Defence & Security Podcast Network

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  SPOTLIGHT: Building an integrated ADF through cloud and emerging technology, with Jonathon Beesley and Richard Campbell 15.09.2026 34мин

  Australia's emerging defence technology priorities will only deliver their full potential if they are integrated into a broader operational framework connecting platforms, people, data and decision making, according to Microsoft global defence and intelligence solutions manager Jonathon Beesley and Atturra defence lead Richard Campbell, chief executive officer of SME Gateway. The 2026 Defence Innovation, Science and Technology Strategy identifies long-range fires and hypersonics, high-energy lasers, autonomous systems, quantum, artificial intelligence and undersea warfare as key priorities. But translating these capabilities into an integrated force will require Defence to look beyond individual platforms and focus on the architecture connecting sensors, command nodes, decision makers and shooters. Cloud technology can provide the backbone for this integration, enabling Defence to process the growing volume, variety and velocity of data reaching commanders and personnel at the tactical edge. AI and autonomous systems can then help fuse that information and provide decision advantage, but humans must remain responsible for critical decisions. Building trust in these systems will be essential, particularly as Defence operates increasingly complex joint and coalition missions. Australia also cannot be self-reliant in every capability. Instead, it must identify where sovereign control is essential while maintaining secure interoperability with trusted allies. The experience of Ukraine has demonstrated the value of rapidly adopting and adapting technology, highlighting the importance of a defence culture capable of learning at pace. For Australia, the next advantage may therefore be a learning advantage; ensuring Defence and industry can understand, adopt and adapt emerging technologies quickly enough to meet the strategic challenges ahead. Enjoy the podcast, The Defence Connect Spotlight team
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  Australia's defence procurement is narrowing and becoming less resilient, with 127 East Advisory's Colin Storey 11.09.2026 36мин

  Australia's defence industry faces a period of growing consolidation and uncertainty, how is past procurement impacting national security of the future? Speaking with Defence Connect news editor Robert Dougherty, 127 East Advisory director Colin Storey, a former head of growth at Raytheon and Royal Australian Navy patrol boat navigator, discusses his analysis of major defence contracts awarded over the past decade and what the data reveals about Australia's defence industrial base. Storey's analysis of 373 contracts found more than 27 per cent went directly through foreign military sales, while more than half of the remaining contracts went to foreign-owned companies operating in Australia. Of the Australian-owned businesses receiving major contracts, much of the spending was concentrated in areas such as infrastructure, facilities and fuel, with Austal emerging as the only Australian-owned defence specialist among the top 20 recipients. The pair also discuss the gradual offshore consolidation of Australia's defence industry, with major international primes acquiring at least 16 Australian companies over the past four decades. Combined with the growing cost of major programs and the funding demands of AUKUS, Storey warns this approach could place further pressure on established defence companies, with some potentially reconsidering their long-term presence in Australia. The pair examine how countries including Sweden, Norway, Finland and Israel have developed successful defence companies by aligning procurement with national priorities, supporting specialised sovereign capabilities and helping domestic firms access export markets. Looking towards the next decade, Storey expects further consolidation across the Australian defence industry, alongside increased mergers and acquisitions as companies compete for a smaller number of major programs. Australia risks developing a narrower and less resilient defence industrial base unless procurement, sovereign capability and export policy are more closely aligned with the nation's long-term defence strategy, he warns. Enjoy the podcast, The Defence Connect team
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  Australia's UGV dilemma and why land autonomy remains stuck in the mud, with Stephen Bornstein 10.09.2026 34мин

