Gathering intelligence

Four different intelligence agencies were involved in compiling a substantial secret dossier on Jessie Street over 30 years. These were the Investigation Branch, the wartime Security Service, the postwar Commonwealth Investigation Service and, from 1949, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.

The cover of the Department of Immigration passport file for Jessie Street, 1945–56.

NAA: A6980, S202852, p. 1

As well as these agencies, departments with international functions such as immigration and foreign policy collect sensitive and secret information. Other documents classified 'Secret' included here are from Jessie Street's Department of Immigration passport file and the files of the Information and Intelligence Division of the Department of External Affairs.