Ashley Townshend

Ashley Townshend currently serves as the Assistant Secretary for National Security and Resilience at Defence Australia, a position held since November 2023. Previously, Townshend was a Senior Fellow for Indo-Pacific Security at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and also held various roles at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, including Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Director of Foreign Policy and Defence, and Lecturer in International Relations. Additional experience includes being a Visiting Fellow at the Australian Defence College and Fudan University, as well as instructing at the Warrior-Scholar Project and consulting for the Lowy Institute. Townshend’s educational background includes a Master’s Degree in Modern Chinese Studies from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor's Degree in Government and International Relations from the University of Sydney, paired with a Diploma in International Affairs from Sciences Po and ongoing studies in an Intensive Chinese Language Program at Peking University.