Ian Kennison

Ian James Stodart Kennison (19 December 1920 – May 2000) was an Australian intelligence officer, soldier and public servant, who was Director-General of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service from 1975 to 1981.

Early life and education Kennison was the son of Mr. and Mrs. G. S. Kennison of Darlinghurst Road, Kings Cross. He was educated at Melbourne Church of England Grammar School, matriculating in 1937 and enrolling at the University of Melbourne. While at Melbourne, he obtained a half-blue in rifle shooting, but did not complete his studies due to the outbreak of World War II.

Military service Kennison enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in 1939, and served as a gunner in Australia and the South West Pacific Area.

After the end of the war and in his last year of service, Kennison was involved with organising the war crimes trials on Morotai and Ambon against more than 90 Japanese officers. He returned to Melbourne, where he spent ten years working in the retail sector, eventually managing the drapery and department store Hicks, Atkinson & Sons on Collins Street.

In 1956, Kennison was recruited to the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, having been offered the role in no small part due to his war record and investigative experience during the Morotai and Ambon trials.

In 1976, after twenty years of service with ASIS, Kennison was appointed director-general of the service on the recommendation of Justice Robert Hope, who at the time was conducting a Royal Commission into Australia's intelligence services.