In a time of global volatility and strategic realignment, the Athena Series: Women in Strategy Conference, Canberra convened some of Australia’s most influential leaders and expert voices in strategy, and security and defence to reflect, challenge, and imagine a more inclusive future in these fields.
The third event in the Security & Defence PLuS Athena Series was hosted at UNSW Canberra at the Australian Defence Force Academy on Monday 7 April 2025.
The conference opened with Professor Emma Sparks, UNSW Canberra Rector, affirming that “groups and organisations that embrace diversity in leadership are better equipped to handle complex challenges.” She highlighted how greater representation of women in leadership leads to more informed decision-making, a theme echoed across the day’s discussions.
The opening panel, Pioneering Leadership in Strategy, Security and Defence was introduced and moderated by UNSW’s Professor Verity Firth. The panel featured four women in senior strategic roles who spoke candidly about setbacks, personal growth, and how failure can be a crucible for leadership.
Jacinta Carroll, Assistant Secretary, Strategy and Governance, Headquarters Joint Capabilities Group, reframed failure as part of progress:
“You fail when you test a system, and you test so that you can adjust… If we’re not testing, experimenting, and being curious, are we actually being leaders?”
Justine Greig, Deputy Secretary Defence People, emphasised the importance of cultivating and keeping relationships and networks, especially in times of crisis.
This theme of connection was picked up again in the final panel of the day, Women’s Leadership and the Critical Challenges of our Time, where each panellist stressed that leadership in today’s environment requires openness to diverse perspectives, adaptability, and strong, trusted networks.
Mikaela James, Acting Head of Policy, Strategy and Engagement at the Australian Submarine Agency, underscored that true collaboration means shared goals, clear communication, and a willingness to connect across horizontal teams. Offering perspective from the AUKUS program, she stated:
“What we’re doing isn’t just acquiring a capability; it’s a whole-of-nation endeavour.”
Moderated by UNSW’s Professor Debi Ashenden, this panel examined the evolving definition of national security, expanding the conversation beyond traditional boundaries:
“National security can no longer, if it ever could, be neatly compartmentalised into defence, foreign affairs, and intelligence… We can’t solve our security problems in silos – our vulnerabilities are interconnected, and our threats are many and various.”
Lieutenant General Michelle McGuinness, Australia’s National Cyber Security Coordinator, echoed this sentiment, highlighting the increasing pace and complexity of threats. Referencing former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, she remarked:
“The pace of change has never been so fast, and it will never be this slow again.”
She stressed the critical nature of cyber and linked the digital domain with broader security landscapes, emphasising the need for agility, foresight, and investment in the people behind the technology.
“Cyber security is national security. When you think about the consequences – it’s economic security, it’s prosperity, it’s stability, it’s security.”
Cheryl Durrant, Executive Member of the Australian Security Leaders Climate Group, reminded the audience of the environmental dimension and pushed for a paradigm shift:
“Environmental problems, don’t respect borders, whether its plastics, pollution, global heating.. or biodiversity lost, these things can’t be solved by individual countries alone… effective collaboration requires going beyond the national security framework and thinking of us as human beings on a planet needing planetary solutions.”
In Geopolitics, Grand Strategy and Gender Perspectives in the Indo-Pacific, a panel of regional experts explored the volatile dynamics shaping the region, particularly in the context of a second Trump administration and intensifying US–China rivalry. Professor Bec Strating of La Trobe University, Melbourne captured the mood:
“We are in a perfect economic and security storm.”
ASPI’s Dr Raji Rajagopalan highlighted the limits of current alliance structures without US support and the need for more mini-lateral partnerships. Meanwhile, Dr Miranda Booth, lecturer at UNSW Canberra, focused on strategic competition in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) and positioned Australia as a potential regional leader in this space.
The conversation also drew attention to the gendered implications of geopolitics and the erosion of DEI initiatives under strongman leadership models. This was highlighted by numerous speakers across various panels, including Danielle Cave and Dr Cathy Moloney who expressed concern about a back-sliding or devolution of women’s rights and leadership initiatives.
The third panel, Women’s Pathways into Defence and Inclusive Military Reform, turned the lens inward on institutional change and reform within the Australian Defence Force (ADF). Rear Admiral Letitia Van Stralen emphasised the importance of diversity and diversity of thought, while Susan Hutchinson highlighted the cost of overlooking gendered analysis in operations. Brigadier Caitlin Langford spoke to building institutional wellbeing through a person-centred model:
“Fundamentally, we want to live well, serve well, and then transition well… At the heart of it for Defence, it’s about capability.”
A future-focused dialogue unfolded in the Industry and Innovation Fireside Chat, where Dr Marigold Black and Karen Schilling addressed the hurdles of innovation translation and defence–industry collaboration. Dr Black argued for a Net Assessment capability as an opportunity for Australia “to become a safe harbour for multi-domain, multi-temporal, multi-metric thinking outside the box.”
Both speakers emphasised the importance of agility and preparedness: “The problem with innovation,” warned Schilling, “is what we don’t need today, we will need in five years… We’re at risk of not having what we are going to need in the future.”
The Athena Series continues to challenge orthodoxies in defence and strategy and shine a light on the diverse experts and leaders driving progress across the field. This Canberra event was a reminder that leadership, in all its forms, must evolve with courage, curiosity, and accountability, as Jacinta Carroll noted, “Leadership is an action.”
You can watch the full livestream of the event below, or redirect to YouTube and use the ‘Key Moments’ function to navigate to particular sessions.