Message from the Head of College: April 2026

April was a month of consolidation and recovery for the ANU National Security College team, after the marathon of our Community Consultations and the sprint of our conference on 24–25 March.

These accomplishments continue to deliver for the wider benefit of our mission, with our data on Australian public attitudes to security informing our education programs as well as the public debate.

Notably, our findings on risks, preparedness and government communication informed media coverage of the 2026 National Defence Strategy and the Opposition’s response. If you haven't yet read our three reports on community perceptions, please do: they really are a vital resource.

Meanwhile, we are pressing on with our busy tempo of professional, executive and academic courses, including forthcoming programs on intelligence and futures analysis.

Our international engagement is advancing, with a visit to NSC by a major delegation from Kenya, building on our longstanding role as an education partner of choice for the Kenyan national security community. We are also well along in planning for expanded education and policy partnerships in Europe, Japan and Southeast Asia. Two NSC colleagues, Associate Professor Mike Cohen and Justin Burke, were invited to observe the Five Power Defence Arrangements’ Bersama Shield military exercise in Malaysia and held consultations with our partner institutions in Singapore.

Earlier in the month I also visited Malaysia to co-chair the ASEAN Regional Forum Experts and Eminent Persons Group, with my Australian colleagues Professor Bec Strating and Dr Huong Le Thu, helping progress its work on regional conflict prevention and diplomacy.  

An NSC publication on conflict prevention proved a useful resource for informing that multilateral grouping, at a time when the call for practical middle-power diplomacy is growing.