Defence Trailblazer

The Defence Trailblazer for Concept to Sovereign Capability will provide the impetus and financial capital to create a novel, ambitious innovation engine where organisations, governance, structure, focus, talent, culture and aligned incentives drive innovation at scale through the whole research translation pipeline.

It will encourage, enable and implement research, translation, commercialisation and workplace upskilling. It will ensure that in the future, more of the defence budget is spent in Australia, on technology developed by Australians and commercialised through Australian companies and prime Australian-international partnerships.

Program Streams

The Defence Trailblazer will deliver its aims in support of the Defence National Manufacturing Priority (NMP) through nine Enabling Programs and Research and Development (R&D) Acceleration Projects funded by Seed Innovation and Advanced Innovation Funds.

Stream 1: Workforce, Innovation and Culture

New approaches, co-designed in detail with industry, will be embedded into Defence Trailblazer governance, management and work practices through interrelated enabling programs to accelerate research translation and sovereign defence manufacturing as key industry inputs to defence capability.

The programs will also lift and strengthen Australia’s defence innovation community by enabling more people across all sectors to see their career goals reflected in a deeper commitment to national defence including initiatives to drive diversity in the workforce.

Programs will be delivered in South Australia, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory by the University of Adelaide, University of New South Wales, government and industry partners.

Stream 2: R&D Acceleration Programs

In addition to and in combination with Stream 1, Stream 2 activities will see government, industry and universities work together to accelerate R&D into capabilities across five initial R&D acceleration themes:

• Quantum Materials, Technologies & Computing
• Defensive Hypersonics & Countermeasures
• Information Warfare & Advanced Cyber Technologies
• Robotics, Autonomous Systems & AI
• Defence Space Technologies.

News

• 31 October 2022: Media release, Defence specialist to lead Trailblazer
• 20 April 2022: Media release, Universities blaze a trail to commercialise defence research
• 1 March 2022: Media release, Australia needs to ‘level up’ on research commercialisation
• 7 February 2022: Media release, Trailblazing new opportunities to commercialise defence research
• 28 January 2022: Media release,Trailblazing universities shortlisted to boost economic recovery
• 24 November 2021: Media release, Trailblazer Universities to build jobs of the future