Safeguarding Australia Summit

Julie Sunday (BSc Hons [Integrated Science], Carleton University, 1996; MA [Geography], McMaster University, 1999; PhD [Political Anthropology], McMaster University’s Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, 2005) joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 2005. She has served at 2 of Canada’s central agencies—the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and the Privy Council Office—and was director general of Clean Technology Innovation at Natural Resources Canada. At Global Affairs Canada, she has served as director for science, technology and innovation; director general and adviser to the chief financial officer; director general, security and emergency management, and chief security officer; and director general for pandemic response, a role in which she led the department’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution campaign. Most recently, she served as assistant deputy minister for the Consular, Security and Emergency Management Branch and led Canada’s consular policy and operations; travel advice; and international emergency policy, operations and response. She also spearheaded efforts to advance the Canada-led Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations. Julie was named Canada’s first senior official for hostage affairs in October 2023 and has led diplomatic engagement to support the release of hostages abroad.

Hamish Hansford is the Deputy Secretary of the Cyber and Infrastructure Security Group in the Department of Home Affairs. Hamish joined the department in January 2016.

In this role Hamish leads on cyber security, protective security, data security and critical infrastructure policy, and manages the Australian regulatory authority for 11 critical infrastructure sectors including transport security and telecommunication security. Hamish is also responsible for AusCheck, a national background checking service. 

Prior to his current position, Hamish was the Inaugural Head of the Cyber and Infrastructure Security Centre.

Hamish began his career in the public service at the National Museum in 2002. Hamish has extensive leadership experience in national security, border protection, technology, cyber security, indigenous affairs and criminal justice issues in the Australian Public Service.

Hamish has an Executive Master of Public Administration from the Australia and New Zealand School of Government, a Bachelor of Arts from the Australian National University (ANU) and a Bachelor of Asian Studies from ANU and Gadjah Mada University.

Dr S. Kate Conroy (née Devitt) is a specialist in building trustworthy, ethical, and assured robotics, autonomous systems, and artificial Intelligence (RAS-AI) systems in both military and civilian domains. She has a PhD in philosophy (epistemology, cognitive science and applied ethics) and graduate certificate in cognitive science Rutgers University NJ USA and a BA (Hons) 1st Class History & Philosophy of Science Melbourne University (philosophy of statistics). She is Adjunct Professor QUT Centre for Robotics and Adjunct A/Professor Human-Centred Computing ITEE, University of Queensland. Kate is Specialist Advisor AI Safety and Assurance Queensland Government and Specialist Capability Officer (Lead Responsible AI), Jericho Disruptive Innovation, Royal Australian Air Force. She is one of '100 Brilliant Women AI Ethics 2023' and '50 Women in Robotics You Need to Know About 2021'.

Mr Chris Crozier was recently appointed Chief Information Officer, leading the Defence Digital Group at Defence. Prior to joining Defence, Mr Crozier was the Group Chief Information Officer for Orica International, the world’s largest manufacturer and supplier of explosives for mining and civil construction. As the Group Chief Information Officer, Mr Crozier was accountable for global digital technology strategies and operations across a footprint of the organisation spanning 120 countries, covering Business (IT), Customer (IoT) and Manufacturing (OT) systems, including the governance of Orica’s digital ecosystems, architecture, data, and cyber posture. Prior to this, Mr Crozier held executive roles within Orica as Vice President of AusPac (60% of Orica’s global EBIT), Chief Digital Officer and Global Vice President Supply Chain; and BHP as Global Chief Information Officer and Global Chief Procurement Officer. As a 35-year veteran of the Mining and Resources Sector, having commenced his professional life with Rio Tinto as a Research Engineer, Mr Crozier has experienced the highs and lows of the commodity cycle. He has worked in Asia for more than 25 years, residing in Singapore for 18 years. Mr Crozier has a Chemical Engineering Degree (Honours First Class) and Master of Business Administration. In his spare time, Mr Crozier enjoys endurance sports, including cycling, running and swimming

