Grace Corcoran is a Research Fellow and Senior Policy and Projects Manager in the Security and Geopolitics team at the Australia India Institute, where she focuses on Australian foreign and defence policy in the Indian Ocean. Her work increasingly focuses on the strategic dynamics of the Bay of Bengal, including Bangladesh’s evolving regional role, India-Bangladesh relations, maritime security and the implications of intensifying geopolitical competition for the wider Indian Ocean.
Grace has developed a growing body of research and commentary on Indian Ocean security, published by the Lowy Institute, The Australian, ASPI, Observer Research Foundation, Pacific Forum, and 9DashLine, among others. Grace’s current research focuses on the strategic importance of subsea infrastructure. Her work examines the rapidly changing geography of submarine cable networks across the Indian Ocean and their implications for regional security, economic resilience and strategic autonomy. Her article, Rewiring the Indian Ocean: The Dynamic Geography of Submarine Cable Networks, has just been published by the Australian Journal of Maritime & Ocean Affairs.
Grace was a member of the Australian Government’s New Colombo Plan External Advisory Group in 2024, advising the Assistant Foreign Minister on youth mobility and regional education strategy. She was the first New Colombo Plan Scholar to the Federated States of Micronesia and has undertaken policy roles in Sri Lanka, the Philippines, the Maldives and Canada. In 2025, she was a finalist in Asia Society’s Melbourne Asia Game Changer Awards and was named one of Australia’s Young Women to Watch in International Affairs in 2023.