  Australia's push to develop autonomous ground systems has delivered promising prototypes and live-fire demonstrations, but land-based autonomy remains outside the Australian Defence Force's current priorities. Speaking with news editor Robert Dougherty, Sightline Intelligence managing director Stephen Bornstein discusses the challenges facing Australia's emerging uncrewed ground vehicles sector and the growing importance of low-cost autonomous systems. Cyborg Dynamics Engineering's Warfighter UGV progressed from a Queensland-developed platform into a military system, including live-fire Javelin and minigun trials in 2023. However, Bornstein says industry was already aware that land autonomy was being deprioritised ahead of the Defence Strategic Review. By late 2023, Cyborg had pivoted towards firefighting and research applications, using those markets to continue developing the underlying technology. Bornstein argues that while UGVs continue to appear at exercises and innovation programs, current funding remains largely experimental rather than sufficient to deliver a major land capability. The pair also discuss Athena AI's integration into Sightline Intelligence and its subsequent acquisition by Acron Technologies; the company gained access to US opportunities that would have been difficult for an Australian-only business to pursue. Looking towards Land Forces, Bornstein expects continued growth in lower-cost, disposable and attritable UGVs, alongside AI-enabled systems incorporating computer vision, terminal guidance and aided target recognition. For Australia's defence industry, the challenge remains turning promising autonomous technologies from experimental projects into scalable, operational capabilities. Enjoy the podcast, The Defence Connect team
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  CYBER UNCUT: AI is forcing banks to rethink modernisation, with Atos' Dee Lawler and Matthew Hughes 08.09.2026 46мин

  AI is pushing financial institutions to modernise, but the answer is not to replace everything. Banks should focus on the technology, data, and processes that directly support business outcomes. AI is putting modernisation back on the executive agenda as legacy systems increasingly limit banks' ability to adopt AI, access data in real time, and respond to regulatory and resilience demands. Atos executives Dee Lawler and Matthew Hughes argue modernisation is now a business issue, not simply a technology refresh. "The objective to modernise isn't to modernise the technology or the most technology," Hughes says. "It's to modernise the technology that matters most." But banks should resist the temptation to make AI the answer to everything. Leaders should first identify the business outcome they want, then determine what is holding them back – whether that is technology, data, processes, skills, or risk. Incremental modernisation can reduce operational risk while allowing organisations to measure returns, with resilience and business continuity built into the design. The takeaway for financial services leaders is simple: modernise where technology is constraining growth, efficiency, customer experience, or resilience – not simply because AI has created a sense of urgency. Enjoy, The Cyber Uncut team
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  SPOTLIGHT: Building resilience against next-generation cyber threats, with Fortinet 08.09.2026 34мин

  Cyber threats are becoming increasingly sophisticated, AI enabled and difficult to attribute, creating growing risks for Australia's defence networks, critical infrastructure and broader economy, according to Glenn Maiden, chief security officer and director of threat intelligence for Australia and New Zealand at Fortinet. The cyber threat landscape is increasingly blurring the lines between state-sponsored actors, cyber criminals and issue-motivated groups. For Defence, cyber operations offer adversaries the ability to create significant effects without the geographical constraints, cost or attribution challenges associated with conventional weapons. The challenge for Defence and industry is therefore not simply preventing compromise but building systems that can withstand it. The message for Defence and industry is clear: cyber resilience must become an architectural priority rather than a reactive response. Strong security controls, multifactor authentication, password management, robust back-ups and resilient infrastructure can significantly reduce the impact of an inevitable attack. The next challenge will be understanding the dependencies that connect Australia's economy, critical infrastructure and defence supply chains. Even a small business supplying a seemingly insignificant component could ultimately be critical to a major power plant or defence platform. The cyber threat is real, but it is not insurmountable. With the right people, processes, technology and resilient architecture, Australia can mitigate the risks and ensure that a successful cyber intrusion does not automatically translate into a national crisis. Enjoy the podcast, The Defence Connect Spotlight team
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  CYBER UNCUT: AI is forcing banks to rethink modernisation, with Atos' Dee Lawler and Matthew Hughes 08.09.2026 46мин

  AI is pushing financial institutions to modernise, but the answer is not to replace everything. Banks should focus on the technology, data, and processes that directly support business outcomes. AI is putting modernisation back on the executive agenda as legacy systems increasingly limit banks' ability to adopt AI, access data in real time, and respond to regulatory and resilience demands. Atos executives Dee Lawler and Matthew Hughes argue modernisation is now a business issue, not simply a technology refresh. "The objective to modernise isn't to modernise the technology or the most technology," Hughes says. "It's to modernise the technology that matters most." But banks should resist the temptation to make AI the answer to everything. Leaders should first identify the business outcome they want, then determine what is holding them back – whether that is technology, data, processes, skills, or risk. Incremental modernisation can reduce operational risk while allowing organisations to measure returns, with resilience and business continuity built into the design. The takeaway for financial services leaders is simple: modernise where technology is constraining growth, efficiency, customer experience, or resilience – not simply because AI has created a sense of urgency. Enjoy, The Cyber Uncut team
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  CYBER UNCUT: Big 4 banks back local AI, NSW Health responds to hack claims, and PEXA's Graham Fairley explains property scams 07.09.2026 39мин

