CIVSEC 2018 has confirmed the event’s position as
Australia’s premier Civil Security Congress and Exposition
With more than 100 topical speakers and 55 government agencies attending, last week’s three-day CIVSEC 2018 Civil Security Congress and Exposition at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre confirmed the event as a platform for high quality interaction between law enforcement and civil security agencies and industry.
The CIVSEC 2018 conference program melded 100 international and Australian speakers, presenting the latest thinking in strategy and tactics on topics as diverse as social media, climate change, natural disasters and counter terrorism.
Conference sessions began with Defence Chief Scientist Alex Zelinsky detailing new Federal Government national security science and technology policy within hours of its release, and concluded with the inside story on security at the recent Gold Coast Commonwealth Games through the eyes of four of its senior planners.
Across the three days attendees also heard from renowned terrorism expert Professor Bruce Hoffman of Georgetown University’s Center for Security Studies , Australian Department of Home Affairs Cyber Policy Division First Assistant Secretary Gregory Miller and Professor Rory Medcalf, head of the National Security College at the Australian National University.
The conference program was complemented by an exhibition displaying an exceptional cross section of technology in support of Australia’s law enforcement, public safety and national security agencies, including law enforcement clothing, weapon systems, vehicles, personal protection equipment, forensic technology, cyber security solutions, unmanned systems, simulation and disaster response equipment.
Government security agencies were also well represented on the floor, including the Department of Defence, National Security Science And Technology Centre, Australian Border Force, Victoria Police, Australian Army UAS, CERT/Australian Cyber Security Centre and New South Wales Corrective Services. The Operations Response Unit of Victoria Police demonstrated its latest vehicles, weapons and personal protection equipment.
CIVSEC 2018 Chief Executive Ian Honnery said the event achieved its goal of building on the success of CIVSEC 2016 to establish itself as Australia’s major Civil Security congress and exposition.
“Both the conference program and industry exhibition for CIVSEC 2018 were greatly expanded over the 2016 event,” Mr Honnery said. “But the most pleasing outcomes were the positive comments from delegates and exhibiting companies, praising the quality of both the conference discussions and business leads generated on the exhibition floor.”
Key agencies and exhibitors saw the value of being at CIVSEC 2018.
“CIVSEC 2018 was an excellent opportunity for Victoria Police to demonstrate its own advancements in Public Order Policing whilst networking with colleagues from Defence, Law Enforcement, Security and Manufacturing,” said Bryn Heaphy from the Victoria Police Operations Response Unit. “The event was managed with the highest levels of organisation, communication and professionalism.”
“There was a broad range of visitors from both the civil and defence domains,” said Rob Carpenter from Bohemia Interactive Simulations. “The connections we made were valuable in terms of industry engagement.”
Thank you to the speakers, exhibitors and delegates who made
CIVSEC 2018 a success.
We look forward to welcoming you again in 2020
