Simone joined the ANU National Security College (NSC) in August 2025 on secondment from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) following a posting to Washington D.C as a senior advisor to the US Department of State, Bureau of Counterterrorism.

Simone is a career officer with over two decades of experience in international security policy in the areas of bilateral and multilateral counterterrorism cooperation, regional security engagement, civil-military cooperation, strategic communication, and crisis preparedness and response including as part of DFAT’s Crisis Response Team where she has deployed as a policy advisor on multi-national exercises, and as part of DFAT’s consular function to help Australians overseas, most recently following the October 7 attacks.

Simone was amongst the first cohort of national security practitioners to participate in NSC’s executive and professional development programs when the college was established in 2010. She is proud to return as a Director in NSC’s fifteenth anniversary year, and to connect policy and ideas with people and networks to lift national capability, deepen debate about emerging security challenges, and advance Australia’s interests in a complex and rapidly changing strategic environment.

Simone holds a Master of Security and Terrorism, a Graduate Diploma (Advanced) in Public Policy Administration, a Graduate Diploma in Bahasa Indonesia, and a Bachelor of Arts (Southeast Asia Anthropology).