Energy security is about Australia’s ability to meet the energy needs of the Australian community—both in the short and long term.
Improving Australia’s energy security is important to minimise blackouts, brownouts and shortages of liquid fuels (petrol, diesel and jet fuel) or gas which cause significant disruption. Activities to support better energy security include minimising and managing energy supply shortages and protecting Australia from loss of critical energy infrastructure (such as power stations and oil refineries).
In the Australian policy context, energy security is defined as the adequate, reliable and competitive supply of energy across the electricity, gas and liquid fuel sectors—where:
- adequacy is the provision of sufficient energy to support economic and social activity
- reliability is the provision of energy with minimal disruptions to supply
- competitiveness is the provision of energy at an affordable price
Who is responsible for energy security?
The adequate, reliable and competitive provision of energy is a shared responsibility between governments, market institutions and energy businesses. The Australian Government has established strong government-business partnerships across the country to address energy security challenges.
The Department of the Environment and Energy supports the security of domestic and international supply chains for electricity, gas and liquid fuel through these core activities:
- Energy security assessments
- Energy emergency management forums
- Energy infrastructure resilience
- International engagement on global energy supply