Safeguarding Australia 2026 – Draft Program
The 2026 program traces a strategic arc from alliances and collective security through to capability, economic security, technology and national resilience.
Opening Strategic Leaders Dialogue Panel
Middle Powers in a Fragmented World — Navigating a Contested Strategic Order
Senior strategic perspectives on how middle powers navigate shifting alignments, evolving alliances and increasing geopolitical uncertainty.
Session 1
The Strategic Environment: Alliances in a World of Competing Spheres
Are current alliance frameworks sufficient to sustain collective security?
Strategic rivalry among major powers is intensifying and alliance expectations are evolving. This session examines how alliance frameworks are adapting to sustain collective security, and the implications for Australia as a middle power.
Topics may include:
• Strategic rivalry and competing spheres of influence
• Alliance expectations and burden-sharing
• The durability and limits of alliance frameworks
• Australia’s role as a middle power in a shifting strategic order
Session 2
Collective Security Beyond Great Power Guarantees
The role of middle powers in strengthening collective security in a shifting strategic order
As alliance expectations evolve and the strategic order shifts, middle powers are playing a more active role in shaping collective security outcomes through new partnerships and cooperative mechanisms.
Topics may include:
• Indo-Pacific security architecture and the evolving role of middle powers
• Minilateral partnerships, including AUKUS and the Quad
• Middle-power coalitions and collective deterrence
• Regional security cooperation and burden-sharing beyond alliances
Session 3
Sovereign Capability and the Defence Industrial Imperative
Can nations secure their defence capabilities in an era of contested supply chains?
Strategic autonomy depends on industrial depth, resilient supply chains and defence innovation, underpinned by economic security and critical resources.
Topics may include:
• Sovereign capability and supply chain resilience
• Defence industrial capacity and national capability
• AUKUS and advanced capability development
• Defence innovation and industry as a strategic enabler
Session 4
Economic Security in a Fragmented World
Are energy, trade and supply chains becoming the new battlegrounds of geopolitical competition?
Energy security, trade resilience, maritime chokepoints and critical resources are central to national power.
Topics may include:
• Economic coercion and weaponised trade
• Energy security and maritime chokepoints
• Critical minerals and supply chain resilience
• Trade security and economic statecraft
Session 5
Technology, Deterrence and the Strategic Edge
Will technological advantage determine the balance of power?
As strategic competition extends into advanced technologies, advantage is increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, cyber capability and autonomous systems.
Topics may include:
• Artificial intelligence and decision advantage
• Cyber resilience and critical infrastructure security
• Defence innovation and dual-use technologies
• Emerging technologies and future capability
Session 6
Social Cohesion, Extremism and National Resilience
Can democratic societies sustain cohesion under growing internal and external pressures?
National security increasingly depends on social cohesion, public trust and the ability to counter extremism in an era of heightened strategic tension.
Topics may include:
• Countering extremism and safeguarding social cohesion
• Information warfare and disinformation
• Whole-of-nation resilience and preparedness
• Protecting democratic institutions and public trust
The program is currently in development and will be updated as speakers and sessions are confirmed.