Benefits, Challenges, and Pitfalls of Private Intelligence

Authors

Keywords:

Intelligence, private investigation, need-to-know, doctrine, need-toshare doctrine, right-to-know doctrine

Abstract

It was my pleasure to give the opening address at the Privatisation of Intelligence Symposium hosted by Charles Sturt University and the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security. In this paper I draw from that address, my policing career and my involvement in key strategic and operational reviews and inquiries on behalf of government. My focus is to discuss from a practitioner’s perspective, core concepts of intelligence and information sharing in the Australian context. It is underpinned by the fact that the privatisation of intelligence is a reality and has been for some years. With this as the starting point, I go on to challenge policy concepts that do not recognise this reality and assess the benefits, challenges and pitfalls of the privatisation of intelligenceand intelligence sharing in Australia. I conclude with remarks about what this might portent for future policing and policy leaders.

Author Biography

  • Mick Palmer, Griffith University

    Mick Palmer, AO, APM, is a distinguished law enforcement professional who has conducted sensitive governmental and corporate inquiries since his retirement as Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police in 2001. Palmer conducted a number of reviews and inquiries for both the Federal and State governments as a private consultant, including the high-profile 2005 Cornelia Rau Report. He took up the role of Federal Government Inspector of Transport Security in 2004. Between 2004 and 2012, Palmer headed many sensitive reviews and inquiries with many of his inquiry reports being tabled in Parliament. He stepped down from his position as Inspector of Transport Security in June 2012 and is now an Adjunct Professor at Griffith University, Queensland, Australia.

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Published

2013-03-01

Issue

Issue 1, Number 2, 2013

Section

Critical Essays

License

Authors retain copyright in their articles and grant SALUS the right of first publication. The work is simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as appropriate credit is given to the author(s) and the journal, a link to the license is provided, and any changes made are indicated.

How to Cite

Benefits, Challenges, and Pitfalls of Private Intelligence. (2013). Salus Journal, 1(2), 3-7. https://journals.csu.domains/index.php/salusjournal/article/view/issue-01-number-02-palmer