Safeguarding Australia

Mr James Thomas King received a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to the community through the development and introduction of a range of policing programs dealing with crime prevention and child safety, improving the professional education and training of the security industry, and charitable organisations.

2 National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies

The Australian Government has announced that a consortium comprising the University of Melbourne, Griffith University and University of Western Sydney will host the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies.

The Centre is a significant Australian Government supported initiative under the National Action Plan to Build on Social Cohesion, Harmony and Security. The Government has committed $8 million to support the establishment of the Centre.

The Centre will advance knowledge and understanding of Islam and showcase Australia’s strengths in the field of Islamic studies. It will also play a leadership role in public debates on contemporary Islam.

The Centre will provide tertiary accredited undergraduate and post-graduate qualifications. Courses – including subjects as diverse as architecture, art and commerce - will be open to any students who have an interest in aspects of the Islamic world.

The courses would provide many subjects relevant for aspiring Muslim religious and community leaders. Courses at the Centre will provide an important vehicle for the teaching of Islam in an Australian context, applying the usual academic rigour of the Australian university system.

The National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies will deliver courses on campus in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and eventually across Australia via distance education.

The Centre will be headed by Professor Abdullah Saeed, who is the Sultan of Oman, Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies, Head of the Asia Institute at Melbourne and Director of the University’s Centre for the Study of Contemporary Islam, jointly hosted by the Arts and Law faculties.

Dr Mohamad Abdalla, Founding Director of the Griffith University Islamic Research Unit (GIRU), will be director of the Centre’s Queensland branch. GIRU is located within the Key Centre for Ethics, Law, Justice and Governance, one of Griffith University’s leading research centres, and is part of the Institute for Ethics, Governance and Law which is a joint initiative between Griffith University and the United Nations University.

Professor Saeed says the Centre’s strength lies in being able to bring together established expertise in teaching, research and knowledge transfer in broad aspects of Islamic studies to further knowledge and understanding of Islam in its historical and modern complexities. “It will also function as an important think tank in relation of Islamic issues particularly in the Australian context,” he said.

In addition, Dr Abdalla said the Centre will be instrumental in graduating students who are well-versed in both the Australian and Islamic contexts – a necessary requirement for bridging of the gap between the two worlds.

The University of Melbourne has taught Arabic and Islamic Studies for over four decades, while the Griffith Islamic Research Unit, established with substantial funding from the Queensland Islamic Community, has quickly developed a strong relationship and reputation with state and federal government agencies and the Islamic community.

The University of Western Sydney has a substantial program of studies in Arabic at undergraduate and postgraduate level and research expertise in Arabic language, interpreting and translation, sociological and cultural studies. Its Muslim Harmony Relationship Group builds greater understanding and cooperation between Muslim and non-Muslim people in western Sydney.

The Centre will offer a major in Islamic Studies within the Bachelor of Arts program to new and existing students of consortium universities and, where possible, to students enrolled in other Australian universities and to individuals in community access programs. It will also promote postgraduate study in Islamic Studies.

Professor Saeed says development of these programs on a national basis will assist the consortium universities to develop national responses to needs in research, teaching and community engagement in Islamic Studies.

The consortium is committed to exploring new pedagogies incorporating the use of new technologies and will expand distance education access to current and newly-developed subjects.

The new Centre will be advised on Muslim community needs by an appointed national advisory board.

3 Communities Benefit From Emergency Volunteers

A report has been released on the cost of emergency management volunteers.
Called the “Cost of Volunteering: a Report on a National Survey of Emergency Management Sector Volunteers” the report states that:

The survey was carried out by Anglicare, on behalf of the Australian Emergency Management Volunteer Forum.

The survey covered fully employed, self-employed and retired volunteers in the primary emergency services as well as in the Salvation Army, Surf Life Saving Australia, St Vincent de Paul, St John Ambulance, Volunteer Rescue Association, Australian Volunteer Coastguard, Australian Council of State Emergency Services, Anglicare, Adventist Development and Relief Agency Australia.

The full report is available here.

4 Closer Security Ties With Pakistan, India

Attorney General Phillip Ruddock has held discussions on counter-terrorism and law enforcement during a recent visit to Pakistan and India.

Mr Ruddock met with senior officials of both governments and sought agreement to deepen bilateral co-operation in relation to intelligence and policing.

Mr Ruddock said developing the strong partnerships that already exist with Pakistan and India on counter terrorism and law enforcement issues had been an important objective of his trip.

He said both countries had moved to strengthen measures aimed at combating money laundering and terrorist financing. The Attorney-General said he had also sought and received assurances from India and Pakistan that they would expedite the negotiation of bilateral extradition and mutual assistance treaties with Australia.

Mr Ruddock added that strong consideration was being given to Australia's request to place an Australian Federal Police officer in the Australian High Commission in New Delhi.

