What we do

DSD's purpose is to support Australian Government decision-makers and the Australian Defence Force (ADF) with high-quality foreign signals intelligence products and services. DSD makes government and Defence policy more certain and more effective by providing the policy departments and assessment agencies with important information that is not available from open sources. DSD also directly contributes to the military effectiveness of the ADF, and provides a range of information security services to ensure that their sensitive electronic information systems are not susceptible to unauthorised access, compromise or disruption.

The task of an agency such as DSD is increasingly complex and demanding. Since the end of the Cold War, the world has, paradoxically, become a much more uncertain place, and the Australian Government has to make quick decisions from a wide range of choices as it responds to political and economic imperatives. To do so, it needs timely access to the best information available, and intelligence is one of the sources on which it relies.

At the same time, the revolution in information technology has fundamentally changed the world we live in and the way we all do business. Modern communications technologies have ushered in the Information Age and the electronic marketplace. For DSD, for whom information is core business (we both collect and protect information), the new environment continually challenges us to look for new and better ways to fulfil our obligations to the Australian Government and the Australian Defence Force.

Working at DSD

To fulfil its mission, DSD relies on cutting-edge computing and communications technologies; for example, the Directorate operates a very powerful supercomputing complex.

But much more importantly, we rely on the quality, dedication and motivation of our workforce. What our people have in common is commitment and initiative, strong qualities of change leadership, and the capacity to respond quickly to new and complex issues and concepts.

DSD's personnel are dedicated to their work: it offers them challenges and rewards, both personal and professional, uncommon in most other public or private sector workplaces. If our people leave us, they generally do so reluctantly, and then only because the skills they have acquired after a few years at DSD make them highly sought after elsewhere in the public sector or in industry.

If you are interested in a career with DSD, please look through the 'Careers' pages of this website. You might also like to bookmark the 'Current vacancies' pages, which are continually updated, and come back every so often to see what openings are currently available.