IIP's Review of the IIR 2024

Originally published on 19 June 2025

The recently released Independent Intelligence Review 2024 rightly calls for a more integrated, innovative, and agile National Intelligence Community (NIC). It shines a light on the need for deeper collaboration, better leadership development, and a workforce equipped for emerging threats.

But one thing is conspicuously absent: A commonly accepted standard for foundational intelligence training.

As an organisation committed to advancing the professionalism of intelligence practice in Australia, we see this as a critical gap that risks undermining many of the Review’s ambitions.

Across the NIC and its partner sectors, there is no accepted benchmark for what constitutes "basic" intelligence training. Entry-level analysts may receive excellent in-house instruction or none at all. Concepts like analytic tradecraft, cognitive bias mitigation, structured techniques, and source validation are taught inconsistently.

This lack of standardisation affects:

• Quality: Analysts apply different definitions of rigour and reliability.
• Mobility: Basic skills don’t always transfer across agencies or roles.
• Accountability: There’s no shared foundation for ethical or methodological critique.

The Institute for Intelligence Professionalisation (IIP) was established to tackle precisely this kind of challenge. As a non-governmental, apolitical initiative, IIP is working to:

• Develop a nationally recognised core curriculum for intelligence fundamentals,
• Offer certification and microcredentials for intelligence practitioners,
• Partner with government, academia, professional and like-minded industry providers to promote ethical, skilled, and future-ready tradecraft.

These offerings directly support the Review’s vision for a more capable, integrated, and innovative workforce.

If the government is serious about building a resilient, unified intelligence capability, then standardising foundational training should be part of the next phase of implementation.

IIP stands ready to help design and deliver these solutions with rigour, professionalism, and a collaborative mindset.

To those in the NIC, policy, or education sectors: let’s talk. The future of intelligence work deserves a solid foundation.