Emily is a Director in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and has worked across multiple portfolios in the criminal justice and national security policy spaces. In these roles, Emily has advised government on cross-cutting issues such as criminal intelligence, domestic violence, aviation and maritime security, and press freedom. She has also represented Australian cyber policy internationally as part of the delegation negotiating an additional protocol to the Budapest Convention on cybercrime.

Emily’s research examined the strategic function of the Neither Confirm Nor Deny principle, and how its use in the security and intelligence context has evolved in Australia. In so doing, Emily’s research advanced a conceptual understanding of the Neither Confirm Nor Deny principle to support an analysis of how official secrecy can be navigated in the contemporary security context.

Emily holds a Bachelor of Philosophy from the ANU, and was awarded First Class Honours for her research re-examining the cultural inheritance of contemporary metaphysical discourse.

Supervisor: Professor John Blaxland
 

Publications

• Hithcman E (2025) Neither Confirm Nor Deny: National Security Secrecy and Australia's Liberal Democracy, 1948-2022 [PhD Thesis], The Australian National University, Canberra.