This project aims to determine what the concept of national security has meant to Australians since 1901, and how its meanings have changed over time. Rather than relying exclusively on the role of speeches, policy statements and crisis moments, it enhances our understanding of national security in the Australian setting by considering how broader popular understandings were formed and interacted with political and policy prescriptions. This history takes into account the roles of changing federal bureaucracies and agencies, and the practices of security. Outcomes of the project will benefit national security policy by better connecting the Canberra policy-making community with the security concerns of the broader Australian public.

This project is funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery Project 2021 grant (DP210102254).