  Daniel Croft and David Hollingworth break down the essential AI and security news of the week, from sovereign capability to cyber crime, and fighting property scams. Hollingworth and Croft open the podcast with a breakdown of why Australian banks are standing up a new partnership program to promote the growth and adoption of local AI innovators – and explain why it's an important step in Australia's AI journey. At the same time, NSW has said it is taking steps to combat the rise of AI in classrooms by tackling the technology and its impact on the HSC. It's a good move. It's sadly been another bad week for Australian data finding its way onto the dark web via ransomware actors, with patient data once again compromised. But despite the hackers' claims that they hit NSW Health, the department has denied any such intrusion; the threat actor is definitely boasting, but the data is nonetheless real – Cyber Daily just doesn't know where it came from. And, finally, we sit down with PEXA's chief information security officer, Graham Fairley, to talk property scams: how they work, what a recent survey reveals, and how property buyers can protect themselves. Enjoy, The Cyber Uncut team
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  SPOTLIGHT: Quantum technology could reshape Australia's defence advantage, with Fujitsu Australia 04.09.2026 34мин

  Quantum technology could become a major force multiplier for Australia's future defence capabilities, according to Kendy Hau, head of defence at Fujitsu Australia, and Mahesh Krishnan, chief technology officer for Australia and New Zealand at Fujitsu Australia. Quantum technology spans three key areas: quantum sensing, quantum communications, and quantum computing, each at different stages of maturity and offering distinct opportunities for Defence. For Defence, the opportunity extends beyond quantum computing itself. Quantum-inspired technologies are already available and can help solve complex optimisation problems, while future quantum systems could work alongside high-performance computing and artificial intelligence. The combination could fundamentally accelerate military decision making by rapidly analysing multiple possible outcomes and identifying optimal solutions across sensing, targeting, and command. Australia's key challenge is treating quantum as an emerging defence capability rather than simply a research program. The nation has a strong research base and growing industrial partnerships, but the window to translate that advantage into sovereign capability is narrowing. The message for Defence and industry is clear: Australia cannot afford to wait for fault-tolerant quantum computing before acting. Quantum sensing, communications and quantum-inspired technologies provide opportunities to begin building capability now. History does not record which side had the better research program. It records which side recognised the disruptive moment and moved faster. Enjoy the podcast, The Defence Connect Spotlight team
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  Digital engineering, GWEO, and the future of guided weapons, with Australian Missile Corporation and Dassault Systèmes 03.09.2026 39мин

  How can digital engineering help Australia deliver faster, more capable, guided weapons programs? In this special episode of the Defence Connect Podcast, news editor Robert Dougherty is joined by Dan Christie, chief technology officer and CEO of Australian Missile Corporation (AMC), and Pierre Marchadier, vice president of value engagement industry consultant at Dassault Systèmes. The pair discuss AMC's new partnership with Dassault Systèmes and how model-based systems engineering (MBSE) is transforming mission engineering, systems design, and guided weapons development under the Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) enterprise. The podcast conversation includes the following topics: AMC's new digital engineering partnership with Dassault Systèmes and its role in Australia's sovereign GWEO capability. How MBSE connects mission requirements, system design, and manufacturing through a single digital model. Replacing document-based procurement with live digital models that improve collaboration between Defence and industry. Using simulation and AI to accelerate design decisions, reduce risk, and shorten development timelines. Lessons from Ukraine and the need for rapid capability iteration in modern conflict. The importance of sovereign industrial capability across the entire guided weapons life cycle, from design through to manufacture and sustainment. Finally, the discussion explores how digital engineering can help Defence make better capability, cost, and procurement decisions while strengthening Australia's sovereign defence industry. Enjoy the podcast, The Defence Connect team
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  CONTESTED GROUND: Is Australia's political discontent becoming a national security problem? 02.09.2026 32мин

