With the support of the NT Government, ASPI has established two programs of work under the auspices of its Northern Australia Strategic Policy Centre: The North and Australia’s Security and Nation-building in the North.

The programs provide a sustained research focus on nation-building and the security of Australia’s north. A critical element of this work is the exploration of the north’s critical role in contributing to the broader security of Australia. The program concentrates on:

• maintaining a strong public policy focus on the role of the north in the broader security of Australia at a time when strategic circumstances are driving new policy thinking in Canberra
• developing a modernised way of thinking about the north and security by updating strategic frameworks that remain anchored in the 1980s ‘defence of Australia’ context
• situating the north in a broader discussion about national security interests beyond defence—encompassing home affairs, border security and customs, space, cybersecurity, humanitarian and disaster response, biosecurity and energy security.