Intelligence Ethics and Oversight
PostgraduateMAQ-PICX80142025
Course information for 2025 intake View information for 2024 course intake
Comprehend the framework for effective and efficient production and use of intelligence analysis for national security. Examine contemporary internal and external national security threats and the practices needed to combat them.
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Enrol by
- 16 Feb 2025
- Entry requirements
- Prior study needed
- Duration
- 13 weeks
- Price from
- $4,155
- Upfront cost
- $0
- Loan available
- FEE-HELP available
Intelligence Ethics and Oversight
About this subject
On successful completion of this subject, you will be able to:
- Identify the ethical questions and challenges involved in the collection, analysis and dissemination of intelligence as well as covert action.
- Assess the professional, legal and ethical obligations of the intelligence profession.
- Analyse systems of intelligence oversight and accountability at the executive, parliamentary and judicial level as well as consider the role of the media in holding intelligence to account.
- Create intelligence products using a range of intelligence tools and approaches, while applying academic research and writing skills.
- Evaluate a diverse and evolving body of academic literature and case studies on intelligence ethics and accountability.
- A week-by-week guide to the topics you will explore in this subject will be provided in your study materials.
This subject was previously known as PICX814 The Intelligence Community in Australia
This unit provides students with an opportunity to examine the intelligence enterprise within a broader political, social, and moral context. Intelligence agencies are necessary to protect modern liberal democratic states; however, their work challenges the very democratic principles and freedoms on which those states were founded. Intelligence work can involve breaking the laws of other nations and making difficult moral choices. In this unit, students will consider the ethical challenges faced at each stage of the intelligence cycle and investigate the role, purpose and efficacy of systems of intelligence oversight and accountability. Students will apply what they have learned to conceptualise, research, and present intelligence products, building practical skills and experience.
- Preliminary Analysis and Collection Plan (30%)
- An Intelligence briefing/policy brief (40%)
- 3 quizzes (30%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
This research-intensive university in north-western Sydney offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. With over 44,000 current students, Macquarie has a strong reputation for welcoming international students and embracing flexible and convenient study options, including its partnership with Open Universities Australia.
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- QS Ranking 2024:
- 10
- Times Higher Education Ranking 2024:
- 10
Entry requirements
Equivalent subjects
You should not enrol in this subject if you have successfully completed any of the following subject(s) because they are considered academically equivalent:
MAQ-PICX814 (Not currently available)
Others
NCCW (pre-2020 units) PICT814, PICX814
Pre-requisite Admission to MPICT or MCPICT or GradDipPICT or GradDipCPICT or PGCertPICT or GradCertPICT or GradCertCPICT or MPICTMIntSecSt or MCPICTMIntSecSt or MIntSecStud or GradDipIntSecStud or GradCertIntell or MIntell or MSecStrategicStudMIntell or MIntellMCrim or MIntellMCyberSec or MIntellMCTerrorism or admission to BSecStudMIntell
Additional requirements
- Other requirements - Students who have an Academic Standing of Suspension or Exclusion under Macquarie University's Academic Progression Policy are not permitted to enrol in OUA units offered by Macquarie University. Students with an Academic Standing of Suspension or Exclusion who have enrolled in units through OUA will be withdrawn.
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.
What to study next?
Once you’ve completed this subject it can be credited towards one of the following courses
PostgraduateMAQ-INT-MAS
PostgraduateOUA-PSU-GCE
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