Alana Ford

Alana is the Centre’s Senior Research Adviser for Defence, Security and Technology. She brings to the role extensive experience working on these issues for the Commonwealth Government in Australia and internationally, and in both the think tank and technology sectors.

Alana is the Founder and Principal Adviser at Sirius Geopolitics, is a Non-Executive Director at Belair Group, and sits on the Board of Directors at the Data Federation Lab. 

Alana previously 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 international intelligence cooperation.

Alana was named as a 2025 Young Women to Watch in International Affairs, and served as a member of the United States Studies Centre’s 2025 Women in the Alliance network.