ABSTRACT

Much as the 9/11 attacks of 2001 transformed America’s approach to global terrorism, the Bali bombings of 12 October 2002 led to sweeping changes in Indonesia and Australia. Whilst nothing can fully erase the sadness and loss associated with the tragic events of twenty years ago it is important to reflect on the ways in which Indonesia and Australia have been able to work together to prevent further tragedies.

SPEAKERS

Mr Roger Noble AO DSC CSC

Mr Noble was appointed as Australia’s Ambassador for Counter-Terrorism on 18 February 2021. As Ambassador Roger is responsible for leading Australia’s international engagement on counter-terrorism and represents Australia at bilateral, regional and multilateral forums. He also sits on Australian Government domestic counter-terrorism forums.

Roger has had a distinguished military career, most recently serving as a Major General and Head of Military Strategic Commitments at Australian Defence Force Headquarters. Previous senior ADF roles include Deputy Chief of Joint Operations and deployments to Iraq as Deputy Coalition Land Force Commander and to Afghanistan with the International Security Assistance Force. Major General Noble was also seconded to the United States Army – Pacific as Deputy Commanding General. He holds a Master of International Public Policy (Honours) from Johns Hopkins University, a Master of Business Administration from Deakin University, a Master of Defence Studies from the University of Canberra, and a Bachelor of Arts (Military History) from the Australian Defence Force Academy.

Dr Sylvia Laksmi

Sylvia Laksmi is an expert practitioner in the field of anti‑money‑laundering and counter‑terrorism‑financing. Since 2007, she has worked as a senior financial intelligence analyst in the Indonesian Financial Intelligence Unit in the specialised area of financial crimes intelligence investigations. Sylvia’s PhD from the Australian National University, examined Indonesian counterterrorist financing policies and their impact on terrorist operations in Southeast Asia and the Asia–Pacific. Together with her research work, Sylvia is also an established trainer who has provided training to government officers and private‑sector specialists domestically as well as at the international level. In addition to her doctorate from the ANU Sylvia holds a Bachelor of Political Sciences, which included a thesis on the Abu Sayyaf Group, from University Padjadjaran (Indonesia), and an MSc focused on terrorist financing study from the University of Indonesia.

Katja Theodorakis

Katja Theodorakis is the Head of ASPI’s Counterterrorism program. Before joining ASPI, she was Senior Program Coordinator for Research and Analysis (Foreign/Security Policy) at the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation’s Australia Office where she coordinated a portfolio spanning the fields of terrorism/extremism, European defence/security matters, cybersecurity and the wider strategic relations in the Indo-Pacific. This entailed engagement and strategic outreach to the national security community, with the aim of enhancing cooperation between Australia and Germany/Europe.

She is also a member of the Future Operations Research Group and co-founder of the associated Women In Future Operations platform at the UNSW at ADFA. Here, her focus is on insurgent/extremist propaganda and their strategic use in information operations. A key premise underpinning Katja’s research is the need to look beyond technocratic approaches to propaganda campaigns in order to capture the full breadth of extremism, including cognitive and affective factors. Katja has lived in the Middle East, where she was engaged in educational projects and NGO work in Syria during the early years of Bashar al-Assad’s presidency. She holds a First-Class Honours degree in International Development from the Australian National University and was recipient of several scholarships including an Australian Government Research Training PhD Scholarship.

Professor Greg Barton

Prof Greg Barton is Research Professor at ADI. Greg is a regular media commentator on matters of national security and international affairs.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

Please arrive by 5:30pm, where light refreshments will be provided, for a 6pm start.

Please register via Eventbrite.

This event is open to the public and taking place in-person at Deakin Downtown. If you are unable to make it in-person, please join us via Zoom.