There’s a moment in the movie Oppenheimer when the protagonist realises the true danger isn’t so much the bomb itself; it’s the atmospheric chain reaction it might unleash. That same logic applies to national safety. The spark may be a cyberattack, a flood, a pandemic or a logistics failure, but the consequences can cascade rapidly through our economy, critical infrastructure and national confidence.

That’s why Australia needs more than just a national security strategy; it needs a national safety framework—with a reinvigorated, collaborative Department of Home Affairs at its centre.

For two decades, Australia has invested heavily in its national security ecosystem. We’ve strengthened counterterrorism laws, enhanced foreign interference protections, expanded cyber capabilities and poured resources into intelligence and border control. All vital. But in doing so, we’ve allowed national safety—the equally important work of protecting Australians and the systems they depend on from harm and disruption—to drift.

Intelligence agencies are sometimes criticised for over-securitising every challenge. While this assertion may be inaccurate, it reinforces the need for a broader concept of national safety that integrates economic, societal and technological resilience alongside traditional security to reflect the complex realities confronting states.

National security and national safety are not the same. Security is about shielding sovereignty, institutions and strategic interests from hostile threats. Safety is about keeping people, communities and critical infrastructure functioning and protected, regardless of whether the threat is natural, accidental or deliberate. If national security is about stopping the bomb, national safety is about ensuring the fallout doesn’t cripple our ability to recover.

This is the space where Home Affairs can collaborate and convene. And it already does so. In recent years, Home Affairs has begun shifting its posture, recognising that it has a dual mission: to prevent harm and to enable national productivity, including through immigration and skilled migration. Its work in strengthening supply chains, safeguarding infrastructure and embedding resilience across sectors isn’t just about defence; it’s about economic continuity and national prosperity.

This is a quiet revolution, and it deserves more attention. The Australian economy is no longer isolated from the country’s risk environment. From supermarket shelves emptied by floods to port closures driven by ransomware attacks, every facet of our economic machinery is now exposed to disruption. The faster and more integrated the system, the more vulnerable it becomes to sudden shocks.

A secure, resilient, and future-ready economy needs a Home Affairs with three key ingredients: a clear mandate, trusted leadership and sustained investment.

First, purpose. The department needs to lead through collaboration and should be empowered to do so. That means guiding and working with stakeholders (private, public and non-profit) on national disaster resilience, critical infrastructure protection, cyber security for small and medium-sized enterprises, and preparedness planning for climate and health shocks. It also means recognising that Home Affairs needs to be engaged how we enable productivity because a safe, reliable economy is a competitive one.

Second, leadership. Australia needs a Home Affairs executive that is respected across government, industry and the states. It must be seen as a convenor, not a competitor, a trusted broker that brings the right people together across jurisdictions and sectors to solve hard problems. This isn’t about command-and-control; it’s about intelligent influence and capability integration.

Third, money. National safety doesn’t come free. The cost of disaster recovery in Australia is ballooning, while the investment in prevention and preparedness remains marginal. This is economically unsustainable. Every dollar spent on early warning systems, secure-by-design infrastructure and resilience training pays dividends in avoided disruption, reduced recovery time and investor confidence.

Encouragingly, Home Affairs has begun laying the groundwork. Its engagement with the private sector has improved. Its work on critical infrastructure and cyber regulation is helping lift national baselines. And its focus on resilience as a driver of economic performance, not just risk mitigation, is a crucial narrative shift.

But there is more to be done. Home Affairs needs to be funded to act as an economic enabler. It should be leading the charge in de-risking our industrial base, mapping supply chain dependencies and embedding resilience in planning for energy, water and transport. It should be helping Treasury and the Department of Finance reframe risk and resilience as essential to productivity and national competitiveness.

Embedding this change requires a broader public conversation. National safety is not just the domain of emergency managers and police. It’s a whole-of-nation issue that affects GDP growth, regional development, foreign investment and social cohesion. From cyber shocks to climate events, the threats to our economy are increasingly nonlinear, and our responses need to be integrated and strategic.

We are in a new era. One where a weather event in northern Queensland can disrupt manufacturing in Victoria. Where a cyberattack on a hospital network can have national policy implications. Where a shipping lane closure can send inflation ripples through the entire economy. These are not science fiction scenarios; they are real, they are happening and they are accelerating.

Australia cannot afford to wait until the next crisis to act. We need a Home Affairs that is empowered to lead, equipped to prevent and supported to deliver. Not as a last responder, but as a central player in the protection and prosperity of our nation.

In Oppenheimer, the scientists feared they might set the atmosphere on fire. In the real world, our risks are slower and subtler, but their cascading effects are just as dangerous. The Department of Home Affairs is no longer just about national security or even immigration; it’s part of the firewall holding back those chain reactions.