Message from the Head of College: February 2026

It is so hard to believe we are already at the end of February. The year has set an unforgiving pace for those who work in national security and statecraft.

At the ANU National Security College, our contributions to this work are progressing well, with a busy agenda of teaching and researching, and the final stage of preparations for our major biennial conference, Securing our Future: a ready and resilient Australia.

Interest in this event is strong, so please register soon if you wish to secure a place.

This will be no ordinary security conference. Our purpose is a dynamic, open-minded, constructive and respectful conversation featuring voices from across the nation, many not normally associated with narrow or traditional notions of security and defence.

The evidence-based centrepiece of the conference will be the release of the findings of NSC’s major Community Consultations initiative. We are currently finalising the three initial reports we will present on that much-anticipated set of evidence about what Australians really think about the security challenges facing our nation, our communities and our shared future. Keep an eye out for those findings, including on vital questions related to national preparedness, risk, likelihood, consequence and public communication.

The conference and consultations are part of the wider agenda of the College on contributing to national resilience and preparedness. We’re internationalising that work, including through building links with partners in Europe where confronting events are driving profound changes in the security mindset. We’re also about to launch an expanded program of engagement with Federal Parliament, recognising the critical role of informed and committed parliamentarians to social cohesion and secure democratic institutions.