Service
DISP Consultancy
Getting you into the Defence Industry Security Program, and keeping you there.
The Defence Industry Security Program is how Defence assures the security of the businesses in its supply chain. Membership runs across four security domains, at Entry Level and Levels 1 to 3, aligned to the classification of the information you handle.
Empire takes you through the application, writes the Security Management Plan and supporting governance, and prepares your people for the obligations that follow: reporting, personnel security, and annual review.
Most organisations do not need the highest level they can imagine. Part of this engagement is establishing the level your contracts actually require, so you are not resourcing an obligation nobody asked you to carry.
Common questions
What is DISP membership, and do we need it?
The Defence Industry Security Program is how Defence assures the security of businesses in its supply chain. If you hold or want to hold a Defence contract, you will usually be asked whether you are a member. Whether you need it, and at what level, follows from the classification of the information your contracts actually put in your hands.
What are the DISP membership levels?
Membership is set per security domain at Entry Level and Levels 1 to 3, aligned to classification: Entry Level for OFFICIAL and OFFICIAL: Sensitive, Level 1 for PROTECTED, Level 2 for SECRET and Level 3 for TOP SECRET. Because the level is set per domain, an organisation can sit at different levels in different domains.
How much does DISP membership cost?
There is no membership fee. The cost is the governance you have to stand up and then keep running: a security management plan, a named security officer, personnel security processes, reporting obligations and an annual cycle.
Can we sponsor security clearances at Entry Level?
No. The ability to sponsor security clearances is not available at Entry Level. If your delivery model depends on cleared personnel you sponsor yourself, that shapes the level you need, and it is better established before you apply than after.
Do you write the Security Management Plan, or just review it?
Empire writes it, against what your organisation actually does rather than against a template. A plan that describes an organisation you are not is the one that fails at audit.
What happens after we are accepted?
The obligations begin. Reporting, personnel security, annual review and keeping the plan current. Organisations that treat DISP as a form to submit tend to pass the application and then fail quietly over the following two years, which is why Empire also holds the security officer role on retainer for clients without someone to put in the seat.
Getting in, and staying in
Most organisations do not need the highest level they can imagine. Establishing the level your contracts actually require is the first piece of work, not an afterthought.
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Establish the level
Membership is set per security domain at Entry Level and Levels 1 to 3, aligned to classification, so the level follows from what your contracts actually put in your hands.
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Application
Taken through the application itself, with the supporting material Defence expects to see with it.
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Security Management Plan
Written to your organisation rather than adapted from a template, because it is the document you will be held against.
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Governance and people
The obligations that follow membership: reporting, personnel security, and the people who have to carry them.
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Annual review
Membership is a cycle, not a certificate. The annual review asks you to demonstrate the program stayed current across a year.
Need someone to hold the Security Officer role that membership requires, rather than the application itself?
Insights
- DISP membership levels, and which one you actually need
- The CIRMP annual report: what the SOCI Act actually asks for
- The Protective Security Policy Framework: What Government Contractors Need to Know
- DISP vs ISO 27001: Understanding the Difference
- Security Clearances in Australia: What They Are and How They Work
Empire Executive Protection Pty Ltd · ABN 30 622 627 034 · trading as Empire Protection