On 27 May 2025, the Perth USAsia Centre hosted a public event with Brendan Dowling, Australian Ambassador for Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology.
As technological innovation accelerates, governments and industries alike must navigate a rapidly evolving landscape of cyber threats, critical infrastructure vulnerabilities, and foreign interference. In its 2025 report, ASIO identified cyberattacks on Australia’s infrastructure and disinformation campaigns eroding public trust as key national security concerns.
With Western Australia’s critical role in the AUKUS partnership, its resource-rich economy, and its strategic location in the Indo-Pacific, the region is both a strategic asset and a valuable target.
Ambassador Dowling shared his insights on the emerging cyber and technology risks facing Australia and outlined how Western Australia can bolster its resilience and security in an increasingly contested digital environment.
Following his keynote address, Ambassador Dowling joined us for a panel discussion and Q&A with Alana Ford, Senior Research and Program Fellow at the Perth USAsia Centre, moderated by Centre Research Director, Dr Kate O’Shaughnessy. The panel covered a range of topics, including cyber security cooperation under Trump 2.0, offensive cyber capabilities, and critical infrastructure resilience.
Watch the replay
Event recording: https://www.youtube.com/live/eWQORuUOlmU
Event speakers
Ambassador Brendan Dowling
Australian Ambassador, Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology
Brendan was appointed as Australia’s Ambassador for Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology in May 2023. As Ambassador, he leads Australia’s international engagement on cyber affairs and critical technology issues, while delivering cyber capacity building, crisis response and building resilience across our region.
Brendan has had a distinguished career in cyber affairs, most recently leading the Cyber and Critical Technology Coordination Centre at the Department of Home Affairs. He also served as the First Assistant Secretary for Digital and Technology Security Policy in Home Affairs. In those roles he provided national leadership and international engagement on cyber security strategy and coordination, the security of critical and emerging technologies and safety and security online.
Brendan held a senior role at Australia’s Embassy in the United States, leading engagement in the United States and across the Americas region on national security, cyber security, critical technology, criminal justice, emergency management, and immigration and border functions.
Prior to the US, Brendan was the Assistant Secretary for the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa in Home Affairs’ International Division. In that role, he led the department’s engagement with governments across those regions, as well as with the United Nations and other multilateral institutions. Brendan was also posted to Amman, Jordan, leading the Department’s largest refugee mission and relations with governments across the region.
Brendan holds a Master of Public Policy (Economic Policy) from the Australian National University and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in political science and literature from the University of Melbourne.
Alana Ford
Senior Research and Program Fellow, Perth USAsia Centre
Alana leads the Centre’s work on critical and emerging issues, with a particular focus on cyber and tech policy. 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.
MC and panel facilitator
Dr Kate O’Shaughnessy
Research Director, Perth USAsia Centre
Kate brings to the Centre an academic background in Indonesian language and history, along with 16 years’ experience with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Her public sector experience spans providing policy advice to government on Australia’s interests in the Indian Ocean, to supporting development of the Australian aid budget, to intelligence analysis.
During her diplomatic career, she served in Ghana, as well as deployments to Lebanon, France and Nigeria. Immediately before joining the Centre in 2022, she was Australia’s High Commissioner to Mauritius and Seychelles, and Ambassador to Madagascar and Comoros, advocating Australia’s Indo-Pacific vision to stakeholders across the western Indian Ocean.