A new top-level national security adviser will co-ordinate Australia's long-term security planning, following a bureaucratic shake-up expected to be approved by Kevin Rudd and cabinet's national security committee today.
The new national security adviser is expected to be appointed as an associate secretary within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, on the same level as PM&C's economic supremo, David Tune.
Duncan Lewis, a former special forces commander and currently the deputy secretary who leads the PM&C's national security office, is tipped to become the Rudd Government's first national security adviser.
The Prime Minister is also expected to finalise a ground-breaking national security statement, which is due to be delivered to parliament this week.
Senior government sources say the statement will detail a wide range of emerging threats to security, well beyond traditional military threats.
Mr Rudd may also choose to detail the latest changes to the Government's top national security planning apparatus.
The parliamentary statement will encompass long-term challenges such as climate change and food security in addition to analysing security trends, including terrorism and military changes in the Asia-Pacific region.
Cabinet's national security committee is expected to endorse today the key findings of the review of domestic security arrangements conducted by ex-Defence Department chief Ric Smith, including the establishment of the national security adviser post.
The Smith review has recommended against the creation of a department of homeland security and a coastguard. Both measures were campaign pledges outlined in the ALP's national policy platform published last year. Instead, Mr Smith has accepted that Australia's domestic security apparatus is functioning well. He argues that the additional investment in a new bureaucracy, such as a homeland security department, could not be justified.
Mr Smith's 200-page review has been extremely tightly held within the Government, with even senior agency heads not being privy to the full content of the report.
It recommends an upgrading of PM&C's status as the leading national security co-ordination agency with policy oversight of both intelligence and border security agencies.
As well as the new national security supremo, another new post of chief information officer is expected to be created within PM&C's office of national security. The CIO's role will be to co-ordinate national planning regarding protection for critical infrastructure, including government information systems, against cyber warfare.
The existing foreign intelligence Committee, the federal Government's main intelligence co-ordination body that includes core intelligence agencies such as ASIO, ASIS and the AFP, could be renamed the National Intelligence Collection Committee to reflect a broader membership.
Its focus will be broadened to include other domestic security bodies such as Customs.
Cabinet is also expected to sign measures to improve co-ordination between Australia's border protection and maritime surveillance agencies.
The Smith review has also recommended tighter co-ordination between state and federal government agencies in managing national security events -- an issue that has often generated tensions between the two tiers of government.
The Rudd Government is not expected to transfer to PM&C some domestic security and counter-terrorism functions currently located in the Attorney-General's department, led by the Protective Security Co-ordination Centre and its counter-terrorism branch.
The Government is already moving to implement a nationally consistent emergency warning system in consultation with state governments.
The Australian