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Strategy | Brilliant people, collaborative culture

Developing a highly skilled and collaborative workforce, recognising diversity in partnerships and building shared culture.

Brilliant people

High-quality leadership in the S&T enterprise

Our high-performing leaders will actively shape the S&T environment and inspire others in the S&T enterprise to identify opportunities to partner within their own discipline and more broadly to deliver world-leading outcomes to the ADF.

Developing researchers

Defence will support our people to be highly networked leaders, equipped with the skills to develop and manage relationships across academia, industry and government. Opportunities for mobility within the enterprise will be promoted to build awareness and skills, and support ongoing, multi-disciplinary education. We will endeavour to make the best use of our workforce’s experience in the training of the next generation of researchers. And we will identify where we can partner to ensure people in all roles within the S&T enterprise have access to opportunities to learn new skills.

Nurture the talent pool for the S&T enterprise

Through the implementation of Defence’s STEM Workforce Strategic Vision, we will grow the future talent pool for the defence S&T enterprise. Our vision is supported by a set of STEM key workforce objectives: shape, partner, inspire, promote and retain.

Collaborative culture

Working together to achieve more

Defence will foster a responsive, agile, collaborative and dynamic culture that encourages and rewards boldness in innovation when tackling S&T challenges for Defence and national security. We will nurture a respectful, adaptive, safe and inclusive workplace where people feel valued and thrive. Defence recognises that our people are our greatest asset, and we must continue to invest in their development.

We will lead by example, shaping the culture within the defence S&T enterprise by promoting these workplace characteristics. While recognising the value of embracing a diversity of partners, we will build a collective security culture that protects sensitive information without unduly hindering innovation.

The Defence Pathway to Change cultural reform effort will guide us on how we work and act, at the individual level and as an organisation within the defence S&T enterprise.

Achieve greater diversity and inclusion

Defence will play a leading role in developing a strong narrative on inclusion across the S&T enterprise. We want to ensure that teams are diverse in background and experience, so that every person can contribute according to their capacity. We want to be regarded as a workplace of choice.

We will seek out opportunities to participate in promoting diversity across the S&T enterprise, particularly with a view to increasing the numbers of women and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the S&T workforce.

Success measures

  • Implementation of a research skills development roadmap to build the expertise, leadership qualities, career pathways and mobility options required to develop experience and skills across the S&T enterprise.
  • The use of interdisciplinary teams from multiple partners working together to solve defence S&T problems becomes standard practice.
  • Increased mobility of talent between Defence, industry, academia and international partners.
  • Defence S&T staff are highly networked leaders with the skills to develop and leverage relationships with key partners across Defence, industry and academia.
  • An increase in the number of students identifying STEM as a future career to establish a talent pipeline.
  • More students pursuing STEM pathways into Defence.
  • Defence has established partnerships in the education sector to ensure that the teaching of STEM subjects is aligned with the skills requirements of the future Defence workforce, as outlined in the S&T Capability Plan.
  • The defence S&T workforce is aligned with school and university graduation rates for minority groups.
  • Defence is an employer of choice for STEM professionals.
  • Key metrics are established for inclusion and diversity initiatives, with regular review.
  • A robust security culture is maintained across the defence S&T enterprise.

Find out more

To read the latest on this pillar, click here.

Case study: Collaboration

DST partnership with CSIRO in cyber security

Australian cyber specialists practicing through controlled simulations.

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Key information

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