Amidst heightened economic turbulence, Australia will need significant government and private sector uplift in responding to economic risk, a group of experts has assessed in a workshop report from the United States Studies Centre (USSC) at the University of Sydney.
In December, the USSC Economic Security program hosted its annual Track 2 meeting of Australian former officials, think tank analysts, academics and private-sector professionals to consider global economic security trends and what they mean for Australia. In Australia’s economic security outlook: Trends and possible responses for 2026, Director of Economic Security Hayley Channer and Research Fellow Robert Monterosso share the key themes and findings from this dialogue.
“After a tumultuous year of tariffs and critical mineral and AI competition, it’s clear the Australian Government and Australian businesses need to move from risk awareness to operational readiness – and do so as quickly as possible,” Ms Channer noted.
The report finds that there is significant appetite for more public communication by government and more structured government assessment of economic security risks and impacts. Corporate “wargaming” of supply chain threats and other economic issues were broadly supported as well as the establishment of a centralised policy institute within the Australian Government to coordinate a whole-of-government response. The dialogue also considered the development of a strategic framework for economic to support policymakers and industry in assessing risks and building economic resilience.
Australia is well-positioned to play a key role in targeted areas, the report also noted, especially in critical minerals and supporting AI expansion through energy production and becoming a hub for data centres.
“Australia’s abundance of critical minerals is more valuable now than at any time in history, however there are significant hurdles to overcome to extract and process these minerals,” Ms Channer said, “Part of the solution is for government to think broadly about how Australia can plug holes in the global supply chain – in a networked manner – then think about being clearer and more direct in its critical mineral goals domestically”.
- Australia’s economic security outlook: Trends and possible responses for 2026 is now available to view or download.