  A dramatic political shift in Western Australia has put the major parties on notice and raised a much bigger question: what happens to Australia's national resilience when voters stop trusting the institutions that govern them? Hosts Phillip Tarrant and Major General (Ret'd) Dr Marcus Thompson examine the rise of populism in Australia and why growing political polarisation, cost-of-living pressures and economic frustration should be viewed through a national security lens. They unpack the erosion of trust in government and institutions, the weakening of Australia's traditional political centre and the risk that social division creates opportunities for foreign interference, information warfare and malign influence. Finally, the pair look north to the Pacific Islands Forum, currently underway, and Australia's increasingly contested strategic environment. With China seeking greater influence across the region, Taiwan remaining a flashpoint and several Pacific leaders absent from the forum, they discuss why Australia can no longer take its relationships in the Pacific for granted. Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team
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  SPOTLIGHT: The hidden defence advantage of Australia's commercial logistics network 01.09.2026 33мин

  Australia's commercial logistics network could become one of its greatest defence advantages, according to Steve Roughsedge, senior vice-president of Theatre Supply Chain within the government and defence division of Toll Group. The shift from peacetime efficiency to resilience is already reshaping how the Australian Defence Force thinks about logistics. Australia's vast distances, limited transport corridors and vulnerability to weather disruption create challenges that cannot be solved simply by adding more military infrastructure. The opportunity lies in infrastructure that already exists. Toll operates extensive transport, warehousing and distribution networks supporting Australia's resources sector, much of it across the same northern geography where Defence is strengthening its posture – from Darwin and Tindal to Curtin and Learmonth. Roughsedge describes these capabilities as "capability bricks" that can be brought together around an operational requirement. Rather than Defence recreating every logistics function itself, commercial infrastructure could be integrated into a broader theatre supply chain, providing greater flexibility, resilience and capacity. That requires a fundamental shift in the Defence–industry relationship. Traditional task-based contracting needs to evolve towards partnerships focused on delivering an operational effect, whether that means moving guided weapons, sustaining forward forces, operating warehouses or supporting naval and allied activity across the Indo-Pacific. The vulnerability of just-in-time supply chains adds urgency. Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East have demonstrated how quickly fuel, weapons, drones, medical supplies and spare parts can be consumed during sustained conflict. Australia's ability to maintain the fight will depend not only on what it can manufacture, but on whether it can keep those capabilities supplied, repaired and operational. For Roughsedge, the missing piece is a comprehensive understanding of Australia's commercial logistics infrastructure and establishing access to it before a crisis occurs. The challenge is no longer simply building military capability. It is ensuring the infrastructure behind that capability remains resilient when supply chains are contested. Now is the time to build those relationships, not when the roads are cut, the fuel is running short and the ADF is already in the fight. Enjoy the podcast, The Defence Connect Spotlight team
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  CYBER UNCUT: AI advice woes, Aussie auto dealers under attack, and sweeping changes coming to Facebook 31.08.2026 39мин

  Join David Hollingworth and Daniel Croft for this week's round-up of cyber security and artificial intelligence news! The pair kick things off with the startling revelation that young Australians are turning to AI for their financial advice, as cost-of-living pressures bite. Can AI help get your finances in line? The jury is very definitely out. Then it's on to the impact of cyber crime on Australian businesses, with a relative newcomer ransomware groups targeting Aussie car and automotive dealers. Is it happenstance, or have the hackers found a vulnerable third party, in common with all the victims, to exploit? Finally, Hollingworth and Croft take a look at massive changes coming to Facebook and Instagram as Meta settles a US court case alleging the company's actions to create addictive content to capture the teen market. A definite good thing, but Meta wants the industry to go further. Enjoy, The Cyber Uncut team
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  The broad church – why Pine Gap remains the focal point of Australia's anti-bases movement 27.08.2026 24мин

