Mike Burgess (intelligence chief)

Michael P. Burgess is an Australian intelligence official, and the current Director-General of Security in charge of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). Prior to his appointment to this role on 16 September 2019, Burgess was director-general of the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD).

Mike Burgess
14th Director-General of Security
Incumbent
Assumed office 16 September 2019
Prime Minister	Scott Morrison
Preceded by	Duncan Lewis
Personal details
Born	England, United Kingdom
Profession	Intelligence officer

Early life

Burgess was born in England, and emigrated to Adelaide, South Australia in 1973 at the age of seven. He was the first member of his family to study in higher education, receiving a degree in electrical engineering from the South Australian Institute of Technology in 1988.[1]

Intelligence career

Burgess joined ASD (then called the Defence Signals Directorate) in 1995, and worked there for 18 years before leaving to work in the private sector, notably as chief information security officer for Telstra, then as a cyber-security consultant and advisor.[2] In December 2017, he returned to ASD as its director-general.[3] In August 2019, prime minister Scott Morrison and Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton announced Burgess had been appointed to replace the retiring Duncan Lewis as the head of ASIO.[4]

References

1. "UniSA Alumni Awards Recipient: Mike Burgess". University of South Australia. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
2. Easton, Stephen (8 August 2019). "From code-breaking and cyber security to counter-terrorism: ASD boss picked to lead ASIO". The Mandarin. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
3. Hendry, Justin (1 December 2017). "Mike Burgess returns to ASD". iTnews. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
4. "Spy boss to take over top job at ASIO". ABC News. 8 August 2019. Retrieved 25 November 2019.

Government offices
Preceded by Duncan Lewis	Director-General of Security 2019–present	Incumbent
Preceded by Paul Taloni	Director-General of the Australian Signals Directorate 2017–2019	Succeeded by John Frewen (acting)