The National Security Committee (NSC), officially known as the National Security Committee of Cabinet, is the paramount decision-making body for

national security National security, or national defence (national defense in American English), is the security and Defence (military), defence of a sovereign state, including its Citizenship, citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of ...

and major

foreign policy Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...

(including usage of the

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the Armed forces, military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia and its national interests. It consists of three branches: the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and the Royal Aus ...

) matters in the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

. It is a committee of the

Cabinet of Australia The Cabinet of Australia, also known as the Federal Cabinet, is the chief decision-making body of the Australian government. The Cabinet is selected by the prime minister and is composed of senior government ministers who administer the exec ...

, though decisions of the NSC do not require the endorsement of the Cabinet itself.

History

The origins of the NSC stem from the 1977 tabled recommendations of the Royal Commission on Intelligence and Security, established on 21 August 1974 by Australia's

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from December 1972 to November 1975. To date the longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), he was notable for being ...

and led by

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

Robert Hope, for the creation of a "ministerial committee on intelligence and security to give general oversight and policy control to the intelligence community". Prime Minister

Malcolm Fraser John Malcolm Fraser (; 21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, and is the fourth List of ...

consequently established the National and International Security Committee in 1977. Prime Minister

Bob Hawke Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and trade unionist who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991. He held office as the Australian Labor Party, leader of the La ...

also continued the format of the National and International Security Committee as a subcommittee of the Defence and External Relations Committee to consider and report on national security, defence and international relations. INTERFET_12_Feb_2000

The current format of the National Security Committee was created by Prime Minister

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...

in 1996 with a broad national security mandate including foreign policy and international economic issues. Under Howard the NSC also played a central role in the lead up and during the

International Force for East Timor The International Force East Timor (INTERFET) was a multinational non-United Nations peacemaking task force, organised and led by Australia in accordance with United Nations resolutions to address the humanitarian and security crisis that took ...

deployment, the formulation of Defence White Papers, and the Australian involvement in the War in Afghanistan and the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

. In 2008, Prime Minister

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian diplomat and former politician who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and June to September 2013. He held office as the Leaders of the Australian Labo ...

revamped the Australian national security framework with the creation of the intergovernmental officials-level National Intelligence Coordination Committee (NICC) and the

public service A public service or service of general (economic) interest is any service intended to address the needs of aggregate members of a community, whether provided directly by a public sector agency, via public financing available to private busin ...

position of National Security Adviser (NSA) within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. The National Intelligence Coordination Committee plays a central role in advising national intelligence priorities and supporting a coordinated approach by the National Intelligence Community to directions by the NSC. The National Security Adviser was created without a statutory footing but was tasked with ranging responsibilities including

counterterrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and Intelligence agency, intelligence ...

emergency management Emergency management (also Disaster management) is a science and a system charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actu ...

, and defence strategic policy. The role of National Security Adviser was disbanded by Prime Minister

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is an Australian former politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parli ...

in 2013.

Role

The responsibilities of the National Security Committee include to deliberate and decide on Australia's national security issues, including international security issues of strategic relevance, Australian

border security Border control comprises measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it als ...

, national responses to domestic and international crises and terrorism, military operations and the deployment of the

, and the operation and activities of the National Intelligence Community. The NSC also considers issues of defence acquisition and recommendations from the Department of Defence's Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group. Its decisions do not require the endorsement of Cabinet.

War powers

The

Constitution of Australia The Constitution of Australia (also known as the Commonwealth Constitution) is the fundamental law that governs the political structure of Australia. It is a written constitution, which establishes the country as a Federation of Australia, ...

does not contain a provision that expressly states who is responsible for committing Australia to war. Contemporary practice, is that a decision to commit the Australian Defence Force to an "international armed conflict is an exercise of prerogative power pursuant to section 61 of the Constitution" that is made by the

and NSC without involving the

Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

. The NSC may refer its decision to the full Cabinet for its endorsement. The Commonwealth Government has never been required by the Constitution or legislation to seek

parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

approval for decisions to deploy military forces overseas or go to war.

Biosecurity

2020 coronavirus state of emergency

The NSC met numerous times in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Australia The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia was a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first confirmed case in Aust ...

, with attendance by the

Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

, Greg Hunt, and former Chief Medical Officer, Brendan Murphy, who began Australia's health response to COVID-19. On 5 March 2020, the

Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (born 13 May 1968) is an Australian former politician who served as the 30th prime minister of Australia from 2018 to 2022. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party and was ...

