• A new book edited by a Charles Sturt University security expert explores the challenges for national security agencies to be more effective in future health and biosecurity risks and pandemics
• It investigates what roles the ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence communities and other key stakeholders played in managing the COVID-19 pandemic
• The book offers the first post-COVID-19 cross-comparative analysis of what intelligence agencies need to do as threats become increasingly complex

A new book edited by a Charles Sturt University security academic explores the role Australia and its closest allies - the UK, USA, Canada and NZ national security and intelligence agencies played in managing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Professor Patrick Walsh (pictured inset, above) in the Charles Sturt Australian Graduate School of Policing and Security (AGSPS) has edited Health Security Intelligence: Managing Emerging Threats and Risks in a Post-COVID World (published by Routledge UK).

Professor Walsh said the book takes a multi-disciplinary approach to explore the role national security intelligence agencies played in supporting national governments’ responses to COVID-19.

“Spanning the ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence countries - UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand - Health Security Intelligence offers the first cross-comparative analysis of what intelligence agencies need to focus on to respond more effectively to future emerging health and biological security threats, risks and hazards post-COVID-19,” Professor Walsh said.

“It explores thematically what challenges there were for national security agencies to play more effective roles in a whole-of-government approach to the pandemic.

“More importantly, given the acceleration in biotechnology and potential associated emerging threats, risks and hazards, bioterrorism and the likelihood of another pandemic, the book asks what additional measures our national security intelligence agencies need to take to address a post-COVID world where these threats are becoming increasingly complex.”

Health Security Intelligence includes distinguished multi-disciplinary voices from the US, Canada and the UK who specialise in public health, national security, policy, machine learning and science and technology. Contributors included Charles Sturt AGSPS Professor in Philosophy Seumas Miller  who contributed a chapter about health security and ethics.

“I think the thing that most excites me about the book and this area is that we are already kicking goals in various other aspects of biosecurity, particularly through the Charles Sturt University Biosecurity Hub and the Biosecurity Training Centre, which is co-located with the  Southern NSW Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub and AgriPark,” Professor Walsh said.

“This book and the research that is being conducted by other scholars in the Charles Sturt AGSPS in the biological security and policy realm show that the University is at a great advantage to develop further a unique research agenda across the health, biology and biosecurity areas that few other Universities can.”

Health Security Intelligence addresses three principal issues:

1. It investigates what roles the ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence communities played (along with other key stakeholders, such as public health agencies) in managing the COVID-19 pandemic.

2. It assesses the challenges and lessons learnt from these intelligence communities’ engagement in managing aspects of the pandemic.

3. It explores how the ‘Five Eyes’ might play more effective roles in managing future health security threats and risks, whether those are intentional (bioterrorism and bio crimes), accidental (laboratory releases) or unintentional (pandemics) in origin.

Overall, Health Security Intelligence offers a coherent and holistic research agenda that seeks to improve understanding about the role of national security intelligence in managing health security threats and risks post-COVID-19.

The book appears in the ‘Studies in Intelligence’ series by Routlege UK, and is also available via Open Access. It will be of particular interest to students of intelligence studies, especially the Master of Intelligence Analysis, as well as health security, public health and international relations.

Some of Professor Walsh’s research in the edited volume directly informed his input into the Australian Government’s 2024 Independent Intelligence Review which he understands is currently with the government for further consideration.

Professor Walsh mentioned in his written testimony that the national security and intelligence communities needed to develop greater collection and analytical capabilities in health and biological security threats, risks and hazards.

“COVID-19 demonstrated that they all could play a more supportive role to government on these issues, particularly when another pandemic is likely at some stage and government needs to better prepare itself for emerging biotechnology threats, risks and hazards,” he said.

“The national security community understands ‘cyber’ much better than they did 20 years ago but the same cannot be said for biotechnology and dual use threats that may emanate from the legitimate and exponential growth in the biotechnology realm.”