Aust + NZ Defence Directory 2021-22

AUSTRALIAN + NEW ZEALAND DEFENCE DIRECTORY 2021/22 INDUSTRY GROUPS, ASSOCIATIONS & GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS THE NATION BUILD

THE DEFENCE SECTOR HAS EMERGED AS ONE OF THE MAIN PILLARS OF AUSTRALIA’S ECONOMIC REVIVAL T he defence sector has emerged as one of the main pillars of Australia’s economic revival after the hits suffered by the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Defence plans to start spending $270 billion over the next decade on new capability for the Australian Defence Force (ADF). It wants to see the emergence of a robust, sustainable and in- novative domestic industry sector that can support the ADF into the future. It wants to increase Australia’s defence exports and commercialise more of the Intellectual Property (IP) developed here in Australia. That’s our takeaway at Australian Defence Alliance Victoria (ADA-Vic) from three key documents published since mid-2020: the Defence Strategic Update, which sets out the new realities driving these policy changes; the Force Structure Review – essentially an update of the 2016 Defence In- tegrated Investment Program, which sets out the projects and the spending plans that will achieve Defence’s goal; and “More, Together”, the Defence Science and Technology Strategy 2030, which explain why technology is so important to Defence and why Defence is investing in what it calls a national Defence S&T enterprise that embraces the R&D resources of every public university in the country. Importantly, the aims of the Australian government’s defence industry policy haven’t changed since the release of the February 2016 Defence White Paper. The Minister for Defence Industry, The Hon Melissa Price MP, is a champion for Australia’s defence industry, and especially its Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

Sean Farrell CEO Australian Defence Alliance - Vic

This is the business environment in which ADA-Vic operates. We represent more than 700 agile, highly skilled companies, most of them SMEs, who want to do business in the defence sector. Some of them work directly for Defence, the majority are part of the growing network of supply chains supporting the industry , prime contractors who deliver much of the ADF’s equipment, sustainment activities and other services. In 2020, according to Australian Defence Magazine, Australia’s Top 20 SMEs alone turned over a combined $1.12 billion; defence SMEs as a whole are estimated to turn over approximately $2 billion a year. The market demand is massive, and therefore so is the need for Australian companies to understand the opportunities, and what it takes to exploit them. Spoiler alert: technology isn’t enough - robust supply chains are built by good businesses. ADA-Vic enables Victorian SMEs by providing regular industry updates including Federal and State grant and loan information which helps SMEs achieve that. The COVID-19 pandemic brutally exposed the fragility of many global supply chains, so defence industry policy increasingly emphasises sover- eignty. ADA-Vic helps facilitate this through its messaging process targeted on Defence, the primes, potential export customers and State and Federal government, demonstrating that Victoria’s technology-rich SMEs can do the job as reliably, competitively and at the same level of risk as their overseas competitors. Sovereignty also enables exports – you can’t sell what you don’t build. So ADA-Vic works with the Defence Export Office and Defence’s Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG) to help its members identify and pursue international opportunities. When ADA-Vic speaks for the SMEs our voice is heard. With our unique access, we provide industry insights direct to the Primes, Defence and government officials and their Ministers in Melbourne and Canberra (often one-on-one) sharing their insights with our members. We run regular, focussed industry briefings on specific projects and topics and publish regular e-News updates. And our advocacy on behalf of the SMEs is effective: during the pandemic we have helped ensure that Defence pays its invoices – 70% of which are submitted by SMEs - within less than 12 days. Cash and time-poor SMEs haven’t got the resources to do all this: to travel domestically and internationally, gather project intelligence, identify potential customers and industry partners and then understand whom to pitch to. ADA-Vic helps bridge that gap as well as advising on things like exports and security clearances, accreditations and regulations and even on preparing tenders. We can do all this because we’ve accumulated the in-depth defence market knowledge. So, from sharing the latest information on projects, events and policies to helping members build the right network of contacts within the eco-system, everything we do is focussed on supporting members to gain better access to opportunities. ADA-Vic is a Not-for-Profit organisation, focused on enabling members do better business in Defence: we will advocate for and work with you to see that $2 billion figure grow.

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