  Recent public backlash over the suspected involvement of Pine Gap in the ongoing conflict with Iran has once again raised concerns about Australia's sovereignty, its status as an "imperial" province or valued partner and the future of Pine Gap and other US bases in the country. The 300-person gathering at Pine Gap in Alice Springs signals a periodic spike rather than a structural acceleration of Australia's anti-bases movement, according to Dr Nicole Townsend, war studies lecturer and director of UNSW Canberra's Second World War Research Group, Asia-Pacific. Yet the movement's durability warrants close attention from defence industry and policymakers alike. Speaking with news editor Robert Dougherty, UNSW Canberra historian Dr Nicole Townsend argues that recent protests reflect a cyclical resurgence driven by geopolitical instability, not fundamental shift in public opposition to US military cooperation. Pine Gap dominates anti-bases consciousness not because it is Australia's only joint facility – several operate under Australia–US agreements, maintaining the fiction that no foreign bases exist on Australian soil – but because of what isn't publicly known. Townsend emphasises that protesters' core complaint isn't demand for disclosure; it's the philosophical tension: if you cannot tell us what happens here, should it be here? That secrecy, necessary for intelligence operations, defines the facility's place in public imagination. What distinguishes the movement is its deliberately assembled coalition. Townsend's David Scott Mitchell Fellowship research into the Australian Anti-Bases Campaign Coalition reveals extraordinary heterogeneity: unions, teachers associations, Indigenous groups, pro-Palestine activists and Greens politicians coexist under an umbrella targeting US basing. Yet this breadth obscures fragmentation. A recent national survey of 1,500 Australians found roughly one-third neutral on bases – neither supportive nor opposed – complicating assumptions about movement momentum. Lowy polling suggests 50–55 per cent support US basing, 43 per cent opposed. Historically, these movements spike during geopolitical anxiety – Cold War nuclear fears, Iraq War opposition in 2003 – then subside. Current resurgence reflects Middle Eastern instability and Indo-Pacific uncertainty rather than new anti-American sentiment. Townsend cautions against predicting trajectory. Media framing shapes which groups appear prominent; political contexts shift suddenly. Precedent exists for direct action targeting defence expos in the 1990s. But whether current momentum continues upward, stabilises or declines depends on variables historians cannot forecast. The movement remains a barometer of Australian strategic anxiety, not a settled political force. Enjoy the podcast,  The Defence Connect team
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  SPOTLIGHT: From assembly to manufacturing – how Port Wakefield transforms Australian missile capability 25.08.2026 38мин

  Port Wakefield is not a replica of Camden. This distinction matters enormously. James Heading, director and general manager for missiles and fire control at Lockheed Martin Australia, has spent 18 months driving that message home to critics who dismiss the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System operation as mere assembly. The risk reduction activity that concluded with successful live-fire testing earlier this year was never about final-form production. It was methodical de-risking: importing weapons kits from Arkansas, standing up Australian manufacturing processes, qualifying teams in explosive handling and weapons assembly, and crucially extracting the tacit knowledge embedded in American production – then questioning why certain processes exist at all. That interrogation has yielded reciprocal innovation. Australian engineers have challenged inherited US procedures, clarifying ambiguous processes, suggesting alternatives that improve manufacturing robustness and reduce waste. Heading describes a two-way street where US counterparts now learn from Australian precision-engineering heritage inherited from automotive manufacturing. The real strategic architecture emerges with the weapons manufacturing complex now in detailed design. Port Wakefield was the proof of concept. The next facility will embed flexibility: modular layout, scalable production capacity targeting 4,000 GMLRS annually (versus 14,000 in Camden), and future-proofing for Prism precision-strike missiles and emerging hypersonic systems. Crucially, it positions Australia as a force multiplier in global supply chains, where specialised components – canards, control actuation systems, castings and optics – matter as much as final assembly. The bottleneck remains an unspoken demand signal. Heading emphasises that industry cannot scale investment without clarity on procurement numbers. How many GMLRS does Defence need? What about air defence effectors for LAND 6504? Lessons from Europe and Middle Eastern conflicts inform strategy but don't dictate it. Without articulated demand, Australia risks capability infrastructure without corresponding production velocity. Enjoy the podcast, The Defence Connect Spotlight team
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  CYBER UNCUT: s your Microsoft 365 tenant really secure? With CoreView's Andrew McAllister 24.08.2026 24мин

