ethical concerns in relation to selective and exaggerated use of intelligence by the Australian Government on the matter of [[Iraq and weapons of mass destruction]].

===Flood Report===
ONA has experienced substantial growth since the release of the report into intelligence agencies by Philip Flood which recommended a doubling of the agency's budget and staffing resources and formalisation of the agency's role as a coordinator and evaluator of the other Australian foreign intelligence agencies. {{citation needed|date=September 2016}} The only ONA specific recommendation not implemented from the Flood report was the renaming of ONA to the Australian Foreign Intelligence Assessment Agency (AFIAA).<ref>''[http://www.dpmc.gov.au/publications/intelligence_inquiry/index.htm Report of the Inquiry into Australian Intelligence Agencies]'', [http://www.dpmc.gov.au/publications/intelligence_inquiry/chapter7/2_ona.htm chapter 7]</ref>