AUKUS Pillar 2 is coming – no time to snooze

Focused on the joint development of advanced technologies, AUKUS Pillar 2 may prove even more critical for Australia’s long-term sovereignty.

Advanced technological and workforce capabilities are crucial to safeguard Australia’s national security.

The AUKUS trilateral security partnership between Australia, the US and the UK is one of the most consequential defence commitments Australia has ever made – and not just because of nuclear submarines.

While Pillar 1, which outlines Australia’s acquisition of ­nuclear-powered submarines, has received the most attention, Pillar 2 – focused on the joint development of advanced technologies – may prove even more critical for Australia’s long-term sovereignty.

Pillar 2 commits the three nations to collaborate on key defence technologies including AI and autonomy, quantum technologies, hypersonics, counter-hypersonics, and electronic warfare. In a military context, these capabilities are as transformative today as gunpowder and muskets were in the 16th century.

For Australia, they are particularly crucial. As an island ­nation, our sovereignty is closely tied to our surrounding waters and the subsea telecommunications cables within them.

Partnering with allies to ­develop these technologies enhances national resilience – but this will mean little without strong domestic capacity to support and sustain such hi-tech ­infrastructure. We need to get both the people and the processes right.

On the people side, this means boosting our tech workforce. Encouragingly, Defence is already prioritising this: around 8 per cent of its total workforce is in tech roles – a higher proportion than in the broader economy.

However, Defence can’t do it alone. The private sector plays a vital role in supplying talent and specialised expertise, particularly in areas where Defence and ­national security agencies may lack internal resources.

This is a challenge, as Australia’s broader tech workforce is ­already under strain. The Australian Computer Society’s 2024 Digital Pulse report found we’ll need to grow the tech workforce by 52,000 people annually through to 2030 just to meet baseline industry demand.

Growing our defence tech capabilities will likely require more skilled tech workers than this, making tech skill development across the entire economy a priority for any national defence strategy.

On the processes side, we need to make sure our domestic frameworks for the use of future technology are responsible while still being compatible with the frameworks of our national ­security partners.

This consideration is most imminently relevant to AI regulations and guardrails as the technology is already being implemented at scale in defence and non-defence contexts. For example, in November 2023, the US Department of Defence’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) released the ­Responsible Artificial Intelligence (RAI) Toolkit.

Comprising about 70 open-source, industry-standard tools aimed at supporting various RAI activities, the CDAO guidelines have a strong focus on fairness, transparency and accountability.

Australia could respond by adapting our own National AI Assurance framework into a defence-version, drawing inspiration from the CDAO model, allowing for greater compatibility between US and Australian AI use in a defence context while maintaining operational integrity.

By getting both the people and processes right, Australia will be better placed to realise the full ­potential of AUKUS Pillar 2. The outcome will be a more agile, resilient nation, ready to navigate the security challenges and ­technological opportunities of the future.

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Phillip Roberts is national leader, government & public services and defence lead partner, Deloitte Australia. Ian Koegelenberg is a partner in Deloitte’s AI and data practice.