Australian Strategic Policy Institute

ASPI was first established in 2001 under Prime Minister John Howard to provide "policy-relevant research and analysis to better inform Government decisions and public understanding of strategic and defence issues".[3] ASPI was officially launched at ANZAC Hall at the Australian War Memorial on 13 March 2002[4] by then Australian Minister for Defence, Sen the Hon Robert Hill.

ASPI's inaugural director was Hugh White, who served as director from 2001 to 2004. White was Deputy Secretary for Strategy and Intelligence at the Australian Department of Defence between 1995 and 2000, and previously worked for the Office of National Assessments and as an adviser to Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Defence Minister Kim Beazley. White is Emeritus Professor of Strategic Studies at the Australian National University.

White was succeeded by Major General (retired) Peter Abigail in April 2005. Abigail is a former senior Australian Army officer whose positions included Deputy Chief of Army (1998–2000) and Land Commander Australia (2000–02). Abigail served as Executive Director of ASPI until 2012.

In February 2012, the Minister for Defence Stephen Smith announced the appointment of Peter Jennings PSM as ASPI's new Executive Director.[5] Jennings assumed the role of Executive Director in May 2012. Jennings "has worked at senior levels in the Australian Public Service on defence and national security. Career highlights include being Deputy Secretary for Strategy in the Defence Department (2009-12); Chief of Staff to the Minister for Defence (1996-98) and Senior Advisor for Strategic Policy to the Prime Minister (2002-03)".[6]

ASPI was established by the Australian Government in 2001 as a company limited by guarantee under the 2001 Corporations Act.[7] ASPI receives partial funding from the Department of Defence "with other sources of revenue including sponsorship, commissioned tasks, a membership scheme, sale of publications, advertising and event registration fees".[8]

The share of ASPI's funding provided by the Department of Defence decreased from 100 per cent in the 2000-01 financial year to 43 per cent in the 2018-19 financial year. Other government entities are the next-largest source of funding, and it receives funding from a large number of private companies for specific areas of analysis or individual reports. ASPI also accepts sponsorship from companies. ASPI's 2018-19 annual report stated that it received some funding from the Embassy of Japan and Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Australia, as well as from state governments and defence companies, such as Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman, Thales Group, and Raytheon Technologies.[9][2]

It is also funded by the Australian and foreign governments such as the United States State Department as well as by military contractors.[10][2]

ASPI regularly publishes a range of different publications. ASPI currently publishes three different kinds of reports:

• Strategies
• Strategic Insights
• Special Report

ASPI also publishes The Strategist, a daily analysis and commentary site. The Strategist aims to "provide fresh ideas on Australia's critical defence and strategic policy choices as well as encourage and facilitate discussion and debate among the strategy community and Australian public".[11]

ASPI has been described as one Australia's most influential national security policy think tanks.[12] Its work has been described as impressive by the Australian Financial Review[2] and groundbreaking by the Australian National Review.[13]

The institute has drawn praise and criticism from serving and former Australian politicians. In February 2020, the ASPI was criticised by Senator Kim Carr for taking funding from the United States Department of State to track Chinese research collaborations with Australian universities. Former foreign minister Bob Carr said it had a "one-sided, pro-American view of the world".[2] It also said that the institute had many supporters in the Australian parliament.[2] ASPI responded by saying that it "doesn’t have an editorial line on China, but we have a very clear method for how we go about our research".[14][15]

In October 2018, the Australian Digital Transformation Agency criticised an ASPI report on the Australian Government's digital identity program. The Agency stated that the report "was inaccurate and contained many factual errors", which "demonstrate a clear misunderstanding of how the digital identity system is intended to work".[12] The author of the report responded to the criticism, saying his concerns were acknowledged in private despite being publicly rejected by the agency.[16]

In June 2020, the ASPI was criticised by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian for claiming that the Chinese government was behind a spike in cyber attacks against the Australian government and Australian businesses.[17] In response, ASPI executive director Peter Jennings said the ministry's comments were an attempt to distract attention from the think tank's research into the Chinese Government.[17] This followed Australia's PM informing the public that a cyber actor was currently carrying out a sophisticated cyberattack against Australian government bodies and private companies. His comments were believed to be a warning to China.[18][19] In November 2020, the Chinese government blamed Australia for funding "anti-China" research through the ASPI's work.[20]

• Official website