Ten years after Black Saturday, the traumatised survivors reveal how they found the strength to recover from the worst bushfire disaster in Australian history.

Source: ABC iview. View the program until 5 March 2019 (58 minutes).

The annual Report on Government Services (RoGS) provides information on the equity, effectiveness and efficiency of government services in Australia.

Chapter 6: Police Services.

"Yuval Harari’s latest book builds upon his previous two, Homo Sapiens and Homo Deus. Harari is an historian, but this book is about modern philosophy. Harari covers such a diverse range of contemporary issues facing modern society that it is almost exhausting to read. It is not exhausting because it is difficult to read or to understand his intent, in fact it is very easy to read, and Harari’s writing style is engaging and even entertaining. It is exhausting because his storytelling will have you constantly examining your own beliefs and values.

Over recent years, the Asia–Pacific maritime security environment has become increasingly complex. Transnational serious and organised crime in the maritime domain (including illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; piracy; and trafficking of weapons, drugs and people), terrorism and an increasingly assertive Chinese maritime strategy are generating further complexity.

Source: John Coyne and Isaac Kfir, The Strategist. Read more here.

"This report uses scenario analysis to examine one such future: a world where cyberspace is fragmented in the year 2024. Contrary to the ambition of Australia’s International Cyber Engagement Strategy, cyberspace is neither open nor free in this scenario. We analyse what that implies for cybersecurity. In particular, we examine the challenges and opportunities that Australian policymakers may face in the future and wish they had planned for in our present."

"This short video case study explores how the process worked, and what factors led to it being widely considered a success. The policy team went on to win a commendation at the 2017 Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Sector Management. The case study argues that the key elements at play included deeply engaged political and bureaucratic leadership, a multi-agency strategy backed up by physical co-location, and a determination to capture and retain the institutional memory being generated."

The Global Risks Report 2018 is published at a time of encouraging headline global growth. Any breathing space this offers to leaders should not be squandered: the urgency of facing up to systemic challenges has intensified over the past year amid proliferating signs of uncertainty, instability and fragility. This year’s report covers more risks than ever, but focuses in particular on four key areas: environmental degradation, cybersecurity breaches, economic strains and geopolitical tensions.

Out of all the Muslims in Australia, only a very small number become radicalised. What sets those individuals apart from the rest of Australia’s Islamic community, and puts them on a path toward extremism and potential violence? In this fortnight’s National Security Podcast, Chris Farnham talks to the founder and Director of Raqib Taskforce about her experiences and path towards radicalisation.

Source: ANU National Security Colleage. Read more here.

The objective of this audit was to examine the effectiveness of the Australian Federal Police in managing employee mental health. To form a conclusion against the audit objective, the ANAO adopted the following high level criteria: Has the AFP implemented sound governance and risk management practices to manage employee mental health? ; Is the AFP effectively managing employee mental health throughout their career lifecycle? ; Are sound monitoring, reporting and evaluation arrangements in place to assess the effectiveness of the AFP’s management of mental health?

In recent decades, policy makers and legislators in Australian states and territories have developed and implemented initiatives to manage antisocial behaviour in public housing environments. All jurisdictions now have some form of legislation or policy to encourage public housing tenants to comply with rules and obligations of ‘good neighbourliness’. In November 2015, the NSW Parliament changed legislation to introduce a new approach to manage antisocial behaviour in public housing. This approach is commonly described as the ‘strikes’ approach.

"Research has demonstrated that alcohol misuse has a significant impact on police time and resources, the health sector and the Australian community more broadly. Despite growing interest in the topic and the number of studies that have been completed, there remain significant limitations to the national measurement of alcohol-related crime.

“The scale and complexity associated with the coordinated response to natural disasters inevitably produce human errors. However, little is known about the frequency and distribution of human error at different levels of coordination during disasters. The purpose of this research was to explore this phenomenon for selected catastrophic bushfires in Australia.”