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A total of 30 winners have been announced for the seventh annual Australian Defence Industry Awards 2025.
The Australian Defence Industry Awards 2025 was held tonight (Thursday, 10 July 2025) at the National Convention Centre Canberra, run with support from principal partner, Commonwealth Bank.
Following a record number of submissions, Defence Connect has revealed 30 winners have been selected out of the 230 finalists, including the recipient of the coveted Excellence Award.
Click here to view the full list of winners.
This year, the Excellence Award was given to Josh Amoils from DroneShield as the highest scoring individual winner. Amoils also walked away with the Engineer of the Year award earlier in the evening.
Other individual winners included innovators, academics, consultants, engineers, and rising stars across the defence industry.
The group winners spanned cyber businesses, naval programs, space businesses, and veteran support programs.
The winners included representatives from Downer Defence, Raytheon Australia, University of New South Wales, Seitec, and UBH Group.
Members of the defence industry attended the awards ceremony to celebrate the achievements of their colleagues and peers and network with industry leaders.
Australian comedian, writer, and satirist Mark Humphries was this year’s emcee and provided entertainment and laughter throughout the evening.
The prestigious awards program provides a platform for professionals to gain nationwide recognition. Winning one of the coveted Australian Defence Industry Awards can enhance professional credibility and accelerate career opportunities in a competitive market.
Steve Kuper, lead - defence and aerospace, congratulated all of the finalists and winners saying, “Congratulations to all of the winners, your commitment to excellence and serving the nation ensures that Australia's warfighters have the capability they need to keep us safe.”
The Australian Defence Industry Awards, in conjunction with event stakeholders Defence Connect, Momentum Media and a panel of leading defence professionals, has developed a robust awards methodology to form the backbone for assessing, analysing and benchmarking Australia’s leading defence professionals and businesses.
Kuper added, “Defence industry is one of the central pillars of our national economy and as the world continues to become more unpredictable and volatile, a robust, sovereign and resilient defence industrial base and workforce will be critical.”
Winners were assessed using a judging criteria that is both quantitative and qualitative, acknowledging growth, business development, diversity, leadership, innovation, business excellence and contribution to Australia’s defence sector.
The awards were open to all businesses operating in Australia supporting the defence supply chain.
