The Commonwealth government has released its 2021-22 Budget, announcing a number of measures aimed at enhancing national security, improving cyber resilience, and increasing veterans support.
The headline figure for this year is A$44.62 billion in funding for Defence and the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), a 15 per cent jump from last year’s A$38.7 billion. This puts Defence spending at 2.1 per cent of GDP.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has unveiled the Commonwealth government’s 2021-22 Budget, which includes an additional A$1.9 billion over the next decade to bolster Australia’s national security, law enforcement, and intelligence capabilities.
Of these new funds, A$1.3 billion will be provided to the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), in a bid to support its technological capabilities.
The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission will be provided with A$51.8 million to support its efforts to curb “transnational, serious and organised crime”.
The $1.9 billion investment also includesA $464.7 million to strengthen Australia’s domestic detention capabilities and a further A$38.1 million to support Indonesia with its “irregular migrant population”.
In addition to an increase in national security funding, the government will also invest $1.2 billion in the Digital Economy Strategy.
This includes over $124.1 million to improve Australia’s research and industry capability in Artificial Intelligence and the establishment of a National Artificial Intelligence Centre led by CSIRO.