This report argues that Australia’s National Intelligence Community faces a growing mismatch between how intelligence is produced and how it is now consumed in an artificial intelligence shaped information environment. As ministers, policymakers and operational leaders increasingly expect information that is faster, more interactive and more tailored, the report warns that intelligence risks losing relevance.

Episodes over the past decade demonstrate how economic levers are being used to impose costs and reshape incentives without crossing traditional thresholds of conflict. This report argues for strengthening the connective tissue between policy, intelligence, economic and security functions so that information flows more freely, preparedness is built collectively and joint capabilities can withstand pressure.

This explainer assesses how the Trump Administration’s approach to United States intelligence is affecting, and will affect in the future, Australia’s national intelligence community and by extension its national interests. It concludes that Australia should enhance the fields in which it has, or can develop, genuine sovereign intelligence capabilities and thinking.

The Pacific Islands have become an arena of intensifying geopolitical competition. This policy brief proposes Australia should lead the creation of a formal intelligence-sharing framework – a 'Pacific Eyes agreement' – initially involving Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Fiji, the four most closely aligned countries in the region.

The business model of the Australian national intelligence community (NIC) is being challenged. In 2025, technology is the centre of gravity of national power, not just military might. Informed by stakeholder engagement, this report finds there’s much more that can be done when it comes to the NIC and innovation. The report makes five key...