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Home > Research > Governing for Security Research Program > Government Coordination and Vulnerable Infrastructures
Government Coordination and Vulnerable Infrastructures
Commencing in 2010, these two projects have an overlapping focus and aims to examine the attributes of Australian and regional infrastructure that are most vulnerable to exploitation and attack by transnational threats; and coordination across all government jurisdiction in Australia in response to these transnational threats.
The project team will consider ways to increase the immunity of key infrastructures to transnational threats and the impact such measures would have on our way of life. The team will also map the range and variety of government machinery devised at federal, state and local levels to meet the threats, and explore the challenges confronting a whole of government responses both within and between government, and identify ways in which different countries have sought to react and assess their policy and organisational impact.
The Vulnerable Infrastructures Project, led by Professor Simon Bronitt and Professor Patrick Weller, has achieved a number of significant milestones in 2010.
CEPS Researchers have established a stakeholder network made up of industry and government security officials. As part of a series of workshops, the Project delivered research briefings in May and November 2010 to security officials on Infrastructure Resilience and Aviation and Maritime Security in Southeast Asia. Discussions arising from these workshops have established a set of joint research priorities to guide the direction of the Project and workshops in 2011/12 in Sydney (IT Security and Risk) and Melbourne (TBD).
The collaborative approach adopted by the Vulnerable Infrastructures Project has generated a strong bilateral relationship between the academic research and government communities. Recently, CEPS has brokered an agreement with the Department of Transport and Main Roads to embed a senior policy official, Kate O’Donnell, with the Project from January to December 2011. Ms O’Donnell will provide expert advice to the Project and enhance our policy development capacity.
This engagement with policy development is driven in part by CEPS’ commitment to actionable socio-legal research. The potential contribution of academic research to policy and practice was widely advocated at the Vulnerable Infrastructure workshops, in which a senior government security official observed: “To adequately prepare for inevitable crises, we need to understand the likelihood and consequences of the risks we face, the effectiveness of current capabilities and resilience (...) of community and infrastructure “.
The Project has published two position papers detailing, first, international approaches to increasing the resilience of critical infrastructures and, secondly, the schedule of academic research necessary for a more informed and nuanced infrastructure resilience strategy.
Into 2011, the Project has committed to preparing research noteworthy for its policy relevance as well as academic interest. For example, the Project has initiated a qualitative evaluation of the Queensland Government’s response to the catastrophic flooding and severe cyclones of early 2011. This evaluation will draw together the strands of emergency measures - health, housing, protection of life and property, etc and highlight the lessons for future natural disaster responses.
The Project’s establishment of strong partnerships with government and industry has created an environment of productive and targeted research excellence. The Vulnerable Infrastructure Project finds itself well-placed to build on its achievements moving into 2011 and 2012.
Professor Simon Bronitt (Chief Investigator)
Professor Patrick Weller (Chief Investigator)
Dr Tim Legrand (Research Fellow)
Dr Saskia Hufnagel (Research Fellow)
Dr Anne-Maree Tiernan (Associate Investigator)
Alastair Milroy (Executive-in-Residence)
