Australian Spy Museum
Vision and Mission
Origins
The Australian Spy Museum is the passion project of Mike Pritchard, who saw the value of such an institution while working in cyber security in 2011. Since then Mike has been acquiring the museum’s collection of rare treasures, and giving “show and tell” talks and demos at cyber security conferences.
There are three main motivations:
Firstly – other industries like the arts and architecture, aviation, engineering and government have museums, galleries and libraries – cultural centres that speak to their history and relevance as an industry, and that encourage young people into these professions.
It seemed wrong that cyber & security is in the critical business of protecting all these other industries – yet uniquely did not have a museum of its own.
Secondly – the nature of “modern threats” like cyber attacks, espionage and IP theft, disinformation and climate change is that they can be invisible and ephemeral until a threat is fully manifested. So it is harder to explain them to the wider public and to convince executives to invest in robust defences.
The Australian Spy Museum’s approach was to acquire the timeline of historical artefacts that gradually evolved into modern threats. The physical nature of these historical spycraft items aids the explanation of modern threats via direct comparison.
Thirdly – its eighty years since D-Day and Australia is a Five Eyes nation – yet does not have a museum dedicated to explaining how intelligence played the decisive role in winning WWII, or its value and relevance to contemporary Australia.
The Australian Spy Museum is uniquely focussed on the amazing history of espionage, the nature and origins of modern threats, and the role of intelligence in protecting our way of life today.
Mission & Vision
The Australian Spy Museum is an organisation independent of government and founded out of a private collectors passion project. This approach follows the example of the existing and successful spy museums in Berlin and Washington.
Our Mission – is to collect, preserve and share the artefacts and stories that bring to life the incredible and intriguing history of espionage, and origins of the modern threat landscape.
Our Vision – is the mid-term establishment of an independent public museum – a home to protect these artefacts, display them in context, and deliver our educational programs.
The Australian Spy Museum has already built the largest private collection of spycraft artefacts in the southern hemisphere, from the Renaissance through to the modern age. At well over 1000 artefacts it is a significant collection of cipher machines, spycraft and counter-intelligence equipment, relics from the Berlin Wall, uniforms, awards, a library of rare books, original documents, signed photographs, and more.
By sharing these artefacts with the public we aim to grow awareness of:
– Espionage history, and todays challenges
– The role and value of intelligence in protecting our way of life as a democracy
– How citizens can better protect against cyber attacks
We further aim to provide a cultural and historical resource that supports the cyber and intelligence communities, and inspires a new generation into careers in cyber and government service.
The Australian Spy Museum is a largely “Ready to Go” collection, and will be looking for partners and sponsors to help deliver our vision for this incredible educational resource.