Yet another reform – but not without potential

Yet another reform, but not without potential.

In Defence Technology Review, Dr Ian Langford notes that the Albanese Government’s proposed Defence Delivery Agency (DDA) framework marks a familiar moment in Australian defence policy, a re-centralisation of acquisition, sustainment and capability oversight that, for many, feels like a selective return to the old DMO.

“Unless the new DDA framework embeds genuinely evidence-based decision-making, Australia risks repeating the cycle rather than breaking it.”

While the danger is that this becomes a rebranding exercise rather than a decisive transformation, Langford argues there is real opportunity. Australia’s defence industrial base is more technologically capable than at any point in its history, and with targeted policy settings, modest but smart regulatory tweaks and a procurement system that rewards innovation, the reforms could unlock a wave of sovereign industrial growth.

Read the full article in Defence Technology Review or access the PDF: Yet another reform, but not without potential