Latest News from ADA-Vic

Stand Out and Grow Your Business at Land Forces 2024

Maximise your investment in Land Forces 2024 by differentiating your business from the competition. Developing a deeper understanding of your customer’s problems, and how you solve them better than anyone else, is the key to success.

For ADA members who want to seize opportunities and accelerate their growth in the defence industry, 25eight is offering an exclusive 20% discount on their Trade Event Ready Program - Land Forces 2024

Identify your competitive advantage and incorporate in your sales and marketing communications using proven frameworks to help you stand out and be memorable
Develop a concrete plan for before, during, and after the event to proactively maximise all opportunities from this event.
Gain introductions to key industry stakeholders and Primes to increase your chances of developing new engagements

Over 500 defence related companies have been through 25eight’s program with many reporting that they secured significant defence contracts or engaged new customers.

Learn more and submit your expression of interest (https://www.25eight.co/trade-event-ready-program-landforces).

If you are not an ADA member and want to become one to take advantage of this great opportunity please apply at Join ADA-Vic (australiandefencealliance.org.au)

About the Advanced Manufacturing Precinct

RMIT Advanced Manufacturing Precinct was established in 2010 to focus upon the new and emerging field of digital additive manufacturing to research and develop new products and processes based on this technology, train future industry and academic leaders in this area and open new horizons for additive manufacturing globally.

The Precinct has a full range of the state-of-the-art 3D printers for both metallic and non-metallic materials complemented by high-end CNC machining centres which enable cutting edge solutions to industry problems.

Government Accelerating Littoral Fleet Build

The build of 18 medium landing craft for the Army’s new littoral fleet is being accelerated, underscoring the Government’s commitment to keeping Australians safe and support for Australia’s sovereign defence industry.

The $2 billion project - part of the Government’s record investment in Defence - is expected to create 1,100 direct jobs and more than 2,000 indirect jobs under a program that will also deliver heavy landing craft as well as amphibious vehicles.

The first of the medium landing craft vessels, designed by Birdon and to be built by Austal at the Henderson Shipyard in Western Australia, is expected to be delivered in 2026.

The local build of the medium landing craft is in addition to up to eight heavy landing craft which will also be built by Austal at Henderson.

Read full press release >

Government Increases International Partnership Opportunities for Australia Industry

The Government is increasing export opportunities for Australian defence industry through a significant expansion of the Global Supply Chain (GSC) Program, underscoring support for local companies and jobs.

The number of major defence companies, known as primes, participating in the GSC Program will almost double from seven to 13. The expansion of the Program delivers on a commitment made in the landmark Defence Industry Development Strategy (DIDS), released in February this year.

The DIDS outlined the importance of the GSC Program and the need to expand the number of participants to assist with scale, competitiveness and sustainability.

The Program is aimed at supporting Australian businesses to integrate into global supply chains, diversify their revenue, drive economies of scale and build resilience through exports. Since its inception, the Program has delivered 2,450 contracts worth over $1.9 billion to 258 Australian suppliers.

The DIDS also outlined the defence industrial base we need in Australia, and how we will grow it, and articulated for the first time the strategic rationale for a sovereign defence industrial base and its paramount importance to Australia’s national security.

Defence industry is critical to delivering on this key objective, and exports are strategically important to grow the resilience of the Australian defence industrial base.

After conducting an extensive approach to market, the number of participating major defence companies, known as primes, has now increased from seven to 13.

The successful companies are:

Babcock
BAE Systems
Boeing
Huntington Ingalls Industries
Kongsberg
L3 Harris
Lockheed Martin
Moog
Northrop Grumman
Raytheon
Rheinmetall
SAAB; and
Thales.

The GSC Program has also updated its performance framework to include:

A plan to promote the scaling and growth of Australian businesses;
An expanded scope of exports to consider the continuum between domestic and international projects;
Identification of opportunities for Australian innovation early in the development cycle; and
Performance metrics to allow Defence to measure the success of primes and the program.

Read full press release >

EOI - Pilot Fund: Investment in Defence Businesses

The Commonwealth, through Defence and supported by other relevant agencies, is looking to explore a Pilot Fund project with venture capital fund managers and investors, institutional investors and potentially a cohort of other sophisticated investors.

The intent is to identify whether there is a gap in the market where small businesses cannot readily and economically access equity or debt products to further develop Defence and dual use capabilities in order to leverage them into Australian and New Zealand Defence capability programs.

An expression of interest (EOI) is now available on AusTender for interested entities to review and consider responding to. The EOI seeks responses from:

venture capital, equity or debt providers who have an interest in investment in eligible Australian businesses
eligible Australian micro or small businesses (less than 50 employees) with:

an Australian-based industrial Defence capability and who have a registered Australian Business Number (ABN)
an interest in seeking investment or debt (in accordance with the eligibility criteria within the EOI documentation).

