9Evaluating matters relating to the national intelligence community

9 Evaluating matters relating to the national intelligence community

(1) The evaluation functions of ONI are the following: (a) evaluating the activities of an affected agency or agencies, having regard to: (i) Australia’s national intelligence priorities and requirements; and (ii) the intelligence needs of relevant Ministers; (b) evaluating the adequacy of the resources available to carry out Australia’s national intelligence activities and whether those resources are being appropriately allocated; (c) to the extent required to perform any other function, evaluating other aspects of an affected agency or agencies; (d) at the direction of the Prime Minister, evaluating an affected agency or agencies to assess the national intelligence community’s effectiveness in relation to specific matters; (e) providing advice to the Prime Minister on: (i) the results of any evaluations made; and (ii) any improvements or changes that should be made to remedy any identified inadequacies. (2) In carrying out its evaluation functions, ONI may have regard to: (a) directions given by the Director‑General under section 20; and (b) guidelines issued by the Director‑General under section 21; and (c) to the extent that an evaluation relates to an affected agency or agencies, any failure by the affected agency or agencies to comply with: (i) a direction given by the Director‑General under section 20; or (ii) a guideline issued by the Director‑General under section 21. (3) Before providing advice to the Prime Minister under this section, ONI must consult with any affected agency or agencies to which the advice relates. Any advice provided to the Prime Minister must include any comments made by any affected agency or agencies that are relevant to the advice. (4) In this section:

affected agency or agencies means:

(a) a particular intelligence agency; or
(b) a particular agency with an intelligence role or function; or
(c) ONI; or
(d) a class of agencies within the national intelligence community; or
(e) the national intelligence community as a whole.