Australia’s capacity to respond to conflict extends beyond military capability to the resilience of the systems that keep the country functioning during prolonged disruption. As geopolitical tensions and recent global crises expose vulnerabilities in supply chains and critical infrastructure, a new parliamentary inquiry is examining how government, industry and communities could maintain essential services, secure critical supplies and strengthen national preparedness when existing systems come under pressure.
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Defence is accepting submissions to an inquiry into Australia’s national resilience and civil preparedness, examining how prepared the nation is to withstand the impacts of war and other major crises, including its ability to respond to natural disasters and disruptions to critical infrastructure.
The inquiry will examine how Australia could maintain essential government functions and the supply of critical goods and services, including fuel, during a national crisis or conflict.
The Terms of Reference spell out that it will also consider how all levels of government, industry and the broader community could work together to strengthen national resilience, including collaboration with critical infrastructure operators, manufacturers and other key industries, community preparedness, and lessons from international best practice.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said the inquiry would examine “questions of resilience and civil defence preparedness” beyond the Australian Defence Force and within the nation’s broader civil society.
“To be frank, this is an area which really hasn’t received much attention in Australian public policy since the end of the Second World War,” Mr Marles said in a doorstop interview on August 5.
He said the Defence Strategic Review and subsequent national defence strategies had underscored the critical role the civil economy would play alongside the Defence Force during a national contingency, describing that relationship as “fundamental to a society, to us as a country”.
Mr Marles said other countries regularly exercised those capabilities and Australia needed to “exercise those muscles” to strengthen its civil preparedness and resilience.
Committee chair Senator Deborah O’Neill said recent conflicts overseas had exposed how quickly Australia’s reliance on the global economy and its trade networks could leave Australians vulnerable to supply chain shocks.
Deputy chair of the Committee Senator Dave Sharma said recent events, including the COVID-19 pandemic and heightened geopolitical tensions, had exposed Australia’s reliance on overseas supply chains and highlighted the need to examine the nation’s resilience.
“What can we do to lessen some of our vulnerabilities or increase our stocks or make sure that we have the capability to retool existing processes to meet domestic needs at a time of crisis,” Senator Sharma told ABC Radio.
“What this inquiry is doing is saying let’s examine that in a more systematic way and a recognition really that the continued operation of Australia and the continued functioning of our economy is not just a task for the Australian Defence Force and our military personnel, there’s a civilian element to it as well to ensure, you know, continuity of operations.”
Submissions to the inquiry close on Friday, 6 November 2026.
