ASD’s purpose is to defend Australia from global threats and advance the national interest through providing foreign signals intelligence, cyber security support and conducting offensive cyber operations, as directed by the Australian Government. While ASD’s purpose will not change significantly over the duration of this corporate plan, the way in which ASD meets the needs of Australians and the Australian Government will evolve in response to shifts in its operating context and changes in the global threat environment.
As outlined in the Portfolio Budget Statements 2022–23, ASD has established seven performance measures to support the evaluation of ASD’s performance against its key activities and purpose.
For the duration of this corporate plan, ASD will assess and measure its performance through a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods. The performance measures, targets and evaluation methodology are detailed in the following tables. Performance targets carry equal weight and where a performance criterion has one or more targets, success will be measured by the proportion of targets achieved.
Qualitative performance measures will be assessed based on the impact of the product or service provided by ASD to its customers. Where ASD has indicated that its target is high impact, this means that the output will be delivered in a timely and relevant manner, will provide or enable exercisable options, and will directly inform and shape decision-making. ASD will use case studies to demonstrate high impact and will select activities reflecting ASD’s highest priority missions and/or a shift in operational resourcing.
Due to the nature of ASD’s work, some aspects of ASD’s performance will continue to be reported through classified channels.