Canberra establishes Critical Infrastructure Centre
The federal government has announced it has launched a dedicated centre to manage security risks to Australia’s critical national infrastructure.
A joint statement released today by the Attorney-General, George Brandis, and the Treasurer, Scott Morrison, said that with “increased privatisation, supply chain arrangements being outsourced and offshored, and the shift in our international investment profile, Australia’s national critical infrastructure is more exposed than ever to sabotage, espionage and coercion”.
“We need to manage these risks by adopting a coordinated and strategic framework. This challenge is not something the Commonwealth can address alone.”
The government has established the Critical Infrastructure Centre, within the Attorney-General’s Department, “so that all levels of government, owners and operators can work together to identify and manage these risks”.
The centre will develop “coordinated, whole-of-government national security risk assessments and advice to support government decision-making on investment transactions”.
It will also provide “greater certainty and clarity to investors and industry on the types of assets that will attract national security scrutiny”.
The centre’s initial focus will be on the most critical assets in the electricity, water and ports sectors.
However, the government will consult with states, territories, industry and investors to “consider what other assets require attention”.
The centre will develop and maintain a critical assets register that will enable a consolidated view of critical infrastructure ownership.
The statement said that as a first step, the centre will soon release a discussion paper outlining the challenges and seeking views on additional measures that could assist.
Brandis and Morrison emphasised that the centre “supports the existing foreign investment framework, which will continue to assess and manage foreign investment applications on a case-by-case basis”.
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