Australian Embassy
The Philippines

SP141013 - Welcome Address at the Security by Design: Executive Briefing

Welcome Address by Ambassador Bill Tweddell
at the Security by Design: Executive Briefing
Australia Centre
13 October 2014

• Mr Roland Recomono, Administrator, Office for Transportation Security
• Mr Stosh Berganos, Transport Security Administration Attaché, US Embassy
• Mr Jonathan Lee, Incheon International Airport Corporation

On behalf of the Australian Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development and the Australian Embassy, I extend a warm welcome to you all and thank you for making the time to attend.

We hope that you find the discussions over the next several hours beneficial and that this forum provides you with the opportunity to strengthen our cooperation in areas of mutual interest and concern.

Over the course of today’s activity, you will be presented with an overview of the regulatory processes for the implementation of aviation security for Australia, the United States and the Philippines, which we hope will emphasise the commonality in approach regarding the application of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) conventions across our economies.

In addition, you will be honoured by the opportunity to hear from Mr Jonathan Lee, from the Incheon International Airport Corporation, who, I am informed, is a highly respected subject matter expert on aviation security, and particularly knowledgeable regarding the application of security design principles at international hub airports.

This will be particularly beneficial with the current undertaking of the Philippines to improve and upgrade several local and international airports across the country, in support of boosting the efficiency of those airports so that they can cope with the projected influx of some 10 million foreign tourists annually by 2016.

Apart from the benefits of making these airports efficient for the movement of passengers, they must also be effective in terms of providing a safe and secure environment for the travellers, well-wishers, airport employees, the service providers to the airport (taxi and buses) and the airlines that operate at the airports.

This is where the utilisation of expertise in security design, architecture and analysis provides us with the necessary guidance and advice to ensure that the airport environment has a balance of appropriate security controls that are assessed against the risks. It is important also to take into account the costs of specifying, developing, testing, implementing, using, managing, monitoring and maintaining the controls, along with the broader issues such as aesthetics, human rights, health, safety and societal norms or conventions.

Consideration of these factors, when not applied in an effective and well-planned manner, can make for a potentially frustrating experience for all stakeholders, as well as the travelling public, as they find that those security measures in place are seemingly ad hoc and unnecessarily burdensome.

The guidance offered by ICAO and other convention signatories goes a long way to providing examples and best practices to ensure that a similar and, where appropriate, consistent application of security measures can be implemented across the aviation transport network.

I wish you every success and hope that you benefit from the information provided.

I am pleased to declare the workshop forum open.