We exist to further the cause of Australia's national preparedness, come crisis or conflict.
Between 2024 and 2026, the Australian National University's National Security College asked more than 20,000 Australians how ready the country is for the decade ahead. It ran through fifteen different threats, from floods and fuel shocks to cyber attacks and foreign powers. The answer was the same for every one of them. Fewer than one in five felt prepared.
People don't sort these threats by what causes them. What they worry about is the same in each case: whether the things they depend on will still be there. Supplies on the shelves. Power on. Roads open.
The Essington Institute exists to close that gap. We fix these problems not by waiting for trouble to arrive, but by building the foundation now. We work on preparedness at three levels.
The plans, stockpiles and decisions that keep a country running under pressure, and the will to make them before a crisis rather than during one.
The means to make what we need ourselves, including fuel, materials and essential goods, so the country isn't left waiting on ships that may not come.
The practical preparedness of ordinary families and communities. It is what separates a hard week from a disaster when the shelves empty.
If that work is yours, whether in government, in industry, or in the community that has to hold together when things go wrong, we'd like to hear from you.