Further details of this EOI can be located on AusTender ATM ID: DOD/EOI/2024/1.

Please note: Respondents must register with AusTender in order to download relevant EOI documentation. EOI responses must be lodged via AusTender as per the instructions contained in the conditions of the EOI. EOI will remain open for responses until 2pm on Friday 2 August 2024.

View ATM DOD/EOI/2024/1

The JOSCAR-AU system was established following an initiative led by a growing number of prime contractors as registered buyers together with the Commonwealth Government.

JOSCAR-AU is a cross-sector collaborative solution that reduces the time, cost, resources and duplication currently needed to provide information to major prime customers. Holding common supplier information in a central system, the JOSCAR-AU accreditation system allows information to be accessed by all participating buying organisations.

JOSCAR-AU is designed to make the process of pre-qualification or accreditation as efficient as possible – saving your company a significant amount of the time, effort and cost associated with working for multiple clients.

Hellios enables more effective compliance with client requirements for business through a single process. Your initial registration will determine the level of pre-qualification or accreditation that your clients require, based on an automated risk profile.

Expert advice is provided throughout the process to guide you including identifying potential business improvement opportunities that may increase your competitive advantage.

Registration on JOSCAR-AU is either by invitation from your registered JOSCAR-AU buyer or via self nomination. If your buyer has asked you to complete the JOSCAR-AU questionnaire, they will contact Hellios directly on your behalf. Hellios will then process this request and send a link to the questionnaire for you to complete. If you would like to self nominate, please reach out at joscar@hellios.com.au.

BAESA/GAP Industry Training: Estimating For Defence

BAE Systems Australia and the Global Access Program are pleased to once again offer Estimating & Pricing Industry Training during 2024.

Delivering competitive and defendable proposals for Defence requires a variety of estimating techniques to build robust, credible and defendable Basis of Estimates. Learn how to challenge your cost base, supplier quotes, estimates and price, and submit a compliant proposal that meets customer requirements, represents value for money, and can survive a cost investigation.

Estimating For Defence is a two day course developed by Estimating & Pricing (E&P) at BAE Systems Australia, and delivered in partnership with the Global Access Program (GAP).

To register, please click on the BAE Systems supplier portal link now - http://BAESystemsSupplierPortal.icn.org.au

If you require any further information, please contact Megan Allan directly on megan.allan@baesystems.au.

Open to Industry partners Based in Australia, Canada, and the UK

The Defense Industrial Base Consortium (DIBC) aims to coalesce and expand the defense industrial base (DIB) in support of the Manufacturing, Capability Expansion, and Investment Prioritization Directorate (MCEIP) critical sectors and additional areas of interest. To align with the recent modification to the definition of Domestic Source for Title III of the Defense Production Act, and in keeping with the MCEIP vision of delivering a resilient U.S. supply chain and workforce able to respond in times of national security crisis, DIBC is excited to announce that we are opening membership to Industry partners in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. This increased level of collaboration will aid the DIBC in achieving MCEIP’s mission and vision.

The application to become a DIBC member can be found here. International members will need to apply for a NCAGE Code and UEI prior to joining DIBC. To apply for a NCAGE code, each organization will need to register at https://sam.gov/. Instructions on how to register can be found here.

If you have questions about the application process, please feel free to reach out to dibconsortium@ati.org.

SME Connect Programs

Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, has announced a $20 million investment to provide small to medium enterprises (SMEs) with greater access to vital research and development (R&D) opportunities to accelerate their growth.

The funding will allow CSIRO’s SME Connect team to support up to 750 SMEs through a range of programs and initiatives that provide facilitation, training, dollar-matched funding and support to start-ups and SMEs seeking to engage in company-led research projects.

One of the programs being supported is SME Connects flagship program, CSIRO Kick-Start. Since its inception in 2017, the Kick-Start program has facilitated over 280 company-led R&D projects, with alumni companies collectively holding a market value exceeding $2 billion.

Dr Doug Hilton, CSIRO’s Chief Executive, emphasised the significance of this investment and the transformative impact it would have for Australia’s critical SME sector.

The Victorian Land Systems Fund – Supply Chain Uplift Program will support Victorian defence industry businesses to work with Hanwha Defense Australia (Hanwha) as part of its supply chain. The program will help build businesses’ capabilities so they can help Hanwha deliver the Commonwealth Government’s $1 billion Land 8116 Self-Propelled Howitzer program.

