Dr. Ross Babbage served for 16 years in the Australian Public Service holding several senior positions, including Head of Strategic Analysis in the Office of National Assessments, and leading the branches in the Department of Defence responsible for ANZUS Policy and Force Development. He also worked as a special advisor to the Minister for Defence during the preparation of the 2009 Australian defence white paper.
Through the 1990s, Ross Babbage was a member of the team that reformed the Office of Defence Production with its loss-making, government-owned defence factories. What emerged was a modern, profitable corporation known as ADI Limited that grew to become Australia’s largest defence company.
Dr Babbage has served on the Council of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London and during 2003-2004 was Head of the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University.
His publications include A Coast Too Long: Defending Australia Beyond the 1990s (Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1990), Australia’s Strategic Edge in 2030 (Kokoda Foundation, Canberra, February 2011), Game Plan: The Case for a New Australian Grand Strategy (Menzies Research Centre, Canberra, 2015) and Countering China’s Adventurism in the South China Sea: Strategy Options for the Trump Administration (CSBA, 2016).
Dr. Babbage was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2011.
Education
B.A. and M.A. in Economics
University of Sydney
Ph.D. in International Relations
Australian National University