diff --git a/.changeset/proud-toys-return.md b/.changeset/proud-toys-return.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c2a713a5c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/proud-toys-return.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/catalog-model': patch
+---
+
+Introduced DefaultParentEntityPolicy to set a default group entity parent.
diff --git a/packages/catalog-model/api-report.md b/packages/catalog-model/api-report.md
index 3eeb054174..eb8bf9af93 100644
--- a/packages/catalog-model/api-report.md
+++ b/packages/catalog-model/api-report.md
@@ -108,6 +108,13 @@ export class DefaultNamespaceEntityPolicy implements EntityPolicy {
   enforce(entity: Entity): Promise<Entity>;
 }
 
+// @public
+export class DefaultParentEntityPolicy implements EntityPolicy {
+  constructor(parent: string);
+  // (undocumented)
+  enforce(entity: Entity): Promise<Entity>;
+}
+
 // @public
 interface DomainEntityV1alpha1 extends Entity {
   // (undocumented)
diff --git a/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/policies/DefaultParentEntityPolicy.test.ts b/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/policies/DefaultParentEntityPolicy.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..de7c332d17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/policies/DefaultParentEntityPolicy.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2022 The Backstage Authors
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+import { UserEntity, GroupEntity } from '../../kinds';
+import { DefaultParentEntityPolicy } from './DefaultParentEntityPolicy';
+
+describe('DefaultParentEntityPolicy', () => {
+  it('should ignore non-group entities', async () => {
+    const p = new DefaultParentEntityPolicy('name');
+    const u: UserEntity = {
+      apiVersion: 'backstage.io/v1alpha1',
+      kind: 'User',
+      metadata: { name: 'n' },
+      spec: { profile: {}, memberOf: ['c'] },
+    };
+    const result = await p.enforce(u);
+    expect(result).toEqual({
+      apiVersion: 'backstage.io/v1alpha1',
+      kind: 'User',
+      metadata: { name: 'n' },
+      spec: { profile: {}, memberOf: ['c'] },
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('should parent group entities', async () => {
+    const p = new DefaultParentEntityPolicy('name');
+    const g: GroupEntity = {
+      apiVersion: 'backstage.io/v1alpha1',
+      kind: 'Group',
+      metadata: { name: 'n' },
+      spec: { type: 'foo', children: [] },
+    };
+    const result = await p.enforce(g);
+    expect(result).toEqual({
+      apiVersion: 'backstage.io/v1alpha1',
+      kind: 'Group',
+      metadata: { name: 'n' },
+      spec: { type: 'foo', parent: 'group:default/name', children: [] },
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('should not replace existing parents', async () => {
+    const p = new DefaultParentEntityPolicy('namespace/name');
+    const g: GroupEntity = {
+      apiVersion: 'backstage.io/v1alpha1',
+      kind: 'Group',
+      metadata: { name: 'n' },
+      spec: { type: 'foo', parent: 'group:something/else', children: [] },
+    };
+    const result = await p.enforce(g);
+    expect(result).toEqual({
+      apiVersion: 'backstage.io/v1alpha1',
+      kind: 'Group',
+      metadata: { name: 'n' },
+      spec: { type: 'foo', parent: 'group:something/else', children: [] },
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/policies/DefaultParentEntityPolicy.ts b/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/policies/DefaultParentEntityPolicy.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b5a001b1f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/policies/DefaultParentEntityPolicy.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2022 The Backstage Authors
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+import { Entity } from '../Entity';
+import { GroupEntity } from '../../kinds';
+import { EntityPolicy } from './types';
+import { DEFAULT_NAMESPACE } from '../constants';
+import { parseEntityRef, stringifyEntityRef } from '../ref';
+
+/**
+ * DefaultParentPolicy is an EntityPolicy that updates group entities
+ * with a parent of last resort. This ensures that, while we preserve
+ * any existing group hierarchies, we can guarantee that there is a
+ * single global root of the group hierarchy.
+ *
+ * @public
+ */
+export class DefaultParentEntityPolicy implements EntityPolicy {
+  private readonly parentRef: string;
+
+  constructor(parentEntityRef: string) {
+    const { kind, namespace, name } = parseEntityRef(parentEntityRef, {
+      defaultKind: 'Group',
+      defaultNamespace: DEFAULT_NAMESPACE,
+    });
+
+    if (kind.toLocaleUpperCase('en-US') !== 'GROUP') {
+      throw new TypeError('group parent must be a group');
+    }
+
+    this.parentRef = stringifyEntityRef({
+      kind: kind,
+      namespace: namespace,
+      name: name,
+    });
+  }
+
+  async enforce(entity: Entity): Promise<Entity> {
+    if (entity.kind !== 'Group') {
+      return entity;
+    }
+
+    const group = entity as GroupEntity;
+    if (group.spec.parent) {
+      return group;
+    }
+
+    // Avoid making the parent entity it's own parent.
+    if (stringifyEntityRef(group) !== this.parentRef) {
+      group.spec.parent = this.parentRef;
+    }
+
+    return group;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/policies/index.ts b/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/policies/index.ts
index ae14007d80..c35a214727 100644
--- a/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/policies/index.ts
+++ b/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/policies/index.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
  */
 
 export { DefaultNamespaceEntityPolicy } from './DefaultNamespaceEntityPolicy';
+export { DefaultParentEntityPolicy } from './DefaultParentEntityPolicy';
 export { FieldFormatEntityPolicy } from './FieldFormatEntityPolicy';
 export { NoForeignRootFieldsEntityPolicy } from './NoForeignRootFieldsEntityPolicy';
 export { SchemaValidEntityPolicy } from './SchemaValidEntityPolicy';