  Microsoft 365 is the backbone of many Australian businesses – but are organisations doing enough to secure the platform itself? Tune in to David Hollingworth and CoreView's vice president of APAC sales, Andrew McAllister, as they tackle the risks and what businesses can do to build genuine resilience. Microsoft 365 may be ubiquitous, but that doesn't mean it is secure by default. Hollingworth and McAllister explore the often-overlooked risks lurking in tenant configurations, administrative privileges and guest accounts, and explain why organisations need to take greater responsibility for how their Microsoft environments are configured and governed. The conversation also examines how attackers are exploiting compromised admin accounts to manipulate settings, bypass security controls, and gain deeper access to sensitive data. McAllister explains why the traditional Microsoft 365 admin model can create an unnecessarily large blast radius, and how organisations can apply least privilege, role-based access and tighter identity controls to reduce their exposure. Finally, Hollingworth and McAllister examine what a mature Microsoft 365 resilience strategy should look like – from establishing a secure configuration baseline and detecting configuration drift to automated remediation and recovering the tenant itself after a serious compromise. Listen to the full episode to find out why backing up your data isn't enough – and what organisations need to do to protect the "glass" holding it. Enjoy, The Cyber Uncut team
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  Drones over Williamtown, radar exports and Australia's evolving defence partnerships 21.08.2026 17мин

  How can Australia strengthen the protection of critical defence infrastructure while navigating the modern drone-heavy environment? In this episode of the Defence Connect Podcast, Stephen Kuper and Robert Dougherty unpack a series of developments across Australia's defence and national security landscape, including drone incursions over RAAF Base Williamtown, the expansion of Australia's first-person view drone capabilities, major defence industry partnerships and emerging opportunities for Australian technology exports. Discussion includes the recent swarm of unidentified drones observed over RAAF Base Williamtown and Newcastle Airport, with the team examining the implications for the protection of Australia's air bases and high-value military assets. The team also explores the Australian Army's growing focus on FPV drones and cooperation with New Zealand, including the development of short-range drone specialist capabilities and the role of Australian instructors in supporting New Zealand's capability development. Attention then turns to Rolls-Royce's expanded Australian defence operations, including its new Canberra headquarters and partnership with Melbourne-based Marand Precision Engineering to supply specialised anti-submarine warfare propulsion systems for the UK's Type 26 frigate program. The panel also examines the significant agreement between the Australian and UK governments covering CEA Technologies' radar technology, with discussion focusing on the potential scale of the export opportunity and what the partnership could mean for Australia's sovereign defence technology industry. The episode then looks at the Global Combat Air Programme and ongoing speculation about whether Australia could eventually join the sixth-generation combat aircraft initiative. Rounding out the episode, the pair discuss Australia's growing defence engagement with the Pacific Islands, including the Pukpuk Treaty and cooperation with Papua New Guinea, the opening of Australian-supported border outposts in Solomon Islands, and the potential for deeper regional defence cooperation. Enjoy the podcast, The Defence Connect team
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  SPOTLIGHT: Cyber loyal wingmen – how frontier AI transforms Defence from defender disadvantage to asymmetric advantage 20.08.2026 36мин

  An adversary's numerical advantage is something Australia faces across all domains, but the cyber domain is one area where Australia can offset that advantage, building true asymmetric capabilities. The cyber battlespace has undergone a step change with the arrival of frontier AI models. What took penetration testers two years to accomplish, Tom Scully from Palo Alto Networks completed in three weeks when paired with Claude's Mythos model. That compression has collapsing vulnerability windows and forces a fundamental rethink of how Defence operates its security operations centres. The asymmetry cuts both ways. Attackers now possess tools that dramatically compress exploitation timelines. But for the first time in cyber space, defenders can achieve parity through agentic AI – autonomous agents embedded in security operations that multiply human operator capacity by orders of magnitude. Palo Alto's own security operations centre covers 23,000 users across eight data centres and 85,000 customers with just 15 people across two global locations operating 24/7/365. That scale is impossible without AI and machine learning disciplined into an integrated platform. Now, agentic AI adds the next layer: individual security operators deploying multiple AI agents to handle discrete tasks – network analysis, endpoint evaluation, reverse engineering – each agent maintaining human oversight yet operating with delegated authority. The critical challenge is governance. Only 6 per cent of organisations possess AI governance frameworks. Scully emphasises that the framing is not about free will; it resembles a military command structure. Commanders delegate authority, set rules of engagement, define reporting protocols and remain accountable for outcomes. AI agents operate identically – given clear direction, guardrails and escalation paths. Australia must urgently establish governance standards aligned to ISO 42001 or NIST frameworks, then enforce those standards through security tooling. Without that foundation, organisations will struggle to defend against attackers armed with frontier AI. The decisive question is not whether to deploy agentic AI, but whether Defence can implement it faster than adversaries exploit the window before our cyber defences mature. Enjoy the podcast, The Defence Connect Spotlight team
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  SPOTLIGHT: Building Australia's missing middle – how DIDS reshapes defence industry economics 18.08.2026 37мин

