Raelene Lockhorst is the Deputy Director of ASPI’s National Security Program, where she focuses on non-traditional security issues – ranging from critical infrastructure and the defence estate to fuel and energy security, logistics, economic resilience, and critical minerals.
She brings a broad background from both the public and private sectors, with experience in policy and program management across Defence, health, and social infrastructure.
Raelene is a graduate of the Institute of Company Directors and holds postgraduate qualifications in defence studies, security risk management, international relations, and professional communications. She has served in the Army Reserves and deployed as a peacekeeper in Bougainville.
Session Description
A Strategic Enabler, Not Afterthought: Infrastructure’s Role in National Security
Australia’s national resilience depends on more than ticking boxes. To meet the demands of a complex and contested environment, we must move beyond fragmented, compliance-driven security frameworks toward a whole-of-system approach that treats infrastructure as a strategic enabler of national security.
Too often, protective security is reduced to audits and standards, disconnected from the leadership, systems thinking, and operational integration that make it effective. This fragmentation between government policy, operational delivery, and security intelligence creates avoidable gaps—gaps that adversaries can exploit as infrastructure becomes a more prominent target in a rapidly evolving threat environment.
Resilience cannot be built in silos. It must be embedded from the earliest stages of planning and investment, driven by trusted partnerships between government, industry, and the broader security community.
This address will explore how reframing infrastructure protection as a collaborative capability – grounded in shared accountability, operational foresight, and integrated risk management – can close structural gaps, strengthen deterrence, and enhance Australia’s capacity to withstand and recover from disruption.
