China's expanding influence in the Indo-Pacific has prompted an urgent warning for Australia to remain laser focused on international relations.
Defence, development and diplomacy experts urged the federal government to avoid spiralling into "foreign policy autopilot".
Foreign Minister Penny Wong and her opposition counterpart Simon Birmingham helped launch the Asia-Pacific report at Parliament House in Canberra.
Its authors suggested a "whole of nation" approach was needed, rather than relying entirely on the defence and foreign affairs departments.
"A new breadth of actors and resources and a new depth of coordination and coherence must be injected into Australia's international and security policy," they said.
The report also reiterated the threat posed by climate change.
In a thinly veiled reference to China, Senator Wong said there were nations intent on escalating competition for power and rewriting the international rules.
"We need to coordinate our strengths ... it starts with who we are as a country," she said on Thursday.
"It requires an unprecedented level of both investment but also coordination to give full effect."
Researcher Melissa Conley Tyler said a coordinated approach similar to what was deployed during the COVID-19 pandemic was needed for global affairs.
"If Australia wants to have an impact on any of the international problems that it cares about, doing it just with government resources and ignoring all of the actors outside government just won't do it," she said.
"A business-as-usual approach to Australia's engagement with the world doesn't cut it.
"A whole-of-nation approach isn't simple. It requires new ways of doing things and additional resources. But in a difficult world, Australia may have no choice."
