ASIO Director-General of Security, Mike Burgess, to deliver 2025 Lowy Lecture
9 October 2025
The Lowy Institute is delighted to announce that the 2025 Lowy Lecture will be delivered by the Director-General of Security, Mike Burgess AM, the head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).
The Lowy Lecture and Dinner will be held on Tuesday 4 November 2025 at Sydney Town Hall.
This is an important year for Australia’s security. Mr Burgess will provide a timely address on threats to life and threats to Australia’s way of life, including the geopolitical factors driving them.
Mr Burgess is Australia’s 14th Director-General of Security and has led the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation since September 2019. ASIO protects Australia and Australians from threats to the country's security.
Mr Burgess has spent more than three decades as an intelligence, security and technology professional, in both the public and private sectors. Prior to joining ASIO, Mr Burgess was Director-General of the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD). Mr Burgess first joined ASD’s predecessor, the Defence Signals Directorate (DSD), as a collection engineer in 1995.
He has also held a range of senior roles, including Deputy Director for Cyber and Information Security, and Deputy Chief of Facility at the Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap, as well as Chief Information Security Officer at Telstra.
The Lowy Lecture is the Institute’s flagship event and one of the world’s leading lecture series. Past Lowy Lecturers have included leaders such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, as well as four sitting Australian prime ministers: Anthony Albanese, Scott Morrison, Malcolm Turnbull and John Howard, who delivered the inaugural Lowy Lecture in 2005.
The Lowy Institute is an independent, nonpartisan international policy think tank. The Institute provides high-quality research and distinctive perspectives on the international trends shaping Australia and the world.
The Lowy Institute is grateful for the support of our event partners: Mercer, Scentre Group and Boeing.
MEDIA CONTACT
Andew Griffits
Head of Media and Communications
media@lowyinstitute.org
