This year, the stakes are higher and the numbers are bigger. Together with our experts we are deep-diving into the 2026 National Defence Strategy (NDS) and the Integrated Investment Program (IIP).
With a staggering $425 billion committed, the Government is doubling down on the foundations of the 2023 Defence Strategic Review and 2024 National Defence Strategy to ensure the ADF is not just "keeping up" but staying ahead in a global landscape that looks increasingly fractured and contested.
Why you need a seat at the table:
Australia’s defence industry is not just a support act; it is the backbone of our national resilience. If you want to know how your business fits into the most transformational period in our military history, you need to be in the room.
Australia's defence budget is now driven by the 2026 National Defence Strategy and the Integrated Investment Program, focusing on a more lethal, self-reliant force. Priority is on long-range strike, missile defence, undersea, cyber and space capabilities, shifting Defence towards deterrence and high-intensity operations.
Industry is central to building sovereign capability and strategic depth, delivering the systems, sustainment and supply chains Australia needs to operate independently. A stronger, more integrated industrial base ensures resilience, supports rapid mobilisation, and underpins long-term deterrence.
Unpack how the budget and strategy align funding with capability delivery, ensuring investment translates into real, deployable military effect for the future Australian Defence Force.
Dissect how the National Defence Strategy and Integrated Investment Program define the future force, aligning capability decisions with strategic priorities.
Readiness and modernisation are sharpening the Army's role in regional deterrence, delivering deployable, lethal and integrated land forces, now that the focus is on delivering rapid response, sustained operations, and credible combat power across the Indo-Pacific.
Speakers to be announced
Deep dive into how modern airpower and joint capabilities are converging to deliver deterrence by denial, combining strike, air defence, ISR and networked effects to control the battlespace and prevent adversary freedom of action.
Speakers to be announced
Set against global shocks such as the 2026 Iran conflict and its economic spillovers, unpack how the 2026 federal budget aligns or misaligns defence spending with readiness, resilience, and industrial capacity to sustain capability in a more contested and unstable security environment.
