Alana Ford

Senior Research and Program Fellow

Expertise: Cyber and tech policy, national security, and the role of the US in the Indo-Pacific.

Alana leads the Centre’s work on critical and emerging issues, including cyber and tech policy, national security, and democratic resilience. She brings to the role extensive experience working on these issues for the Commonwealth Government in Australia and internationally, as well as passion for driving social impact and policy change at the intersection of technology and society.

Prior to joining the Perth USAsia Centre, Alana served as the Attorney General Department’s representative to the United States in Washington D.C. In this role, she led the Australian Government’s efforts to address online harms and criminal exploitation of technology, as well as other high profile national security, law enforcement and criminal justice matters.

Previously, she served in the Department of Home Affairs, where she led work on a broad range of national security issues, including cyber and digital technology policy, law enforcement policy, countering online terrorism, child exploitation, and intelligence.

Alana was named as a 2025 Young Women to Watch in International Affairs, is a member of the United States Studies Centre’s 2025 Women in the Alliance network, and also sits on the Board of Directors at the Data Federation Lab.