HIGH FLYERS THINK TANK

Safeguarding Australia

4 April 2003

A perspective from CSIRO

by Dr Annabelle Duncan

Australia is a large, isolated country with no land borders; these have given us a sense of security. But we also have a lot to lose. We need to have the ability to manage what happens.

What is the role for CSIRO in safeguarding Australia? We need to work out the national research and development needs, match those with CSIRO capabilities and then decide what security research CSIRO should do in the future.

After speaking to many agencies, CSIRO has found some common research needs:

  • enhanced surveillance and detection technologies
  • enhanced risk analysis
  • environmentally friendly methods of disinfestation, eradication and decontamination
  • methods to protect critical infrastructure
  • means of information management
  • ways of managing risk perception and communication and the consequent legal risks.

More specific needs are:

  • enhanced taxonomic capabilities
  • molecular diagnostics to identify organisms and chemicals
  • epidemiological models of the spread of disease
  • regional networks of scientists
  • models of air plumes
  • biometric readers for identification.

Some CSIRO capabilities for safeguarding Australia:

Prevention Detection Response Recovery
Nanotechnology and surface engineering for document security and forensic tracers Radar, ultrasound and other technologies for detecting hidden objects Next generation fumigants Detection of hazards affecting urban water and recovery from them
Computer systems approach to identifying weaknesses in critical infrastructure Rapid screening and diagnostic tools Critical capability for animal biosecurity Using enzymes to decontaminate land, water, air and food chain
  National collections

For more information about CSIRO, go to www.csiro.au.