The business model of the Australian national intelligence community (NIC), including the ways in which the NIC collects intelligence, analyses that intelligence and then provides it to senior customers, is being challenged. In 2025, technology is the centre of gravity of national power, not just military might – or indeed national intelligence power.

Informed by stakeholder engagement, this report indicates that while there’s much that should be praised when it comes to the NIC and innovation, there’s also much more that can be done.

The findings and recommendations of the report were informed by a range of semi-structured, qualitative interviews with 28 former and current Australian national-security officials, industry representatives, and those with comparable experience of the UK’s national-security system. The interviews focused on the topics of leadership, technology, risk and experimentation, culture, partnerships, and public engagement and transparency.

The report makes five key recommendations, including in relation to:

• actively promoting the concept and practice of ‘intelligent failure’ in the service of innovation
• incorporating an appreciation of the impact of secure workspace design and operation on the effectiveness of the work carried out within those spaces
• expediting the 2024 Independent Intelligence Review’s recommendations in relation to national-security technology
• an urgent, classified audit of Australia’s sovereign intelligence capability resilience
• preparation of the NIC for the impending (and different) future of intelligence production.