Critical Infrastructure in this New Epoch Anjali Nadaradjane
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entral to the survival of Australia’s economy is a robust system of critical infrastructure. Critical infrastructure shapes Australia’s economy, prosperity and quality of life, and may encompass supply chains, information technologies and communication networks. If destroyed, degraded or rendered unavailable for an extended period, it would significantly impact on the social or economic wellbeing of the nation or affect Australia’s ability to conduct national defence and ensure national security. Critical infrastructure can be government-owned such as dams, privately owned such as airports, community-owned like irrigation systems or involve public-private partnerships such as electricity distribution networks. Critical infrastructure networks are key to our functioning economy. For example, bringing food from the paddock to the plate demands
Ed.2 2020
the coordination of a complex web of producers, processors, manufacturers, distributors and retailers with the infrastructure supporting them. The significance of critical infrastructure is evidently vital for a vibrant, prosperous country. Unfortunately, critical infrastructure needs can be weakened or destroyed by unprecedented or large-scale events including natural disasters, equipment failure, crime and more recently the effects of Covid-19, a global health pandemic. These events have the capacity to disrupt our most essential services which are provided by assets, networks and supply chains. This has major flow-on effects to our businesses, governments and communities. Furthermore, the proliferation of cyberattacks compromise Australia’s national security and debilitate key critical infrastructure sectors. The interdependence of many of sectors such as telecommunications and electricity
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