The Australian Security Research Centre, in conjunction with 11th Safeguarding Australia conference and Asia Pacific Security Magazine, is calling upon security professionals and the public to propose ways to make major savings in national security.
“Some $10 billion is spent yearly by governments and the private sector on national security-related measures, and in these times of financial constraints, we should set an ambitious target of reducing this by 10% while not compromising safety and security of the Australian public” said Dr Athol Yates, Executive Director of the Australian Security Research Centre. The Australian Security Research Centre is a think-tank on domestic security issues. “Setting such a high target will ensure that we are forced to review all national security expenditure to ensure we get value for money”, said
Each year the Commonwealth spends $6.7 billion on national security excluding defence. This money goes on a plethora of capabilities such as the air marshal program, counter-terrorism arrangements, border security interceptions, and secret services. Add to this the money spent by the States and the private sector, such as specialised counter-terrorism capabilities and airport security and the yearly cost of national security is probably close to $10 billion.
“Many of the measures introduced post-2001 were at a time where the threat within Australia was unknown and some measures may have been over-reactions. In addition, new technology, coupled with an intelligence-drive, risk management framework means that it now possible to rationalise, replace and build new measures that offer greater security at a lower price” said Dr Yates.
The public and security professionals often see costly measures that they consider are of questionable value given the range of other security needs, and we are encourage them to send in ideas for improvements. These could include:
- Revising or eliminating the aviation security officers program
- Introducing trusted traveller lanes at airport security
- Replacing full screening at airports with random screening
- Focusing police resources on people trafficker ring leaders rather than prosecuting Indonesian crew members
- Establishing a single secret-level information network agency to provide secure communications across the Commonwealth
- Outsourcing non-uniform police functions including forensics and intelligence
- Replace the military’s domestic terrorism capabilities with civil ones
The results of input will be released at the 11th Safeguarding Australia Conference on 26 October 2012 in Canberra. The theme of this year’s conference is examining how Australian can get better national security outcomes for less in this age of austerity.
To submit your views go to the National Security in the Age of Austerity Survey at http://www.asiapacificsecuritymagazine.com/security-events/national-security-in-the-age-of-austerity-survey/
