Essington Institute

A message to all who call Australia home

We stand together for safety, prosperity, and readiness for anything.

We live in uncertain times — and in uncertain times, it is important to be prepared.

According to the ANU, fewer than 1 in 5 Australians feel the nation is ready for the likely threats of the near future.1

Armed conflict is on the rise. Economic conditions are making life harder. Technology is rapidly changing the way we work and live. Authoritarian governments are gaining ground worldwide, and the rules that once restrained the strongest countries are weakening.

Though Australia is far from the rest of the world, foreign coercion, cyber attacks, disinformation, and terrorism are already being used to harm and influence us.

Being prepared means preparing for every scenario: disasters driven by climate change, a new global pandemic, an economic or technological catastrophe, and the worst case of a direct military attack on Australian soil.

In each of them, everyone must do their part to defend Australia's independence, its way of life, and its right to choose its own future.

We already build resilience together every day. We do that with our loved ones, friends, colleagues, and neighbours. But Australia has no national programme that prepares its households for crisis or conflict.

Until it does, we are that programme. The Essington Institute is a not-for-profit organisation that exists to catalyse and accelerate that readiness, with a vision of making Australia the best prepared nation in the world.

If you call Australia home, you are part of the nation's preparedness. We publish free guides for households, for businesses, and for government, so that every Australian knows what to do before a crisis arrives.

Our focus areas

Defence

Military capacity to protect the continent, including air and missile defence, munitions, and the defence industrial base.

Health and Medical

The health of the population and the system that serves it - from preventive health to hospital surge, pharmaceutical supply, and mass casualty response.

Sovereignty and Continuity

Whether Australians can govern themselves and choose their own future: election integrity, resistance to foreign interference, and industry that answers to Australia in a crisis.

Economic and Supply Security

Whether the country can feed, fuel, and sustain itself under prolonged disruption, make what it needs, and keep its economy working through a crisis.

National Security

Civil defence, shelter, counter-terrorism, and the critical infrastructure the population depends on - transport, energy, and communications - when the military is not the answer.

Technology

The resilience of the digital and space systems Australia depends on, the cyber and AI-enabled threats against them, and the sovereign capability to build, defend, and sustain them.

Environmental Security

Climate adaptation, natural disaster preparedness, biosecurity, and the long-term viability of the land, water, agriculture, and wildlife that sustain the country.

Social Resilience

Whether society holds together under pressure - cohesion, trust, volunteering, resistance to disinformation, and the community networks that buffer national failure.

Are you ready to play your part?

The Essington Institute has not yet publicly launched. If you want to be directly involved as an advisor or board member, join us. If you want to be better prepared for the future and receive our free resources as soon as they're available, register your interest.

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Making Australia ready, come crisis or conflict.