Address by Nadine Williams, Deputy Secretary, Economy, Industry & Resilience, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, to ANI’s 2024 Goldbrick Seminar.
It is a pleasure to be part of these discussions about Australia’s connection to the world through our oceans, and what that means for our national security. As an ocean-bound nation, Australia’s history tells a story of encounter, intersection and exchange. Of sharing ideas and knowledge, and the movement of people and things.
That story was first written by our First Nations communities. And so, what better way to remind ourselves of the need for collaboration, conversation, and consultation with our diverse First Nations communities in all our decision making. Including, and especially, on issues as important as our national security.
Today, I’m going to talk about disruption – where disruption comes from, what it means for our national security, and how we prepare for it. In particular, I’ll provide an overview of the work the Australian Government is doing to build our national civil preparedness. But what I wanted to do first is place this work in its context: and the challenges that define the operating environment we’re currently in.
Not to put too fine a point on it, the current geostrategic environment is the most challenging Australia has faced for decades. Strategic competition is Australia’s new normal, and it will have intergenerational effects that need to be considered now — and by us all. On the economic front, countries like Australia are under increasing pressure:
- to diversify supply chains so they’re resilient to disruptions;
- continue to support a rules-based global trading system; and
- address the imperatives of climate change and the net zero transition, while managing our own and our partners’ energy security needs.
National Defence
The government’s 2023 Defence Strategic Review made it clear that these challenging strategic circumstances require a new approach. Part of that is acknowledging that Australia can’t face these challenges alone. That we will need to work with likeminded international partners to address them together, and ensure our strategies and policies are aligned.
But the other part of it is acknowledging that we require a new approach to resilience and preparedness here at home. This year’s National Defence Strategy presents that new approach, and does so using the principle of National Defence. National Defence is about harnessing all arms of Australia’s national power. It describes a coordinated, whole-of-government, and whole-of-nation effort spanning our statecraft, military capability, and national civil preparedness. And it aims for a holistic, integrated, and focused approach to defending Australia and advancing our national interests. That means considering the contributions of every part of our country to our security, acknowledging that our economic and security interests are intimately intertwined.
Whether it’s the work we’re doing on fuel security, or our focus on making more things here in a Future Made in Australia, the Government recognises that our strength lies where multiple sectors of our economy intersect. The Future Made in Australia agenda is a really good example of this sort of intersectional policy-making.
It’s about supporting our economy to transition to net zero, while creating jobs in new industries, while strengthening critical supply chains, while also preparing Australia to realise our security in a more complex future. It operates on two key policy principles:
- First, that the international move to net zero presents significant economic opportunities for Australia; and
- Second, that the changing global geostrategic landscape requires an enhanced focus on Australia’s economic security and resilience.
To ensure Australia’s economic interests and our national security interests remain closely aligned, the Government has developed a National Interest Framework as part of the Future Made in Australia Bill. The Framework outlines criteria for two streams:
- The economic resilience and security stream, which identifies necessary domestic sovereign capability to protect our national security interests or ensure economy resilience; and
- The net zero transformation stream, which identifies industries with a comparative advantage to support decarbonisation.
The work we’re doing with a Future Made in Australia is about leveraging opportunities for resilience across policy portfolios. We see examples of that right across government. In infrastructure, for example, the Government has made clear that infrastructure outcomes linked to productivity and resilience should be guiding strategic investments. By including criteria such as these, we can ensure that the Government can position nationally significant infrastructure projects within coordinated whole-of-government goals.
The Role of PM&C
Knitting together whole-of-government and whole-of-nation efforts, and giving decision makers the perspective required to identify the trade-offs and benefits of policy choices, is our bread and butter at PM&C.
When we’re looking at systems as complex as the interconnections between national resilience and disruption, economic security and national civil preparedness, our coordination role comes into its own. In support of the Government’s policy of National Defence, this work has been ramping up.
PM&C has been tasked with advising government on enduring coordination arrangements which complement the broader resilience agenda, and our all-hazards approach to planning for when disaster or disruption strikes.
Spectrum of Disruptions. If recent history has taught us anything, disasters and disruptions will strike. From pandemics to natural hazards, cyberattacks to strategic competition, Australia faces a range of risks. Typically when those risks materialise, we rely on the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to provide domestic support. To achieve holistic National Defence, we need to ensure the ADF is adequately prepared, including for an increased likelihood of strategic mobilisation should a major regional disruption occur.
National Civil Preparedness – Resilience as Deterrence
Yet what’s also required is a better prepared civil sector — one that is less reliant on the ADF. A better prepared civil sector will be essential to Australia’s resilience because it supports:
- the continuity of governments;
- the maintenance of essential goods and services;
- the maintenance of social cohesion; and
- the ability to surge in support of Defence operations before, during, and after major events.
Put simply, civil preparedness contributes to our ability to prevent, absorb, and recover from disruptions. It also contributes to deterrence and the Strategy of Denial, making Australia a harder target and less susceptible to coercion. Civil preparedness is not static state either — it’s an evolution.
Assumptions and Tradeoffs
One focus in our current phase of evolution is challenging existing assumptions of how prepared the civil sector needs to be, and how much civil support can be expected for a strategic defence mobilisation.
For example, we can’t assume that in the event of a major disruption the civil sector will be willing and able to continue operating no matter what — that our food, energy and health systems will continue to run. And yet, because babies will continue to be born, bush fires will need to be fought, services simply cannot grind to a halt. We don’t really have a choice but to contend with these scenarios. Nor can we assume that in the event of a major disruption, Defence will even receive total support from the civil sector.
Our current work is about asking these sorts of questions, to deepen our understanding of these risks and how to mitigate them. We’ll also be considering communities that will be disproportionally impacted should a crisis occur. And that means being attuned to the needs of vulnerable groups, especially women, children, First Nations people, members of culturally and linguistically diverse groups and people with a disability.
Implications and Co-Benefits. Civil preparedness has implications beyond Australia’s borders, too. Australia has responsibilities for external territories and ensuring their effective functioning. We also have close and trusted partnerships with our Pacific neighbours. It is important that we understand how our work to strengthen Australia’s civil preparedness and maritime domain impacts on those around us. Creating more resilient supply chains, having a better understanding of capability, and creating redundancies, all contribute to our national resilience and the resilience of our neighbours.
Next steps
PM&C has consulted broadly across the Australian Government to understand where we’re all at on these challenges. Going forward, we’ll be:
- providing ongoing assessment and prioritisation of the risks to Australia and our civil sector;
- implementing governance structures for civil preparedness coordination; and;
- developing scenario exercises to test assumptions and identify system issues.
This work is about ensuring that right across government, we reach a common view. That our approaches to issues such as disaster resilience, critical infrastructure and supply chain resilience are linked together. We’re also doing more to assess industry’s awareness and preparedness for national-level disruptions.
Importantly, we’re committed to deeper engagement with our colleagues in state and territory governments as well. Given the complexity of the geostrategic environment we’re in, we need clearly articulated roles and responsibilities, and an integrated approach that supports civil preparedness in line with government and community expectations.
PM&C looks forward to continuing our engagement with our colleagues in the public service, defence force, academia, and private sector in making this a reality.
