Preparedness and resilience have become core themes in contemporary national security policy. At a rhetorical level, they are useful concepts for connecting traditional defence policy with broader issues of societal cohesion and economic strength. At a practical level, substantial preparedness and resilience can make a nation less vulnerable to disruptions and threats - whether military or non-military - adding to deterrence and enabling the capacity to adapt in response to shock or crisis. Public opinion studies suggest low community confidence in Australia's security preparedness, despite a history of resilience in response to disasters such as bushfires.
This course interrogates concepts of preparedness and resilience, applying them to the contemporary Australian experience and drawing on potential lessons from other countries including Finland, Sweden, New Zealand and Singapore, with reference to such policy frameworks as 'comprehensive security', 'societal security' and 'total national defence'. It addresses questions of what are reasonable expectations of preparedness and resilience in a democracy, and whether it is feasible within resourcing constraints and social licence to prepare a nation to be resilient against risks as diverse as climate change, armed conflict and terrorism and political violence.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Apply concepts of preparedness and resilience within the scholarly and practitioner literature to the analysis of national security challenges and formulation of policy responses.
- Conduct independent research that demonstrates both scholarly and policy-focused engagement with the subject matter.
- Communicate ideas, analysis and arguments on preparedness and resilience for scholarly and professional audiences.
Indicative Assessment
- Short critical or conceptual analysis (500 words) (10) [LO 1]
- Research essay (1,500 words) (50) [LO 1,2,3]
- Policy brief (1,000 words) (40) [LO 1,2,3]
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
The standard workload for a 3 unit course is 65 hours including class time and independent study.
Prescribed Texts
None.
Preliminary Reading
Fjäder, C. (2014). The nation-state, national security and resilience in the age of globalisation. Resilience, 2 (2).
Folk, C. (2016) Resilience, Ecology and Society 21 (4).
Owens, J. E. (2012). The resilience of democratic institutions in Britain, Australia and the United States under conditions of total war. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 66 (3).
Holloway, J. & Manwaring, R. (2023) How well does ‘resilience’ apply to democracy? A systematic review. Contemporary Politics 29 (1).
Southwick, S. M., Bonanno, G. A., Masten, A. S., Panter-Brick, C., & Yehuda, R. (2014). Resilience definitions, theory, and challenges: interdisciplinary perspectives. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 5 (1).
Niinistö, S (2024). Safer Together: Strengthening Europe’s Civilian and Military Preparedness and Readiness, Report to the European Commission.
Medcalf, R., Wilford. T., Philippa, A., Dixson, H. (2026). Voices from Across Australia: Community Consultations Engagement Report, ANU National Security College.
Ruggiero A., Wojciech, P. D., Lijo, J. (2024). Enhancing societal resilience through the whole-of-society approach to crisis preparedness: complex adaptive systems perspective – the case of Finland, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 114.
Matthews, R., & Bintang Timur, F. (2024). Singapore’s ’Total Defence’ Strategy. Defence and Peace Economics, 35 (5).
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 14
- Unit value:
- 3 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 3.00 | 0.06250 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
Autumn Session
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| On campus | ||||||
| 5695 | 02 Jun 2027 | TBA | TBA | 14 Jul 2027 | In Person | N/A |
| Online | ||||||
| 5696 | 02 Jun 2027 | TBA | TBA | 14 Jul 2027 | Online | N/A |