Dr Paul Robards is the Chief Data Integration Officer (CDIO). He is responsible for the Defence Data Strategy and the OneDefence Data Platform, which will enable Defence to better govern, trust, share, discover and use data. He is also responsible for the Defence Artificial Intelligence Centre (DAIC), which will accelerate the adoption of AI in Defence, and ensure appropriate governance and assurance. Paul also manages the implementation of the Defence Business Integration Program to ensure the right capability investment and intended effects are realised across the Defence enterprise. Paul served for over 30 years in the Australian Army. He studied for his Civil Engineering degree at the Australian Defence Force Academy before undertaking postings to engineering units in Sydney, Brisbane and Papua New Guinea. After completing a Masters of Science in Management at the US Naval Postgraduate School in 2001, he worked in Army Headquarters and Defence People Group in roles such as strategic workforce planning, workforce analysis and people policy. After completing an operations analysis course and training with Defence Science and Technology, he deployed to Afghanistan in 2011 and 2012 as an operations analyst. Following his operational experience, he worked with NATO partners to develop joint doctrine to manage the risk of green-on-blue attacks. Paul transitioned to the Defence public service in 2019. As a member of the Defence Senior Executive Service, he has worked across a number roles in People Group where he was responsible for delivering HR and people services, the management of HR systems, and HR transformation. Paul was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2010 Queens' Birthday honours. In 2011, after several years of part-time research, he was conferred a Doctor of Philosophy in Information Science from the US Naval Postgraduate School.

Ky Blackman is the First Assistant Secretary / Deputy Coordinator of the Counter Foreign Interference Coordination Centre (CFICC) within the Department of Home Affairs. In this role, he coordinates efforts with government, industry, community and higher education stakeholders to lead Australian government policy responses to complex and diverse foreign interference threats. This collaborative approach is integrated with the operational efforts of the Counter Foreign Interference Task Force led by ASIO and the AFP.

An alumnus of Pembroke College, Oxford University, Ky’s Oxford University dissertation explored the effective use of intelligence and risk assessments in decision-making processes across both private and public sectors. He also holds degrees from King’s College London, The University of New South Wales, and The University of New England. Ky is also a graduate of the Vincent Fairfax Fellowship for Ethical Leadership at Cranlana/Monash University, as well as holding fellowships with the London Business School and Asia Pacific Security Studies Center.

Matthew (Matt) Warren is the Director of the RMIT University Centre for Cyber Security Research and Innovation and a Professor of Cyber Security at RMIT University. He has held roles such as Deputy Director of University Research Centre, Head of School, Deputy Head of School, Program Leader for several programs during his tenure at Deakin University.

Matt is a researcher in the areas of Cyber Security and Computer Ethics. He has received numerous grants and awards from national and international funding bodies, such as: Australian Research Council (ARC); Engineering Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) in the United Kingdom; National Research Foundation (NRF) in South Africa.

Matt has taught in Australia, Finland, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.

Mr Allan Dundas is the founder, Chair and Chief Executive Officer of DEWC Services Pty Ltd, a rapidly growing Australian defence capability company based in South Australia with over 100 staff. He is an accomplished company director, business leader, engineer and proud Australian Defence Force (ADF) Veteran.

Mr Dundas has over 30 years of experience in national defence, having served in uniform, civilian and industry roles. He commenced his career with the Royal Australian Air Force in 1990 at the age of 17 and holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering with First Class Honours from UNSW awarded at the Australian Defence Force Academy. He also holds master’s degrees in systems engineering and business administration, is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Fellow of Engineers Australia.

Under Mr Dundas’ leadership, DEWC Services is actively contributing to Australia’s sovereign capability in emerging critical technologies. These include the maturation of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Agile Core Platform, development of Synthetic Intelligent Agent Systems with AI-based reasoning, deployment of Large Language Model (LLM) Demonstrators and advancement of Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) Distribution and Modelling Enterprise Tools.

In addition to his executive role at DEWC, Mr Dundas serves as Chair of the School of Information Operations and sits on the Boards of the Australian Chapter of the Association of Old Crows (AOC) and the Defence Teaming Centre (DTC).