ANDREW SHEARER (’ 83 )
DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Recently described by The Australian as the most important person you ’ ve never heard of , Mr Andrew Shearer , Old Scotch Collegian from the Class of 1983 , is Australia ’ s Director-General of National Intelligence , and is Guest of Honour at this year ’ s OSCA Annual Dinner .
Mr Shearer has served Australia and its national interests domestically and overseas through a long and distinguished career in foreign policy , national security and intelligence .
Mr Shearer was Deputy Director-General of the Office of National Intelligence ( ONI ) – the organisation he now heads – and Senior Adviser on Asia-Pacific Security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC . He has an international reputation as a strategic and foreign policy analyst .
He served as national security adviser to Prime Ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott . He was a senior diplomat at the Australian Embassy in Washington DC , and has held a range of positions in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet .
Before he was appointed to his current role , Mr Shearer was Commonwealth Cabinet Secretary . He was responsible for running the Cabinet system at the height of the COVID crisis and instrumental in the establishment and operation of the National Cabinet , made up of the nation ' s first ministers – the Prime Minister , premiers and territory leaders .
In his current role Mr Shearer is the Prime Minister ’ s principal intelligence adviser , and is responsible for leading and coordinating the efforts of the 10 agencies that comprise the National Intelligence Community . He commenced his term as Director-General in December 2020 .