I've written a piece for @insidestorymag suggesting Australia authorise a "red team" for #Covid_19. Below I explain why I think this (or something similar) needs to be done insidestory.org.au/we-need-a-red-… #auspol @CentrePolicyDev
Pandemic or #coronavirus were not new words when this crisis started. See, for example, @PeterDutton_MP's foreword in Australia's management plan for pandemic influenza last year, when he acknowledged pandemics were inevitable and could cause high levels of death and disease 
Or this passage from Senate Estimates in June 2013, featuring the then Chief Medical Officer and the Secretary of Health, in which the "novel coronavirus" is described as "very interesting" and "very scary". Note the conversation about the state of the medical stockpile
Two months ago the @wef's Global Risks Report said "no country is fully prepared to handle an epidemic or pandemic", citing a first-of-its-kind global assessment by @NTI_WMD and @JohnsHopkins completed last October
How did Australia go in the assessment? Pretty well, actually. We ranked 4/195 countries. But buried in the data is a reason why we may have been slow off the mark in our #Covid_19 response. We scored zero in the “rapid response” category for “exercising response plans”
Australia scored zero because we had not completed a biological threat-focused international health regulations exercise with @WHO in the past year. There was no evidence, over the same period, that we had undergone a simulation exercise to identify gaps and best practices
Put simply, Australia looked good on paper but we hadn’t been practising. We had a 232-page guide, but no apparent worked experience. Our lack of preparedness needs to be recognised. We can shift, but it requires a change of thinking and tapping a wider circle of experts
Prime Minister @ScottMorrisonMP has rightly convened a "wartime" cabinet. A formal "red team" process is another tactic we can borrow from the military to manage and get ahead of this crisis. @DefenceHQ in the UK has a nice guide on how it can be done assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…
Similarly, @ASPI_org explains how a red team process can shine light on the effectiveness of the official strategy, enlisting “stakeholders from across government and external organisations, whether corporate or non-government” aspi.org.au/pd/red-teaming
Many know this process as war gaming. It has been replicated across sport, politics and business. You may not need a certain play, but it’s in your toolbox and has been tested, like the match turning 'Wasp' play Patrick Mahomes called in #SuperBowlLIV sbnation.com/nfl/2020/2/6/2…
The Federal Parliament may not sit until August. In such circumstances, it is entirely appropriate for the Prime Minister to bring the Opposition Leader (and potentially the Shadow Treasurer and Shadow Health Minister) into the National Cabinet. National unity is critical.
Another no regrets decision is to authorise a #COVID19au red team. This is no drill. We need the best playbook to defeat the pandemic and to test it fast. We need a group governments authorise to shine light on official plans, to challenge, stretch and improve them – in real time
Apart from a license to test official thinking, the #redteam might be given specific tasks, like how to get faster support to our most vulnerable, how to train and deploy surge workforces in health and essential services, or how to restart industries sector by sector
Great Australians have served in government, health, the military, industry, business, unions and the community. Now is the time to ask a select group to red team our leaders and help their decision making during our most complex crisis in generations insidestory.org.au/we-need-a-red-…
Interesting observations here. Apparently no "national exercises" on pandemics since 2008 and a national stockpile run down by the efficiency dividend. "And let’s be clear: it is our frontline healthcare workers who will bear the brunt of failed policy" smh.com.au/national/i-hel…
Now a clear timeline on previous national exercises abc.net.au/news/2020-04-2…
"So the aged-care sector is one where we're doing a lot of planning." The Chief Medical Officer in Estimates on 4 March (pp. 12-13) parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/downl…
And here was the Commonwealth Minister for Aged Care on 27 February...
