Zonelle D’Costa

Zonelle D’Costa is an Australian national security professional with nearly 20 years of experience, specialising in assessing counter terrorism threats in the Middle East and South-East Asia. Zonelle currently leads an analytical team which provides robust forward-leaning, anticipatory threat advice that reflects the increasingly inter-connected security environment.  She is strongly committed to ensuring the Australian Government remains well apprised of possible future threats and strives to counter analytical failures of imagination.

Complementing this strategic focus, Zonelle led a program of work to deepen the intelligence community’s understanding of individual mobilisation towards violence and disengagement from extremism. These insights were used to build innovative programs to discover and detect potential threats and promote social cohesion via early intervention. With a bachelor’s degree in allied health from the University of Sydney and post-graduate qualifications in Ergonomics, Zonelle strongly advocates the value of diverse professional backgrounds and perspectives in national security.