Australia’s Defense Policy (2020-2024)

Abstract

The article examines the Australian government’s defense policy from 2020 to 2024 and finds that during this period, it underwent a significant revision. It was determined that a ten-year period of strategic warning of an attack on Australia could no longer be the basis for defense planning. Therefore, there are significant implications for strategic risk management in Australia, and urgent action is required, including increased military readiness, accelerated capability development, increased defense spending, and a shift away from business-as-usual approaches to policy development, risk management, and defense force training.

The government’s immediate actions to re-prioritize the defense force’s capabilities included: investment in conventional nuclear-armed submarines through the AUKUS partnership, the development of the defense force’s ability to accurately engage long-range targets and the production of munitions in Australia, improving the ability of defense forces to operate from northern Australian bases, increasing the ability to rapidly translate revolutionary new technologies into defense capabilities in close partnership with Australian industry,investing in the growth and retention of a highly qualified workforce,deepening diplomatic and defense partnerships with key allies in the Indo-Pacific region.

The AUKUS tripartite security partnership has been identified as necessary for Australia to acquire asymmetric capabilities. AUKUS will provide the Australian Defense Force with advanced capabilities in areas such as artificial intelligence, hypersonics, and maritime situational awareness. The AUKUS partnership takes on particular significance amid China’s development of a new generation of nuclear submarines that will be quieter and harder to detect.

It is proposed to focus scientific research in Ukraine on accelerating the integration of new revolutionary technologies into defense capabilities, investing in the development and retention of a highly qualified workforce in the defense sector, and developing defense industrial priorities. Given the problems in Ukrainian defense procurement, special attention should be paid to researching the experience of reforming the Australian defense procurement system.