OUR PURPOSE, PRINCIPLES AND OBJECTIVES

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute has been established by the Australian Government as an independent centre of research on strategic and defence policy.

Aim

ASPI's aim is to promote Australia's security by contributing fresh ideas to Government strategic decision-making, and by helping to inform public discussion of strategic and defence issues.

Scope

ASPI's work will cover all aspects of national decision-making which bear on Australian security policy. That includes:

• Australia's strategic environment and context
• Australia's strategic policy fundamentals
• Alliances and international defence relationships
• Roles and tasks of the ADF
• Capability options and priorities for the ADF
• Defence budget and management issues
• Economic issues affecting national security
• Industry and infrastructure issues
• The role and impact of public opinion

Approach

ASPI's approach to these issues will be characterised by:

• A strong focus on the practical choices and issues which confront Australia
• Constructive commentary which provides specific proposals and alternatives
• Rigorous and realistic recognition of the parameters in which strategic policy decisions are made, including fiscal, diplomatic and political factors
• An understanding of the influence of historical factors in the development of strategic policy
• A long-term view of our future strategic policy
• An independent, rigorous approach, balanced by a responsible recognition of the sensitivities of public discussion of strategic issues

Activities

ASPI will fulfil its Aim by:

• Publishing information, analysis and proposals across the full range of strategic policy issues
• Providing an alternative source of practical policy proposals to Government on strategic policy issues
• Promoting and informing public debate on strategic issues
• Stimulating the study of strategic policy issues by others, and help draw the work of those in related fields into the policy process
• Contributing to the development of strategic expertise in Australia

Attributes

To achieve its objectives, ASPI's work will need to be:

• Independent and as far as possible non-partisan
• Rigorous, accurate and well-informed
• Innovative and original
• Well-presented and accessible to wide and diverse audiences
• Integrated into wider national debates, both within Government and in the public arena

ASPI itself will need to be:

• Strongly focussed on its core areas of interest
• Well-connected to a wide range of decision-makers and opinion-formers in Government, Parliament, the media, Industry and other key sectors of national and international opinion
• Effective in public debate
• Well-managed and efficient in its use of resources

Objectives

ASPI should be:

• The Government's major source of information, analysis and proposals on strategic policy issues outside the ADF and the Public Service
• As such, a major influence on Government decision making
• One of the most authoritative and widely quoted contributors to public discussion of strategic policy issues in Australia
• A major stimulus for academic work on issues related to strategic policy
• A key contributor to the development of strategic policy skills
• A recognised and authoritative Australian voice in international discussion of strategic issues, especially in the Asia-Pacific