Building the education revolution? Training partnerships for strategic intelligence in Australia

In-house training for analysts in law enforcement and regulatory agencies in Australia has largely developed in an ad hoc manner with a (sometimes exclusive) focus on the technical aspects of intelligence practice and familiarity with idiosyncratic information systems. Basic analytical tradecraft is often included, although training in strategic analysis is scarce and the development of transferable skills — such as communication, negotiation, meta-cognition and self-awareness — which are critical to the success of the analytical role in general, and strategic intelligence in particular, are almost completely neglected. Drawing on the authors’ experiences developing curricula for strategic intelligence courses run in collaboration with law enforcement partners, this paper will examine the importance of approaching analytical training holistically, and that effective analysts must be trained, and tested, in traditional and non-traditional intelligence skills including research methods, communication, marketing and negotiation, to enable them to effectively influence decision-makers in a complex and changing environment.