National Security Foundations supports whole-of-system thinking for complex risks

National security depends on strong foundations – legitimacy, good governance, democratic resilience and the ability to anticipate and respond to complex risks.

Earlier this month, NSC's National Security Foundations program brought together practitioners from across Australia for three days of focused learning on national security as an interconnected system.

Participants examined the foundations of national security including how this is shaped by the global information environment, before turning to domestic resilience challenges including fuel supply, maritime security, undersea cables, cyber security, and rare earths & critical minerals. The program then widened the view to the international landscape, including space as a frontier of strategic competition.

A key theme across the program was the need to understand complex, interconnected challenges where risk is distributed across government, industry and society.

National security is as much about coordinating across portfolios, jurisdictions and sectors to anticipate shocks and build resilience as it is about responding to discrete threats. 

– Simone-Maree Spano, Director, Program Design and Delivery, NSC

NSC would like to thank our speakers, facilitators, and the participants who joined us.