This article is more than 1 year old

Australia commences critical infrastructure protection consultation

The plan is to build a database of 'stuff we don't want bombed'

Last month, Australia's federal government established a Critical Infrastructure Centre. Now it's decided to ask what the centre should protect.

Attorney-General George Brandis has announced a month-long consultation into the security of the country's critical infrastructure.

The statement says the consultation includes things like “how an assets register should be developed and maintained to achieve a consolidated picture of critical infrastructure ownership in high risk sectors.”

Canberra is also looking at how to work with state governments, industry, and investors, and how to “engage more closely with critical infrastructure owners, operators and regulators”.

The discussion paper is here.

The critical asset register will identify the location, ownership and management of critical assets such as electricity generation and distribution, water pipelines, telecommunications facilities and the like.

Much of this information can already be obtained by knowledgeable individuals (for example, major transmission lines are published so aeroplanes don't fly into them) and marine protection zones tell mariners where to avoid submarine cables, but the information isn't concentrated in a single data set (what could possibly go wrong?).

We don't have squirrels in Australia, but Vulture South can't help wondering if anyone will mention the blackout threat posed by cockatoos.

Submissions to the paper close on March 21. ®

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