Australian Veterans Linguist Association: Supporting Defence Linguists Through Service, Transition And Beyond
Key points : The Australian Veterans Linguist Association (AVLA) has been established for current and former Defence linguists, providing advocacy, career support, community building, professional development, knowledge preservation, cultural development and industry integration. It will focus on practical initiatives such as mentoring, networking events, training programmes, civilian accreditation guidance, recognition activities, a knowledge repository and […]
Western Australia’s Defence Decade: From Promise To Delivery
Key points : The 2026 National Defence Strategy and Integrated Investment Program deepen Commonwealth commitment to Western Australia WA’s Indian Ocean gateway position and Fleet Base West make it central to Australia’s maritime defence Henderson Precinct, HMAS Stirling’s AUKUS submarine rotation and Army programmes form a long-term shipbuilding pipeline. On-schedule delivery, workforce investment and close […]
Defence Sometimes Does Smart Things
Key Points: Defence has been working on Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) for longer than it admits. While lessons from Ukraine and the Middle east are useful, Australia represents a very different geographic context – so those lessons must be applied carefully. Asymmetric advantage, speed to market and a minimum viable capability are now vital. Australia […]
Bridging The Indian Ocean And ASEAN: Dynamics Of Sri Lanka-Indonesia Relations
Key Points: The Sri Lanka-Indonesia relationship continues to value non-alignment, sovereignty and multilateral engagement in an environment of intense geopolitical rivalry. Underpinned by historical and strategic commonalities, both Sri Lanka and Indonesia seek to form closer diplomatic, economic and security links. Indonesia’s support for Sri Lanka is framed within its longstanding ‘free and active’ foreign […]
Protecting Australian Defence Industry from Espionage
Key Points: Western Australia’s defence industry is being targeted for espionage by foreign intelligence services. In 2023-24, foreign espionage cost the Australian economy at least $12.5bn. ASIO urges WA defence industry organisations and businesses to develop strong security practices and report suspicious approaches. Foreign intelligence services are aggressively targeting the Western Australian defence industry, according […]
Geo-political Competition And The New Space Race: What The Establishment Of The US Space Force Means For Australia
Key Points: Space is now considered a strategic theatre of warfare and space superiority is now arguably more important than air superiority. Space is an increasingly contested domain as adversary powers look to challenge and displace the western alliance’s longstanding dominance. The establishment of the US Space Force is a historically pivotal development that has […]
How Climate Change And Security In The Indian Ocean Region May Impact On Australia
Key Points: The Indian Ocean is being altered by a warming climate with profound influences on its marine anatomy and its links to weather, with those influences reaching far and wide into the African, greater Asian and Indo-Pacific regions. The region’s geo-politics and security will come under increasing pressure as changing ocean and related weather […]
The Defence Sector And Regional Australia: Prospects For Economic Development
Key Points: Regional Australia has the potential to increase its participation and footprint with Defence by harnessing its talent and niche capabilities to value-add to Australian defence industry and national security. Defence bases are the focal point of the community in many regional locations, and play a key role in providing direct employment and procurement […]
Australia-Poland Relations: Prospects For Defence Industry Cooperation
Key points: Poland is currently undergoing a USD$133bn military modernisation plan, as it seeks to update Communist-era military equipment in view of a deteriorating regional security situation. The eastern European country has a medium-sized defence industry in comparison to other countries in Europe with a well-regarded reputation in the land systems, electronics and radar, helicopters […]
Deeper Cooperation: New Era Heralds Australia-India Strategic Ties
Key Points: In the modern context, Australia and India can trace historical ties to around the advent of the British Empire on the Indian subcontinent. Since then bilateral ties have grown markedly, particularly in the 21stcentury, as India moved to liberalise its economy to encourage foreign investment. In recent years the increased prevalence of hostile […]