The Defence Intelligence Organisation (DIO) is one of Australia's An intelligence agency is a governmental organization devoted to gathering of information by means of espionage (spying), communication interception, cryptoanalysis, cooperation with other institutions, and evaluation of public sources. ...intelligence agencies, providing assessment of intelligence obtained by other Australian and cooperating foreign intelligence agencies, supporting Defence and Government decision_making and the planning and conduct of The Australian Defence Force numbers about 53,000 active duty personnel. ...Australian Defence Force operations. The DIO is located in Canberra, Australia's capital city.

The DIO is one of three organisations that make up the Defence Intelligence Group, which come under the auspices of the Deputy Secretary for Intelligence and Security. The three are:

• Defence Intelligence Organisation
• Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation
• The Defence Signals Directorate is Australias SIGINT_collection agency. ...Defence Signals Directorate

Organisation

The DIO was established in 1990 as the strategic_level, all_source intelligence assessment agency for the Department of Defence. It is not an autonomous body; unlike the The Office of National Assessments is an Australian government body responsible for the analysis of intelligence data related to foreign affairs, roughly equivalent to the analysis departments of other intelligence agencies. ...Office of National Assessments, the DIO is a subordinate organisation within the Department of Defence with no separate statutory mandate or direct budget line. The organisation's character and purpose is defined by its position within the Defence portfolio.

The DIO is an integrated civilian–military organisation, with the majority of staff being public servants recruited through either the Defence Graduate Program or direct entry.

Operations

The DIO's assessments focus on the Asia_Pacific region and cover strategic, political, defence, military, economic, scientific and technical areas. The DIO's intelligence products help inform decisions about Australia's military activities at home and abroad, Defence acquisition processes, force readiness decisions, strategic policy, international relations and defence scientific developments.

The DIO also maintains close links with the intelligence agencies of other allied countries. In addition, the DIO maintains links with the intelligence agencies of a range of other countries to foster dialogue and the exchange of information and as a contribution to defence relationships with regional countries.

Australian troops deploying to Afghanistan and Iraq were briefed by the DIO on enemy weapons and forces.