'ASIO is one of Australia's most secret agencies. I spoke to one of their spies.'

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For the everyday Australian, the word "espionage" evokes images of a suit-clad James Bond or frenetic Jason Bourne—and terrorism seems a distant threat reserved for megacities like New York or London. 

Occasionally, an event involving Australians may warrant a headline and enter the news cycle, but the relative peace we enjoy along with our isolated geography could easily imply that homegrown spy ops and secret agents don't exist. 

For the folks over at our national security service, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (or "ASIO"), which does very much exist, this common misconception is actually a marker of their great success.

First listen to Sezie the Yay. Post continues after video.

I was incredibly lucky to interview one of their current Senior Intelligence Officers for Seize the Yay. She explained that the "more audacious our success, the less we can talk about it." 

But what she did say was that the ultimate goal of ASIO is to protect Australia and Australians from threats to their security. "We need to deliver what our adversaries think is impossible, we need to do the impossible everyday"— so that we regular Australians can live in blissful ignorance. 

So, while our guest's name, role and real voice cannot be revealed, we can confirm that she is in fact a real spy, who believes that her career of "catching spies and preventing terrorists" is the best job in the world. 

The officer told me: "work at ASIO is addictive" and incredibly rewarding. She later explained that there was no high like catching a foreign spy or terrorist, while my jaw dropped progressively closer to the ground. 

Since its establishment in 1949, amidst the acceleration of the Cold War, very little information has been shared publicly about ASIO and the identities of its employees. It is written into Australian law as part of the ASIO Act that to publish or make public the identity of an undeclared ASIO officer could result in up to 10 years in prison. Keeping our nation's secrets is serious business.

Sarah at the ASIO. Image: Supplied.

Close friends and family are allowed to be informed, but that's not always the case. 

And it's not the case for our guest, who is also a mum-of-two, who says even her kids don't know where she works because it's "in the best interests of their safety." 

ASIO officers are, interestingly, allowed to have social media as "it would be weird if we didn't" but none of them have LinkedIn. 

Keeping where you work a secret is just one of the unique aspects of working at ASIO. Officers have to be very careful about what they share and with whom, including when it comes to dating. As the officer said: "once you've told someone you can't untell them ... you have to be really discerning."

But having a close-knit support base is also really important. The officer's husband, who does not work for ASIO, is one of the few people who know what she does everyday and he is a huge support to her.

While we desperately wanted to know all the juicy details of her operations and tradecraft, that's not entirely possible.

Unfortunately for us, who are desperate to know, making any methods or techniques public would instantly render them ineffective. 

I did, however, ask about whether the Hollywood spy blockbusters are anywhere close to real life, to which she replied, "some things in the movies, we absolutely do. Are we ever going to admit it? No." 

Some amazing examples of ASIO successes have, however, been declassified and shared in the Director-General's most recent Annual Threat Assessment — surveillance devices hidden in gifts to government officials, foiled plans for a school shooting, even an interrupted plot to lure an Australian activist to a third country where they would be subject to an "accident" to be silenced. 

We also discussed the Intelligence Officer's role behind the scenes of some major events we all recognise such as the Lindt Cafe siege and the ISIL Caliphate of 2014. 

Listen to this episode of True Crime Conversations. Post continues after podcast.

So, Australia absolutely needs to have our ASIO spies, as well as the other nine intelligence agencies that form the National Intelligence Community (NIC). Rest assured, they are all incredibly good at their jobs.

While it is difficult to explain what life as an Intelligence Officer looks like without breaking legislative secrecy requirements, our episode does reveal many reasons why it would be one of the most dynamic, interesting and exhilarating jobs in the world. 

Fascinatingly, there is no singular "perfect candidate" for ASIO and, as you'll hear in our episode, even a country girl from regional Australia who'd never heard of ASIO as a child can end up in the senior ranks one day. 

I don't know quite what I was expecting, but I don't think I would have picked our guest as a spy if I walked past her in the street. 

But that's exactly what makes her so good. 

"I don't look like a typical spy, but I can move through a room completely unnoticed." The interview with the Senior Intelligence Officer is also live now.

Feature Image: Supplied.