List of Recommendations

Recommendation 1

4.99

The Committee recommends that within 12 months the Australian Government define which critical national systems are essential to Australia’s ability to function as a secure, prosperous, first world nation.

Recommendation 2

4.100

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government develop a national resilience framework to assess which elements of Australia’s critical national systems are vulnerable to high-consequence supply chain disruptions.

Recommendation 3

5.23

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government develop specific shared objectives with allies and regional partners to increase global support for the rules-based order that underpins the global system of security, international relations and trade.

Recommendation 4

5.38

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government use the recent DFAT audit of Australia’s engagement with UN and other international organisations to identify those that are a priority for Australia’s national interest.

Recommendation 5

5.39

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government develop a detailed agenda of the reforms necessary in priority international organisations and an implementation plan to lead the case for change, working cooperatively with like-minded countries to restore confidence and investment in priority multilateral institutions.

Recommendation 6

5.50

The Committee recommends that the Prime Minister lead deliberations in the National Cabinet to produce an agreed national framework to ensure that COVID-19 related measures imposed by states and territories do not prevent the timely change-over of international maritime crews, a situation which has led to unsafe and unreasonable workplace conditions which breach Australia’s ILO obligations.

Recommendation 7

5.51

The Committee recommends that National Cabinet develop the processes agreed as an outcome of Recommendation 6 such that Australia has an agreed framework to ensure all states and territories remain compliant with national obligations in the event of future crises that require responses falling under the authority of sub-national governments.

Recommendation 8

5.79

The Committee recommends that within 12 months the Australian Government identify those elements of Australia’s critical national systems where supply chains are entirely or significantly dependent on companies which are likely to be subject to extrajudicial directions or coercive interference from a foreign government that place continuity of supply at risk of failure.

Recommendation 9

5.80

To prevent failure of critical nationals systems, the Committee recommends the Government, in consultation with industry, develop plans and a timeframe to move ‘at risk’ supply chains for critical national systems to sovereign Australian suppliers or where appropriate, to other trusted, transparent arrangements with companies in nations having a strong record of adherence to the rule of law.

Recommendation 10

5.81

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government initiate parallel Track-1 (Government to Government) dialogue to place an assurance framework around the establishment of commercial arrangements pertaining to supply chains for critical national systems. Where appropriate, this should include reciprocal assurances of supply by Australia to our partners’ critical national systems.

Recommendation 11

5.82

The Committee recommends that within 6 months the Australian Government identify an initial tranche of Australia’s key national strengths in the potential supply of resources, elaborately transformed manufactures and services in critical areas and assess any barriers to the scaling up and commercial sustainability of such industries that would prevent Australia becoming a trusted and transparent partner of choice for like-minded nations.

Recommendation 12

5.83

The Committee recommends that within 12 months the Australian Government conduct a cross portfolio review and where it supports Australia’s strategic interests, develop and implement competitive processes to provide targeted support for Australian industry sectors, enabling them to become trusted suppliers to overseas consumers of critical resources, elaborately transformed manufactures and services.

Recommendation 13

5.106

The Committee recommends that within 24 months the Australian Government ensure that where necessary, Australia regenerates and sustains the test and certification capability to provide assurance that Australian sourced supplies and elaborately transformed manufactures for critical national systems, meet the relevant Australian/New Zealand standards (or international equivalents where applicable). This same capability must be able to verify to a suitable level of confidence that imported enablers to critical national systems are fit for purpose.

Recommendation 14

5.125

The Committee recommends that Australian Government support for Australian industry sectors supporting identified critical national systems move away from purely grant-based assistance to the intentional use of procurement to build and sustain sovereign capability.

Recommendation 15

5.126

The Committee recommends that the CPRs and Accountable Authority instructions be modified to reflect Recommendation 14 by explicitly requiring procurement authorities to consider how the generation and sustainment of sovereign industry sectors that supply to critical national systems could be facilitated by:

Aggregation of demand across Commonwealth departments and where agreed, state government requirements; and

Phasing of procurement where the timeframe for delivery can be optimised to meet operational requirements and Australian industry capacity.

Recommendation 16

5.127

The Committee recommends that a new sub-paragraph should be added to paragraph 4.5 of the CPRs dealing with assessing value for money. The sub-paragraph should have the effect that:

officials must give a priority weighting to the extent to which a proposed project or individual procurement contributes to the generation or sustainment of a sovereign Australian industry capability which is providing nominated supplies to a critical national system.

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