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Nominations and submissions are now open for the Australian Defence Industry Awards 2026, with this year\u2019s program set to debut in a bold new format alongside the launch of the Australian Defence Industry Accelerator, in partnership with Commonwealth Bank of Australia.\n<\/p>\n
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To be held at the National Convention Centre in Canberra on Thursday, 16 July 2026, the reimagined\u00a0awards<\/a>\u00a0and industry accelerator summit will place a sharp focus on the aerospace and aviation sectors, alongside the broader defence ecosystem. The event will highlight the businesses, leaders and innovators advancing Australia\u2019s air and space capabilities while opening new pathways for growth across both domestic and global markets.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n More than a celebration of platforms and products, the refreshed awards program recognises the people and organisations strengthening long-term capability across aviation, aerospace and defence. This spans major primes, SMEs, academic institutions and industry associations, through to \u2014 for the first time \u2014 system program offices within the Department of Defence. It also recognises the individuals behind the sector\u2019s success, including engineers, technicians, scientists, students, rising stars and established leaders driving next-generation air and space capability.\n<\/p>\n Defence and Aerospace Lead at Momentum Media, Steve Kuper, welcomed the launch of the updated awards program and the inaugural Australian Defence Industry Accelerator event.\n<\/p>\n Kuper said: \u201cSince launching the inaugural Australian Defence Industry Awards in 2019, the industry has evolved immensely. We have sought to reflect that with a host of new categories alongside providing avenues for greater participation and recognition of the important work the Department of Defence does in supporting the industry.\u201d\n<\/p>\n As part of the expanded program, the Australian Defence Industry Accelerator is designed to help defence and aerospace businesses unlock new opportunities across both domestic and export markets. The initiative will draw on support from venture capital, Export Finance Australia, Team Defence Australia, ODIS, and broader government and industry networks, with a particular focus on scaling sovereign air and space capabilities.\n<\/p>\n \u201cThe inaugural Australian Defence Industry Accelerator event is designed to provide the up and coming business with the knowledge, exposure and support they need to take on the world, supporting the Australian Defence Force and our allies,\u201d Kuper added.\n<\/p>\n A total of 28 categories will be contested in 2026, including eight individual awards and 20 group awards. Individual categories will once again recognise excellence across the sector, including those at the forefront of aviation and aerospace innovation, with honours such as Technician of the Year, Female Defence Leader of the Year, Engineer of the Year, Rising Star of the Year, and Academic of the Year.\n<\/p>\n Group categories will highlight organisations delivering impact across aerospace, aviation and the broader defence industry. New additions include the AUKUS Partnership Award, Guided Weapons & Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) Program of the Year, Test, Evaluation & Systems Assurance Award, and System Program Office of the Year. These sit alongside established categories such as Aerospace Program of the Year, Cyber Business of the Year, Veteran-Owned Business of the Year, Naval Program of the Year, and SME of the Year.\n<\/p>\n Open to businesses operating in Australia that support the defence and aerospace supply chain, the awards have become one of the nation\u2019s most sought-after industry accolades, offering national recognition for those helping shape the future of Australia\u2019s air, space and defence capability.\n<\/p>\n Kuper said: \u201cThis refreshed awards program recognises the evolution of Australia\u2019s defence industrial base and the workforce that underpins this critical national capability. I would encourage anyone involved in the nation\u2019s defence industry to nominate today!\u201d\n<\/p>\n Winners will be announced at a black-tie and mess dress gala ceremony at the National Convention Centre, where attendees will also have the opportunity to connect with leading figures from across Australia\u2019s defence, aviation and aerospace ecosystem.\n<\/p>\n Submissions<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0nominations<\/a>\u00a0close on Friday, 8 May 2026.\n<\/p>\n You can review the categories\u00a0here<\/a>, and methodology\u00a0here<\/a>. Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to find out how to write an awards submission.\n<\/p>\n Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to see how to submit your application. For more information about the awards, click\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nominations and submissions are now open for the Australian Defence Industry Awards 2026, with this year\u2019s program set…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":598753,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-598752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=598752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/598753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=598752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=598752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}