With over 96 years of experience in developing Australian Standards and a longstanding commitment to and involvement in International Standards, Standards Australia continues to lead from the front.
Standards Australia has a long history of contributing to international security standards and its representatives at international meetings are well-respected industry experts. Having such a strong voice on the international committee is vital to ensure Australia’s concerns are addressed and international security standards are developed with benefit to Australia.
The international committee, ISO TC 292 Security and Resilience, completed a week of meetings in Sydney in March 2018. These meetings were attended by 130 security experts from more than 20 countries contributing to the ongoing international effort towards security standards.
The purpose of the meetings was to work towards standards that enhance and sustain a state free from danger or threat, and for its citizens to feel safe, stable and free of fear and anxiety. The meetings proved particularly timely for Australia, with developments coming at a time when government and the private sector are working towards enhanced security and resilience across a number of focus points.
Key discussions at the meetings covered continuity and organisational resilience, protective securities architecture and framework, interoperability, emergency management (social media in the emergency framework), community resilience, security terminology and fraud risk and counter measures.
One outcome of the March meeting was the formation of a project team to study the terms ‘security’ and ‘resilience’. Two Australian industry professionals will lead this work, building on their initial research and presentation of a draft whitepaper. The document will be presented at the next plenary meeting in Norway in late 2018 and will assist in defining and contextualising these terms in all ISO TC 292 documents. This group will also work with the UN Cooperation Group to refine ‘urban resilience’.
Another outcome from the meetings was the appointment of an Australian delegate as co-convenor for the Justification Study on ISO 28000. This group of standards addresses security management for supply chains that impact on organisations of all types and sizes.
The international meeting, with all of its significance globally and domestically, follows the same principle as
any other venture of Standards Australia; there must be a benefit to Australian communities. The increased
capacity for organisations and the government to manage a growing security threat is of substantial benefit to Australia.
As the visiting delegations return home and discuss what next, for Australia, the work will get underway
immediately. A forum is planned to advance security standards and help Standards Australia to understand what industry needs.
International security experts gathered in Sydney in March 2018 at a meeting of the ISO TC 292 Security and Resilience. Image: Standards Australia
For more information, visit ISO/TC 292 Online.