5 Victoria's Blackout Shows Need To Be Prepared

Victoria’s recent bushfires resulted in mass power outages for the major centres in state. The fires cut power to essential services such as traffic lights and trains.

Restaurants and stores reportedly had to discard food when they had no access to refrigeration, while other businesses had to shut down operations or make alternative arrangements for security because they did not have back-up systems.

The Acting Attorney General Kevin Andrews used the blackouts to remind businesses that they can minimise the sort of problems caused by Victoria’s massive power outage if they have continuity plans for emergencies.

"Many small- and medium-sized enterprises were seriously affected by the disruption to the power supply and have lost significant sums of money," Minister Andrews said.

“While yesterday's blackout might not have the same impact as the gas explosions at Moomba in 2004 and Longford in 1998, it does remind us of the effect on the economy and jobs when unforeseen events occur,” .he said.

6 New vessel fleet supports Customs role at border

A new high speed vessel that will assist customs in delivering effective border protection has been delivered to the port of Fremantle. This is the second of four of a new class of boat to be obtained by Customs to support its existing national fleet of harbour-based CRVs and sea-going Australian Customs Vessels.

The CRV will be used for patrolling the port environs, boarding ships when they arrive and in joint operations with other agencies. The new CRV will be based permanently in Fremantle but may be deployed to other ports as required.

Additional CRVs will be deployed in Sydney and Dampier to expand Customs ability to patrol international ports and their environments. The first was deployed in Melbourne in 2006.

7 WA small business leads in anti-terror advice

Commenting on the release by the Federal Attorney General of the ‘Good Security - Good Business’ booklet, which is designed to encourage small to medium business operators to plan for a terrorist incident, the WA Small Business Minister Margaret Quirk said that the Small Business Development Corporation already provides comprehensive advice to Western Australia’s small business sector on how to plan for the impact of a terrorist act.

“The booklet is very general in its approach and I would question whether its release at the beginning of a Federal election year is not simply electioneering by stealth, a sort of fridge magnet for small business,” she said.

The Minister said she was not aware of any intelligence which suggested small business in Australia was being deliberately targeted by terrorists but would expect that State law enforcement agencies would be comprehensively briefed by their Federal counterparts and appropriate measures taken if that was the case.

“In any event, I strongly recommend that small business operators put in place robust business plans to deal with the impact of anything likely to impact negatively on their business,” she said.
Ms Quirk said small business operators should contact 131 BIZ (131 249) or their local small business centre to ensure their business plans included these measures.

8 People

Dr Ian Wing

Dr Ian Wing has been appointed Associate Professor at the Australian Graduate School of Policing (AGSP) at Charles Sturt University. He will be responsible for teaching and research in the fields of intelligence and counter-terrorism.

Ian holds a PhD in national security, and Honours and Masters Degrees in political science. Ian’s full-time career in the Australian Army has included the Special Air Service Regiment, Special Operations Headquarters, the United States Army Intelligence Center, the Parachute Battalion, the Joint Intelligence Organisation, the Defence Intelligence Organisation, the Australian Defence Studies Centre and the Land Warfare Studies Centre. He has extensive overseas operational experience throughout South-East Asia, the South-West Pacific, Europe, the United States and Africa – with lengthy service in East Timor and the Middle East.

In addition to being the President of the Australian Institute of Professional Intelligence Officers (AIPIO), Ian is an Australian Committee Member of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific, a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Certified Protection Professional of ASIS International.

The AGSP offers Graduate Certificates, Graduate Diplomas and Masters Programs by distance education in the areas of intelligence, investigation, terrorism safety, security and leadership. Optional residential workshops are associated with several of the courses. The courses are conducted at several locations in Australia and an expanding range of locations overseas. Further details are available at www.csu.edu.au

9 Reports

The Critical Infrastructure Branch: Latest Newsletter

The Trusted Information Sharing Network (TISN) for Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) has released their latest newsletter.

The table of contents is as follows:

The full text can be found here.

National Security Practice Note: The future of private security

This National Security Practice Note aims to provide security professionals and organisations with an understanding of the sector-wide trends and individual market segment trends emerging in the growing private security market. The note is designed to help these groups assess the future of their business and reposition themselves to take advantage of likely developments occurring within the market.

The Practice Note is available here.

UK Muslims report on inspiration of political Islam

The UK think-tank Policy Exchange has released the results of a major new survey of the attitudes of Muslims in Britain and the reasons behind the rapid rise in Islamic fundamentalism amongst the younger generation.

The authors of ‘Living Apart Together: British Muslims and the paradox of multiculturalism’ concluded that the growth of Islamism must be understood in relation to political and social trends that have emerged in British society and suggests that the way the Government is responding to Islamism is making things worse, not better.

