Domestic engagement
The Australian Government considers critical energy infrastructure to be those physical energy facilities, energy supply chains, information technologies and communication networks that, if destroyed, degraded or rendered unavailable for an extended period, would significantly impact on energy security and energy supply, as well as the overall social and economic well-being of the nation.
The responsibility for protecting critical infrastructure is shared between critical infrastructure owners and operators and the commonwealth and state and territory governments. A key initiative in building the necessary business-government relationships is the Trusted Information Sharing Network 
for Critical Infrastructure Resilience (TISN), led by the Attorney General’s Department. The TISN provides an environment where business and government can share vital information on security issues relevant to the protection of our critical infrastructure and the continuity of essential services in the face of all hazards.
The TISN agenda is driven by critical infrastructure owners and operators from seven Sector Groups and is overseen by the Critical Infrastructure Advisory Council (CIAC).
The Department, as part of the TISN, is responsible for providing secretariat support to the Energy Sector Group (ESG), a business-government partnership which seeks to share information on hazards and vulnerabilities, and identify mitigation strategies to address them and to enhance the resilience of the sector. It also shares information with other Sector Groups, such as banking and finance and communications on the interdependencies between these sectors and the energy sector.
International collaboration
The International Electricity Infrastructure Assurance Forum (IEIAF) was established in 2004 to foster international collaboration and mutual assistance on issues related to electricity infrastructure assurance, amongst countries with common infrastructure assurance challenges. The IEIAF consists of government and electricity industry representatives from the five participating countries of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States.