  Australia's 2026 Defence Industry Development Strategy (DIDS) signals a significant shift in how Defence acquires capability, moving beyond traditional procurement models towards earlier collaboration with industry and a greater focus on innovation, software and continuous capability development. The 2026 Defence Industry Development Strategy marks a doctrinal shift in how Australia approaches defence acquisition: rather than locking capability requirements and then inviting industry to bid, Defence should explore available technologies with industry partners before committing resources – fundamentally rewriting the commercial relationship between procurer and supplier. Rebecca Humble, CEO of Aurizn, a private equity-backed Australian defence technology firm, discusses what the strategy means for Australian defence companies and why building sovereign capability requires more than policy intent alone. She explores the need for deeper engagement between Defence and industry, the role of private capital in helping Australian businesses scale, and the importance of developing a stronger ecosystem of mid-sized defence companies capable of translating innovation into enduring capability. The conversation also examines how software, AI and digital experimentation are changing traditional acquisition approaches, why commercial incentives must support SME growth, and what Australia can learn from international models while developing an approach tailored to its own strategic and industrial environment. Without effective implementation, the ambitions of DIDS risk remaining aspirational. But if Defence, industry and investors can work together to create stronger pathways from innovation to capability, Australia has an opportunity to build a more resilient and sustainable sovereign defence industrial base. Critically, Humble notes Australia lacks the social licence for defence investment that the United States enjoys and has been hesitant to embrace private equity as a force multiplier for SME growth – precisely the funding model driving emerging companies towards scale. Without deliberate policy enactment and commercial accountability, the DIDS risks remaining aspirational rather than transformative. Enjoy the podcast, The Defence Connect Spotlight team
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  CYBER UNCUT: Why cyber security's basics still matter in the age of AI, with ThreatLocker's Keiran Human 17.08.2026 24мин

  Malicious browser extensions, AI-powered phishing, and the evolution of Australia's Essential Eight are all putting renewed focus on proactive cyber defence. Hear ThreatLocker's lead cyber security engineer, Kieran Human, explain why organisations need to get the basics right before attackers get the chance to exploit them. Malicious browser extensions are giving attackers another route into corporate environments, with phishing campaigns tricking users into installing tools capable of running arbitrary code. Cyber Daily's David Hollingworth and Human break down how the so-called Edgecution attack method works, how initial access brokers fit into the ransomware ecosystem, and why even highly technical employees can fall for increasingly convincing social engineering. The conversation then turns to what defenders can actually do about it. Human argues that security teams need to move beyond relying solely on detection and response, with application allow-listing and other proactive controls providing a critical layer of protection when users inevitably make mistakes. Finally, Hollingworth and Human examine the future of Australia's Essential Eight, including the move towards the new Essentials framework and potential guidance for enterprise, cloud, and AI environments. Enjoy, The Cyber Uncut team
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  THE PROGRESS REPORT: Against the tide – Captain Mona Shindy on gender, culture and change in the Royal Australian Navy 14.08.2026 47мин

  Someone has to take the plunge and shoulder the burden. A pioneer forging the path for the future generations of women in the Australian Defence Force, no matter the consequences. Royal Australian Navy Captain (Ret'd) Mona Shindy shares her unique journey serving in the Royal Australian Navy as a warship weapons engineer, becoming one of the first three women to serve on an Australian warship, being selected as the first female captain to wear a hijab and, finally, leaving a legacy as the inaugural and only chief of navy strategic advisor on Islamic cultural affairs. In this episode of The Progress Report, senior journalist Robert Dougherty sits down with Captain Shindy to discuss her extraordinary career spanning more than 25 years in the Royal Australian Navy, her trauma and triumphs navigating the treacherous waters of gender bias, cultural expectations and resistance to change. The pair also look ahead to the future, how Defence has improved and how it can better understand and support personnel from diverse cultural and religious backgrounds. Beyond her own career, Shindy reflects on leadership, the nature of negative military culture, her memoir, Shattering identity bias, and a newly launched Mona Shindy Foundation designed to provide mentoring, networks and support to people who may not otherwise have access to them. The Progress Report. New voices. Real stories. Big shifts. Enjoy the podcast,The Progress Report team