Funding will support eligible Victorian businesses to:

gain relevant accreditations and meet industry specific compliance requirements
prepare tenders
undertake minor facilities upgrades and equipment fit outs
develop new or enhance current defence products or services
undertake defence R&D
participate in trade missions to pursue collaboration and export opportunities.

Businesses must engage with Hanwha and receive its support before applying.

Applications to the Victorian Land Systems Fund Supply Chain Uplift Program are now open and close on 30 June 2024 or until funds have been exhausted.

Defence Industry Development Grants Program

The Defence Industry Development Grants Program (the program) will award grants over four years from 2024-25 to 2027-28. The program was announced as part of the Defence Industry Development Strategy.

The objective of the program is to build the industrial base Australia needs to achieve Defence outcomes in areas of strategic priority.

The Defence Industry Development Grants Program funds four distinct grant opportunity streams tailored to address the program outcomes:

Sovereign Industrial Priorities
Skilling
Exports
Security.

These four grants opportunities will be assessed in batches. We will regularly update the closing dates for each batch on this page. You can apply at any time.

All projects are due to be completed by 31 Mar 2028.

About the streams

The Sovereign Industrial Priorities stream will assist eligible small to medium enterprises (SMEs) to purchase manufacturing plant and equipment which is used directly to develop and/or deliver programs that are in line with the Sovereign Defence Industrial Priorities (SDIPs) described in the Defence Industry Development Strategy.

The Skilling stream helps Australian defence industry to upskill and train in priority trade, technical and professional skillsets to develop a workforce with the right mix of qualified and experienced personnel to meet Defence requirements. The program will enhance the capacity and capability of Australian defence industry workforce to deliver SDIPs described in the Defence Industry Development Strategy.

The Exports stream provides support for small to medium enterprises (SMEs) to overcome export barriers and help defence industry build scale and competitiveness in defence capability priority areas as identified by the SDIPs described in the Defence Industry Development Strategy.

The Security stream helps Australian defence industry improve and maintain security in priority areas as identified by the SDIPs and in line with the Defence Industry Security Program.

More info >

Industry Growth Program - Support for Innovative SMEs to Commercialise and Grow their Business

The program supports innovative small and medium enterprises undertaking commercialisation and/or growth projects within the National Reconstruction Fund priority areas through advisory services and opportunities for matched grant funding. Minor changes or improvements to existing products or services are not considered innovative.

You will be connected to an Industry Growth Program Adviser who will provide tailored advice to support your commercialisation and/or growth project.

Once you have received this advice, you may also be able to apply for:

grants of $50,000 to $250,000 to support early-stage commercialisation projects
grants of $100,000 to $5 million for commercialisation and growth projects.

More info >

Australian Space Industry Capability Database

The Australian Space Industry Capability database will open for industry submissions from mid-July. Companies can upload information on their:

• Location

• Capability

• Workforce

The database has been developed by SIAA and is supported by the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), the Australian Space Agency, the Office of Defence Industry Support and SmartSat CRC.

Australia Partner Network

Leidos Australia is focused on working with Australian Industry for delivery of all of our projects. We know the importance of supporting the growth of sovereign capability and would like to work with more Australian businesses at all stages of our delivery lifecycle.

We encourage Australian companies, who are interested in working with us on the opportunities identified above or on other business requirements as they arise, to complete the following registration form.

In your submission, you should highlight your experience with any relevant Defence, Intelligence, ICT and cyber capabilities and technologies. Our team will then be in touch to identify potential next steps.

ODIS provides a range of grants to support defence industry businesses. These grants help Australian small and medium enterprises grow to meet Defence capability needs and join global defence industry supply chains.

Click here to learn more about available grants

The ODIS Defence Business Readiness Tool (DBRT) is a platform used by our Industry Engagement Team to assess the Defence Readiness of Australian Small and Medium Enterprises. The DBRT is the first step in the journey to becoming a supplier to Defence.

To use this secure tool you must have an account. You can either sign in with an existing account or create a new one. You will need to provide your Australian Business Number (ABN) when registering your account.

Get Defence Ready with DBRT 2.0 and unlock the true potential of your SME within the Defence industry!

Defence + Industry (D+I) Conference

We’re happy to announce that the 2024 Defence + Industry (D+I) Conference website is now live.

To access the conference program, preview the speakers and their biographies and to register your attendance at this premier event - please visit our conference website located at https://defence.eventsair.com/defence-industry-conference-2024

Registrations will close on Wednesday 18 July 2024. Please ensure you are registered to avoid disappointment in attempting to register after this date.

We look forward to seeing you back in the Nation’s Capital at this important Defence + Industry engagement event, the 2024 D+I Conference.