By Michael Fisher
The reasoning behind the decision by the Head of ASIO to explain publicly the rising national security threat level makes compelling reading for those of us involved in making buildings safer for owners, employees, and visitors.
Mike Burgess, Director-General of Security, said the 2025 national terrorism threat level is "probable", meaning there's a greater than 50% chance of an attack or planning within the next year.
"We raised the national security threat level in 2024, and I do not anticipate being able to lower it in the foreseeable future.
"Australia is facing multifaceted, merging, intersecting, concurrent, and cascading threats," he said in his annual threat assessment presented to parliamentarians and community leaders.
The ASIO Chief says his outlook to 2030 is a frank, uncomfortable assessment, "But it is profoundly important, which is why I am declassifying parts of it," said Burgess, who added that Australia has never faced so many different threats at once.
ASIO's remit empowers it to investigate seven heads of security – areas of responsibility – including: Espionage; Foreign interference; Politically motivated violence (which includes terrorism); Promotion of communal violence; Sabotage; Attacks on Australia's defence system, and serious threats to border security.
"Three of our heads of security are already flashing red: espionage, foreign interference, and politically motivated violence. In the next five years, we expect three more to join them," said Burgess, noting that espionage and foreign interference will be enabled by advances in technology, particularly Artificial Intelligence and deeper online pools of personal data vulnerable to collection, exploitation, and analysis by foreign intelligence services.
Mike Burgess made observations that I believe have clear implications for buildings where cyber information is handled, such as data centres, Government departments and business IP, financial IT and defence planning, and personnel centres. Australia's new security landscape will permanently impact building design, to protect people and information including better entrance protection to safeguard building owners and operators, employees, visitors, and contractors to whom they have a duty of care to provide a secure environment.
Observations from Mike Burgess' address that caught my attention as a building industry professional involved in security entrance systems include the fact that politically motivated violence is raising the temperature of the security environment and making terrorism more likely. Other observations include:
- Our greatest threat remains a lone actor using and easily obtained weapon
- "We expect nationalist and racist violent extremists to continue their efforts to 'mainstream' and expand their environment they will undertake provocative offensive and increasingly high-profile acts to generate publicity and recruit. "While these activities will test legal boundaries, the greatest threat of violence comes from individuals on the periphery of these organised groups.
- "Sabotage is a head of security in its own right. We expect sabotage will pose an increasing threat in the next five years and this is not limited to an attack on defence assets. Even in the absence of conflict, foreign regimes are expected to become more determined to, and more capable of, pre-positioning cyber access vectors they can exploit in the future.
- "We are getting closer to the threshold for high-impact sabotage. ASIO assesses authoritarian regimes are growing more willing to disrupt or destroy critical infrastructure to impede decision-making, damage war-fighting capabilities and sow social discord.
- "Cyber units from at least one nation state routinely try to explore and exploit Australia's critical infrastructure networks, almost certainly mapping systems to they can lay down malware to maintain access in the future. In coming years, we would see state-sponsored or state-supported terrorism for criminal proxies being used to conduct sabotage.
- These things will challenge traditional definitions, categorisations, assumptions – and potentially, responses. Is an attack on a synagogue terrorism, communal violence, politically motivated violence or foreign interference? Depending on circumstances and motivations, it could be all of those things, or none of those things – and of course I acknowledge the impacted community will be understandably more interested in protection and justice than language and labels.
As a building professional, I find Mike Burgess' cautionary but very level-headed report has a number of important messages affecting architects, builders, building owners, and managers, and employers with a duty of care to protect people first, as well as crucial information.
- This assessment is a true fork in the road from the old Australia many of us used to know, often blissfully protected by distance from the troubles common overseas. These troubles are present on our doorstep; the age of innocence is over. (This came home with great impact to me when Mike Burgess' report mentioned – among the litany of other important findings and case studies he presented – that some of our Defence personnel had been given gifts by a foreign power containing listening devices!)
- The changes this new age of awareness brings will directly affect all of us involved in commercial building, fit out and refurbishment. The effects extend from the obvious – stand-alone data centres, in-house facilities containing public and private personal, IP, telecommunications, and financial records – but also a host of facilities described below.
- And not only will these changes accelerate the need for digital protection, but also the need for physical projection, including layered building and facility security extending from entrances through to the most sensitive areas of buildings (this is not the place to detail such protection – there is a wealth of information out there, including my thoughts on a layered approach to physical security).
- Most importantly, the prediction about "lone wolf'" attacks, sabotage, and the increasing prevalence of nationalist and racist extremists means we must prepare to protect both private and public facilities. These range from the corporate HQs of companies through to Government facilities dealing with public and state information, as well as members of the public, through legislatures and embassies, right through to public hot spots, including hospitality and health facilities, high-value retail and general shopping centres, cultural, educational and age care facilities, transport and tourist facilities, and other places that may be considered "soft" targets. We have seen enough of these in news headlines of late to know that nothing is spared, not even churches.
The bottom line
Greater physical protection and security is not an option after Mike Burgess' report – it is now an obligation and a responsibility that is expanding.
The Australian Institute of Company Directors, for example, notes that, in nearly all Australian jurisdictions, there is a positive obligation on directors to exercise due diligence in relation to work health and safety (WHS).
"Directors can be personally liable for breaches of this duty and the penalties extend to possible imprisonment and very substantial fines. Good governance practice ensures that every board meeting has WHS as a topic on the agenda," it notes in communication to members, even before Mike Burgess' comments.
Now, this major duty of care has been expanded further, because we have been warned, in the clearest possible terms, about the emergence of heightened threat levels, by the highest security authority in the land.
Our laws' say "duty of care – reasonable foreseeability" means that a person owes a legal obligation to take reasonable steps to avoid harm to another person if a reasonable person in their position could foresee the risk of that harm occurring.
What greater foresight do we need?
About us:
About Boon Edam Australia
Boon Edam Australia, which provides a full suite of entrance security solutions in Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea. It is the local full branch operation of Royal Boon Edam, which is a market leader in 27 countries, providing, under the one roof, revolving doors, security doors & portals, speed gates, access gates and full height turnstiles to ensure the security of your entry and perimeter. Boon Edam Australia operates under Master security licence number: 000104487.
About Royal Boon Edam
With work environments becoming increasingly global and dynamic, smart, safe entry has become the centre of activity in and around many buildings. Royal Boon Edam is a global market leader in reliable entry solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands, with 150 years of experience in engineering quality, we have gained extensive expertise in managing the transit of people through office buildings, airports, healthcare facilities, hotels, and many other types of buildings. We are focussed on providing an optimal, sustainable experience for our clients and their clients. By working together with you, our client, we help determine the exact requirements for the entry point in and around your building.
