FECCA welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Defence’s (the Committee) Inquiry into national civil preparedness and resilience.
Australia’s capacity to withstand a national crisis, whether conflict, pandemic, natural hazard or a large-scale disruption to supply chains, depends on more than infrastructure and stockpiles. Trust within and between communities, and between communities and institutions, is an essential foundation for civil preparedness and resilience.
Our submission maker four central arguments:
1. Migrants are essential to national continuity. Migrant workers sustain the health, logistics, manufacturing, transport and primary industries that a whole-of-nation defence response depends on. Safeguarding their security safeguards the continuity of essential services and supply chains.
2. Preparedness and resilience must be community-led. The COVID-19 pandemic showed that trusted community organisations play a vital role in reaching multicultural communities in times of crisis. Sustained partnership with, and investment in, these organisations before a crisis occurs will provide needed civil preparedness infrastructure.
3. Social cohesion is a national security asset. Multicultural communities are disproportionately targeted by disinformation, which erodes trust and deepens division during crises. Community-led media literacy and counter-disinformation measures are core national preparedness investments.
4. Temporary visa holders should not be excluded from safety nets during national crises. Many temporary visa holders, international students, older migrants and people with disability are excluded from core Commonwealth support. Extending crisis safety nets, where appropriate, to all residents protects public health, social stability and workforce continuity.
