Michael Outram APM

Michael Outram is a strategic adviser working at the intersection of national security, economic security, critical infrastructure and international trade. He brings more than four decades of operational and executive experience, from the beat in London to the leadership of Australia's border.

From 2018 to 2024 he was Commissioner of the Australian Border Force and Comptroller-General of Customs, having served as Acting Commissioner from 2017 and Deputy Commissioner from the ABF's creation in 2015. He was responsible for 33,000 kilometres of coastline, a maritime domain of 8.2 million square kilometres, and a border crossed each year by tens of millions of travellers, more than a billion cargo transactions and nearly a trillion dollars in two-way trade. He led a workforce of 5,500 officers and transformed the ABF's risk, data and operating model to enable intelligence-led, anticipatory responses to evolving threats.

He led the ABF through the closure and reopening of Australia's border during the COVID-19 pandemic, led the ABF's civil maritime security and detention operations, and built the industry partnerships — in aviation, maritime, logistics and finance — on which modern border management depends. Internationally, he chaired the World Customs Organization's Asia-Pacific region, representing 33 economies, and the Border Five forum of the Five Eyes border agencies.

Before the ABF, Michael was an Assistant Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, where he led national protection operations — heads of state, ministers, diplomats and major events including the Brisbane G20 — and commanded the AFP's deployment to eastern Ukraine following the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17. Earlier he was Executive Director of Strategic Operations and Intelligence at the Australian Crime Commission and head of investigations and intelligence at the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption.

He began his career in 1980 with London's Metropolitan Police, serving for 22 years in uniform, criminal investigation, anti-corruption and the Anti-Terrorist Branch at New Scotland Yard, where he was among the first responders to the 1992 Baltic Exchange bombing.

Michael is a Distinguished Advisor at the ANU National Security College and author of the College's Occasional Paper Beyond the Checkpoint: Managing Australia's Border as a Strategic Economic and National Security Asset (2026). He holds a Master of Business and Technology from UNSW, is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and completed Leadership in Crises at the Harvard Kennedy School as a Sir James Wolfensohn Scholar. He was awarded the Australian Police Medal.

He lives in Canberra.