Francis Joseph Mahony (15 March 1915 – January 2000) was an Australian lawyer and public servant, who served as interim

Director-General of Security The director-general of security is the executive officer of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), Australia's national security agency. The director-general, through ASIO, has overall responsibility for the protection of the ...

(head of the

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO ) is the Intelligence agency, domestic intelligence and national security agency of the Australian Government, responsible for protection from espionage, sabotage, acts of foreign inte ...

) for just over five months between 1975 and 1976.

Early life

Mahony was born in Newcastle in 1915, but was orphaned when his mother died the day after his birth and his father was killed in action at the

Battle of Passchendaele The Third Battle of Ypres (; ; ), also known as the Battle of Passchendaele ( ), was a campaign of the First World War, fought by the Allies of World War I, Allies against the German Empire. The battle took place on the Western Front (World Wa ...

in Belgium during World War I. He was raised by relatives in Newcastle where he went to school, until he moved to

Armidale Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 23,967 as of the 2021 census. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands reg ...

to attend De La Salle College, where he won a scholarship to the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

.Vale Frank Mahony CB, OBE (1915-2000)
''VeRBosity'' (Veterans' Review Board), 2000.

Public service career

In 1934, Mahony joined the Commonwealth Public Service, whilst also studying law part-time at the

Sydney Law School Sydney Law School (informally Sydney Law or SLS) is the law school at the University of Sydney, Australia, Australia's oldest university. Sydney Law School began a full program of legal instruction in 1890 following the appointment of its first d ...

, from which he graduated in 1940. He joined the Crown Solicitor's Office in 1941, interrupting his public service career in 1943 to serve for eighteen months in the Australian Army.MAHONY, FRANCIS JOSEPH
, ''WW2 Nominal Roll'', Department of Veterans' Affairs. After discharge from the army, he returned to the CSO where he was involved in several high-profile inquiries and commissions including the Royal Commission into the

Petrov Affair The Petrov Affair was a Cold War spy incident in Australia, concerning the defection of Vladimir Petrov, a KGB officer, from the Soviet embassy in Canberra in 1954. The defection led to a Royal Commission and the resulting controversy contribu ...

, an inquiry into the crash of Ansett-ANA Flight 325, and the Royal Commission into the

Melbourne–Voyager collision The ''Melbourne''–''Voyager'' collision, also known as the ''Melbourne''–''Voyager'' incident or simply the ''Voyager'' incident, was a collision between two warships of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN); the aircraft carrier and the destro ...

. In 1963, he became Deputy Crown Solicitor. In 1970, Mahony moved to Canberra to join the office of the federal

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

. He was involved in the administration of legislation and law reform, and represented Australia on the delegation to negotiate improvements to the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war. Following the dismissal of

Peter Barbour Peter Robert Woolnough Barbour (5 October 1925 – 7 November 1996) was an Australian intelligence officer and diplomat. He was also the Director-General of Security leading the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) from 1970 to 1 ...

by the

Whitlam government The Whitlam government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam of the Australian Labor Party. The government commenced when Labor defeated the McMahon government at the 1972 Australian federal elect ...

, Mahony was appointed as an interim replacement for Barbour for a brief five-month term until the appointment of

Edward Woodward Edward Albert Arthur Woodward (1 June 1930 – 16 November 2009) was an English actor and singer. He began his career on stage, appearing in productions in both the West End of London and on Broadway in New York City. He came to wider att ...

.Royal Commission on Intelligence and Security
, National Archives of Australia, 27 May 2008. From 1979, Mahony was the first president of the Repatriation Review Tribunal until it became the

Veterans' Review Board The Veterans' Review Board (VRB) is a statutory body within the Australian Government's Veterans' Affairs portfolio. The role of the VRB is to conduct merits review of certain decisions under the ''Veteran's Entitlement Act 1986 (Cth) ''(the VEA) ...

in 1985.

Personal life

Mahony married Moya Sexton in 1936. They had eight children—seven sons and one daughter. Moya died in 1995.

Honours

Mahony was made an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in 1972 for his work as Deputy Secretary of the Attorney-General's Department.MAHONY, Francis Joseph OBE
''It's an Honour'', 3 June 1972. In the 1980 New Year Honours, he was made a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

(CB) for his role as President of the Repatriation Commission.MAHONEY, Francis Joseph CB
''It's an Honour'', 31 December 1979.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahony, Frank 1915 births 2000 deaths Directors-general of security Sydney Law School alumni Australian Companions of the Order of the Bath Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire Australian Army soldiers Australian Army personnel of World War II People from Newcastle, New South Wales