The research finds that there is a growing religiosity amongst the younger generation of Muslims and that they feel they have less in common with non-Muslims than do their parents do. Significantly, they exhibit a much stronger preference for Islamic schools and Sharia law and place a greater stress on asserting their identity publicly, for example, by wearing the Hijab.
It found that:

The report is available here.
http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/images/libimages/241.pdf

Sharp decline in foreign visitors to the United States highlighted by report

A report released by the Travel Industry Association of America has found that the number of foreign visitors to the United States has dropped substantially since the September 11 attacks in 2001, costing tens of billions of dollars to the tourism and travel industries.

Amid security concerns, the report also identified travellers’ concerns about the US entry process which has deterred foreign visitors.

The report can be purchased here.

Baker Report identifies mishandling of safety issues at BP

A report has been released on a number of safety issues systemic in BP’s operating culture. The report has come as BP is pressured over the 2005 explosion at BP’s Texas City plant which is currently, facing United States court action. The findings of a report investigating the incident (by a committee heralded by former US secretary of state James Baker) has identified that BP suffered from systemic safety failures and finds fault with the handling of safety issues by senior management at BP.

The report has made recommendations for improvements including putting an outside body in charge of monitoring safety at the BP plants.

The full report is available here.

New Publication Series: ASPI’s Special Reports

The first in this series is titled “Improving Defence Management” and is written by defence analyst Mark Thomson.

The first publication was commissioned by the Minister for Defence, the Hon Dr Brendan Nelson, in August 2006 to ‘examine efficiency and effectiveness across Defence and look specifically at decision making, business and management processes’.

The full publication is available here.

10 Upcoming Events

Environment and Security: What's the Connection?

Wednesday 31 January 2007, 5.00 pm - Russell Offices R-1 Ground Floor Theatrette
Dr Lorraine Elliott, Senior Fellow, Department of International Relations, Australian National University is to address the USI of the ACT onthe consequences of factoring environmental degradation and resource depletion into the policy question ‘security for whom and from what’. In seeking to make sense of the concept of ‘environmental security’, Dr Elliott considers the possibilities of other forms of security besides that of the state – economic security, societal security, human security and security of the environment.
For information phone (02) 6266 3446 or Email act.usi@defence.gov.au

ACT Government Policy on Counter-Terrorism

Wednesday 7 February 2007, 6.30pm – Spender Theatre, Shedden Building, Australian Defence College, Weston Creek
Following the July 2005 London underground railway terrorist bombings, the Commonwealth and State Governments took part in a vigorous debate on specific aspects of proposed new federal anti-terrorist legislation. The ACT Government took a very public position in this regard and with this in mind, the Program Committee has invited the ACT Attorney-General, Mr Simon Corbell MLA, to address the USI of the ACT on the subject of “ACT Government Policy on Counter-Terrorism”. We hope for a good attendance on this occasion.
For information phone (02) 6266 3446 or Email act.usi@defence.gov.au

RNSA Terrorism History Conference

Call for Papers: 2007 RNSA Terrorism History Conference: Lessons of the past – Applications of history for today’s threats

14 June 2007 at the International Affairs Conference Centre in Deakin.
There are two streams for papers to be entered in to, the Applied History Stream and the Open Stream. Papers in the Applied History Stream will speak directly to the theme of the course, while papers in the Open Stream are invited to propose their own related subject.

Please visit www.homelandsecurity.org.au/events.html or download the brochure from
http://www.homelandsecurity.org.au/files/Terrorism_History_Event_Brochure.pdf

Introducing Islam and Understanding the Muslim Communities

Canberra: 23 February 2007
This courses provide you with a foundation in Islam and an understanding of
the Muslim communities in Australia.
Course content
• Muhammad, the Qur’an and Tradition
• An Arab revelation with a universal mission
• The pillars of Islam and beliefs of Muslims
• Life and Faith in Islam
• Sunni and Shi‘a, Community and Authority
• What is jihad?
• What are the Australian Muslim communities
• Muslim community organisations
• Muslim community politics
• Money transfers in the Muslim communities
• Differences in States and Territories
• Second and third generation Muslims
• Shift from ethnicity to religious as a defining characteristic
• Round table discussion on ‘How these issues affect us?’
Information: http://www.homelandsecurity.org.au/events.html

Working as Your Organisation's Pandemic Influenza Officer

Canberra: 27 February 2007
The aim of this course is to provide participants with the knowledge, confidence and process to effectively serve as an organisation’s pandemic influenza officer before, during and after a major influenza outbreak.
Information: http://www.homelandsecurity.org.au/events.htm

1 Australia Day 2007 Honours – National Security Related

4 Closer Security Ties With Pakistan, India

5 Victoria's Blackout Shows Need To Be Prepared

Sharp decline in foreign visitors to the United States highlighted by report