Progress of the Program

Following the 2004 roundtable in Melbourne, the network hosted a roundtable in Sydney in April 2005 to refine the future direction of this network. Some participants included Admiral Chris Barrie, Stewart Firth, Owen Harries, Cavan Hogue, and Graeme Lawless. Click here to read the executive summary of this roundtable. (186 kb)

From this roundtable it was decided to establish a series of research networks to explore three issues identified as critical to Australia 's security.

•  The Concept of Threats

•  The Concept of Region and Regional Threats

•  The Impact of Discontinuities Upon Security and Prosperity

A highly productive roundtable on the concept of threats was held in Sydney in March 2006.
Attendees included Peter Yuile, head of AQIS, Prof Peter Drysdale of the ANU, Dr Alan DuPont
of the Lowy Institute, and others. Click here to read the executive summary of this roundtable. (30 kb)

Dr Paul Monk, of Austhink, was engaged to write a detailed report on the concept of threats,
building on the work done at this roundtable, and you can read the New Report into “Threats to Australia’s Future Security & Prosperity”
(266 kb). Dr Monk’s summary article, "The evidence is all around us", was published in the Australian Financial Review (51 KB).

Finally, in Melbourne in early September 2006 this program partnered with the Nautilus Institute to host a scenarios building workshop to explore future threats to our regions security. Participants attended from China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, the U.S. and throughout Australia. This expertly facilitated workshop was highly productive, and its outcomes can be downloaded here.

Work is now underway on building a research network to explore how to restrict terrorism at its roots rather than simply responding to its actions.