Academic Staff
AUSTRALIAN GRADUATE SCHOOL OF POLICING AND SECURITY
Assoc. Prof. Nick O’Brien
Head of School
Assoc. Prof O’Brien brings over 3 decades of leadership in counter terrorism to his position as Head of School. Prior to his transition to academia, Assoc. Prof. O’Brien was the Counter Terrorism Liaison Officer at the British High Commission in Canberra, with a watching brief on the South-East Asia region. Before his posting to Australia he was in charge of international counter terrorism at Special Branch, New Scotland Yard including responsibility for the National Terrorist Financial Investigations Unit (NTFIU) and International Liaison.
Contact usAssoc. Prof. O’Brien’s extensive knowledge base and experience has seen him speak on counter terrorism at professional and academic conferences across Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific. In authoring G8 paper Best Practices in Dealing with Suicide Terrorism he undertook research into suicide bombing in both Israel and Sri Lanka. Nick is a visiting Fellow at the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Co-operation in Indonesia, sits on the Board of Management of the Australian Graduate School of Policing. He is on the Australian Institute of Professional Intelligence Officers (AIPIO) Journal Editorial Committee.
Assoc. Prof. O’Brien is a highly sought after speaker on counter terrorism matters, and frequently provides media commentary in regards to terrorism and policing more broadly.
Dr. Kristy Campion
Discipline Lead of Terrorism and Security Studies
Dr. Kristy Campion (BA (Hons 1 Class) PhD (JCU) is a prominent scholar in the field of terrorism studies and counter-terrorism, particularly within the Australian context. She holds a position as a Senior Lecturer and Discipline Lead of Terrorism and Security Studies at Charles Sturt University. Her academic background includes a PhD in History, and her research interests focus on the history, development, and evolution of terrorism, extremist ideologies, and political violence.
Dr. Campion's work delves into the historical trajectories of terrorist organizations, examining how these groups emerge, evolve, and operate. She is particularly noted for her expertise on right-wing extremism, left-wing extremism, jihadist terrorism, and the various socio-political factors that contribute to radicalization. Her research often incorporates a multidisciplinary approach, combining historical analysis with political science, sociology, and criminology.
Contact usIn addition to her academic pursuits, Dr. Campion is an active contributor to public discourse on terrorism and security. She frequently provides expert commentary for media outlets, sharing her insights on current terrorist threats, counter-terrorism strategies, and the implications of extremist activities. Her contributions to the field are recognized through her publications in scholarly journals, books, and her participation in conferences and seminars on terrorism and security. She also published the first , and highly endorsed, comprehensive history of terrorism in Australia.
Dr. Campion's work is instrumental in enhancing the understanding of terrorism dynamics and informing policy-making aimed at countering violent extremism. Her research not only sheds light on the historical and contemporary aspects of terrorism but also emphasizes the importance of informed and evidence-based approaches in addressing the challenges posed by terrorism and political violence.
Her current research interests include ideologies and identities in ideologically motivated extremism; strategic and tactical considerations in extremist milieus; the role and impact of extreme online communities; and emphasising western liberal democratic principles and processes in countering violent extremism and terrorism.
Cesar Alvarez
Lecturer, Terrorism Studies
Before joining Charles Sturt University, Cesar Alvarez worked for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), a Canberra-based national security and defence think-tank. During his time at ASPI, he researched Australian and Latin American organised crime links, Colombian politics, and drug trafficking. In Colombia, Cesar provided technical advice to the Terrorism Prevention Branch of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and advised the Counter-Narcotics Directorate and the Doctrine and Planning Office of the National Police of Colombia. He has worked for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism.
Since March 2017, Cesar has been a Lecturer at the Australian Graduate School of Policing and Security (AGSPS), where he teaches postgraduate courses on Terrorism Financing and Resourcing, Transnational Organized Crime, Terrorism Communications and Propaganda, and Illicit Networks. Previously, he has taught at the Colombian Police Academy, Universidad Militar Nueva Granada, Universidad Javeriana, and Universidad Sergio Arboleda in Colombia.
Contact usCesar holds a Master of Policing, Intelligence, and Counter-Terrorism, along with a Master of International Security Studies from Macquarie University. He also holds a Bachelor's Degree in Government and International Relations from Externado University in Colombia. Cesar is the co-founder and Director of the Australia-Colombia Dialogue, a public diplomacy organisation dedicated to promoting and advancing Australia-Colombia relations.
He is a frequent commentator for Australia’s SBS Radio in Spanish and writes a weekly column for Revista Alternativa in Colombia. His articles and interviews have been featured in The Australian, The Financial Review, The Canberra Times, The Outlook, The Strategist, El Tiempo, Portafolio, The ABC’s The World and The Drum, A Current Affair, 60 Minutes, Today Show, and CNN in Spanish.
His main research interests include the crime-terror nexus, mafia states, transnational organised crime, geopolitics, insurgent groups, and Australian-Latin American relations.
Dr Kiriloi Ingram
Dr Kiriloi M. Ingram is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow working in the Contemporary Threats to Australian Security (CTAS) research group. With a background in Political Science and Feminist International Relations, her broad research interests are in gender and political violence, feminist institutionalism, and analysing the gendered nature of disaster and emergency management.
She completed a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Religion at The University of Queensland, a Bachelor of International Security (First Class Honours) at the Australian National University, and she obtained her PhD in 2022 from The University of Queensland. Her thesis developed a theoretical framework for analysing gender and identity in political communications, and applied this framework qualitatively and quantitatively to Islamic State English-language propaganda. Her current research agenda applies this framework to other case studies across the ideological spectrum, including white supremacist and neo-Nazi discourses.
Contact usDr Ingram has seven years’ experience working in post-conflict States and communities that have been infiltrated by violent extremist influence, including in Indonesia, Bangladesh, and predominantly in Mindanao in the Southern Philippines. This in-country experience focuses on working with local women and female-led civil society to develop gender-sensitive approaches to counter and prevent the influence of pro-ISIS insurgent groups.
Dr Ingram has been recognised internationally for her research and practice. For example, in 2019, she was appointed as a Pacific Forum Young Leader, in 2022 she was recognised in the Top 20 Young Women to Watch in International Affairs, and in 2023 she was selected as part of the Australian Institute of International Affairs and the Japan Foundation's inaugural Indo-Pacific Cooperation Network Fellowship.
As part of the Indo-Pacific Cooperation Network Fellowship, Dr Ingram completed study tours in Japan, Australia, Fiji and Tonga and collaborated with transnational interdisciplinary scholars and practitioners to examine the politics of disaster resilience and emergency management in the Indo-Pacific. Specifically, she conducted feminist analysis of emergency management institutions in Australia and the Pacific to examine their gendered nature and gendered effects.
Dr Ingram has published extensively in Q1 and Q2 academic journals such as Terrorism and Political Violence, Journal of Deradicalisation, and Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, with international forums such as Lawfare, International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague, The Conversation, ABC News, and Australian Outlook, and she regularly presents at academic conferences and is invited to speak at industry and government events nationally and transnationally.
