Making sense of national security

The Australian National University and the ACT Branch of the Order of Australia Association are pleased to present the 2022 annual Order of Australia Association - Australian National University lecture.

Professor Rory Medcalf AM will deliver this year's keynote on making sense of national security.

National security grips the headlines. But it cannot be isolated from wider priorities - prosperity, cohesion, sustainability - or from principles of Australian identity: equity, inclusion, dignity and democracy. Nor does this continent's maritime geography bar the woes of the world, as if others' security is not our problem.

In his address, Professor Medcalf draws on the work of the ANU National Security College to offer a contemporary vision of security informed by risk, rights and responsibility. He will develop the framework of a national interest strategy to prepare and mobilise Australia for a confronting future. This will include insights on what the university sector, true to its values, can contribute.

About the speaker

Professor Rory Medcalf AM is Head of the National Security College at The Australian National University. His career spans diplomacy, academia, intelligence analysis, journalism and think tanks, including with the Lowy Institute. Professor Medcalf was a senior strategic analyst with the Office of National Assessments, Australia's peak intelligence agency, and a diplomat with service in India, Japan and Papua New Guinea.

He has played a lead role in Australia's informal diplomacy with India and a range of other countries. Professor Medcalf is recognised globally as a thought leader on the Indo-Pacific strategic concept, as articulated in his book Contest for the Indo-Pacific (published internationally as Indo-Pacific Empire).

In June 2022 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to international relations and tertiary education.

The Order of Australia lecture

The annual Order of Australia Association - Australian National University Lecture was established in 2010 with the aim of further recognising the contribution made by academic members of the Order of Australia to the fabric of Australian society.