Social licence for national security: what’s the mandate? 

What is social licence a licence for? What are the public signing up to? 

How do other nations restructure the national security discussion to involve people, rather than just informing them? 

As a diverse and multicultural nation, how can we use technology to broaden public consultation?  

In this episode, James Brown, Dai Le, Christian Fjäder, Lisa Singh, and James Mortensen join Duncan Lewis to discuss the role of social licence, how it is generated, and how much licence is enough. They explore lessons from comparable liberal democracies and Australia's own history in achieving lasting policy support. 

James Brown is the Chairman of Invictus Australia.   

Dai Le MP is the independent Federal Member for Fowler. 

Dr Christian Fjäder is the CEO of Geostrategic Intelligence Group. 

The Hon Lisa Singh is the CEO of the Australia India Institute. 

Dr James Mortensen is a Lecturer and the HDR Program Coordinator at the ANU National Security College (NSC). 

Professor Duncan Lewis AO DSC CSC is a Professor in the Practice of National Security at NSC. 

Note: This episode was recorded during NSC’s Securing our Future conference, 9-10 April 2024.   

Show notes:   

• Full version with Q&A – Social licence for national security: what’s the mandate? 
• ANU National Security College academic programs: find out more 

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