, announced that the NSC had agreed to new travel restrictions, updated travel advice and implemented new screening measures for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

, aimed to "slow the importation of COVID-19 cases into Australia to enable preparatory measures to continue and to enable a public health response to the initial cases". On 18 March 2020, a human biosecurity emergency was declared in Australia owing to the risks to human health posed by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, after the NSC had met the previous day. The ''

Biosecurity Act 2015 The ''Biosecurity Act 2015'' is an Act of the Parliament of Australia which manages biosecurity risks in Australia at the national border. It was enacted on 16 June 2015, after the Bill was passed with bipartisan support on 14 May 2015. It co ...

'' specifies that the

may declare such an emergency exists if the Health Minister (then Greg Hunt) is satisfied that "a listed human disease is posing a severe and immediate threat, or is causing harm, to human health on a nationally significant scale". This gives the Minister sweeping powers, including imposing restrictions or preventing the movement of people and goods between specified places, and evacuations. The ''Biosecurity (Human Biosecurity Emergency) (Human Coronavirus with Pandemic Potential) Declaration 2020'' was declared by the Governor-General,

David Hurley David John Hurley (born 26 August 1953) is an Australian former senior officer in the Australian Army who served as the 27th governor-general of Australia from 2019 to 2024. He was previously the 38th governor of New South Wales from 2014 to ...

, under Section 475 of the Act.

Ministerial membership

The Prime Minister determines the membership of NSC. Under the current Albanese Government, the NSC is chaired by the Prime Minister with the

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

and Defence Minister as deputy chair. In July 2022, Albanese added Chris Bowen, the Minister for Climate Change to the committee. Members of the Committee are: Formerly under the

Turnbull government The Turnbull government was the federal executive government of Australia led by the 29th prime minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull, from 2015 to 2018. It succeeded the Abbott government, which brought the Coalition to power at the 2013 Au ...

, the ministerial

Cabinet Secretary A cabinet secretary is usually a senior official (typically a civil servant) who provides services and advice to a cabinet of ministers as part of the Cabinet Office. In many countries, the position can have considerably wider functions and powe ...

was also a member.

Other attendees

As the peak decision-making body on national security, the NSC is also attended and advised by the

Secretaries A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, Personal assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project manageme ...

for each respective

department represented by a Minister on the NSC. As such, NSC attendance also includes the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Department of Defence, the

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the department of the Australian government responsible for foreign policy and international relations, development aid (under the name Australian Aid), consular services, overseas trad ...

, the Department of the Treasury, and the Department of Home Affairs. The Chief of the Defence Force and other senior ADF officers also attend if requested or required by the NSC. Other government ministers, such as the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, are invited to attend meetings as required. The

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

is also sometimes invited to attend for important briefings. As mentioned above, the NSC met numerous times during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic with attendance by the Minister for Health and the Chief Medical Officer.

Secretaries Committee on National Security

The Secretaries Committee on National Security (SCNS) (formerly the Secretaries Committee on Intelligence and Security) serves as the peak officials-level committee considering national security matters and directly supports the NSC. It is an interdepartmental committee which considers all major matters to be put before the NSC and supports the whole-of-government coordination of national security policy. The SCNS membership is composed of the

secretaries A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, Personal assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project manageme ...

for each respective

department represented by a Minister on the NSC as well as the heads of Australian Intelligence Community agencies and other national security related agencies. *Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet *Secretary of the Department of Defence *Secretary of the

*Secretary of the Department of the Treasury *Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs *Director-General of the Office of National Intelligence * Director-General of Security *Director-General of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service *Director of the Defence Intelligence Organisation *Director of the Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation *Director of the Australian Signals Directorate * Chief of the Defence Force *Commissioner of the

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the principal Federal police, federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government responsible for investigating Crime in Australia, crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth ...

*Commissioner of the

Australian Border Force The Australian Border Force (ABF) is a federal law enforcement agency, part of the Department of Home Affairs (Australia), Department of Home Affairs, responsible for offshore and onshore border control, border enforcement, investigations, comp ...

*Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission

Secretariat

The National Security and International Policy Group of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet provides secretariat support functions for the NSC and SCNS.

References

{{Aust SF Australian intelligence agencies Leadership of the Australian Defence Force Australian defence policies Australian Defence Force Foreign relations of Australia

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Intelligence communities Special forces of Australia Australian Defence Organisation Law enforcement in Australia Terrorism in Australia 1996 establishments in Australia