ASIS is led by the Director-General who is appointed by the Governor-General. The Director-General is responsible to the Minister for Foreign Affairs for managing ASIS and must advise the Minister on key matters relating to ASIS. By law, the Director-General is the only member of the Service who can be identified publicly.
Mr Steven Robinson is currently the Acting Director-General of ASIS. The Minister for Foreign Affairs nominated Mr Steven Robinson to act in the position of Director-General of ASIS pending a permanent appointment being made by the Governor-General. Mr Robinson commenced in this role on 27 March 2009.
Mr Robinson is a long-standing member of the Foreign Affairs and Trade portfolio who commenced in government service in 1983. Mr Robinson served in a number of diplomatic posts in the 1980s and 1990s and over recent years has worked closely with agencies in the Australian Intelligence Community (AIC) and the wider bureaucracy focussed on intelligence and security issues.
Mr Robinson was born in Sydney in 1959 and was educated at Barker College, Hornsby, and the University of Sydney. He is married with a son and a daughter.
