ADM is delighted to announce the finalists of the Women in Defence Awards 2026.
Our panel of judges were thrilled to see the diverse, highly accomplished women nominated this year, from uniformed personnel and APS members to women across Defence industry.
Our judges looked for entries that demonstrated high achievements in 2025, as well as volunteered in their communities, advanced the reputation of the defence sector or overcame significant personal challenges. Each category’s unique, independent judging panel also considered numerous category-specific criteria to arrive at this list of finalists.
With thanks to our sponsors, without whom we could not run this program:
- Headline sponsor: Downer
- Gold sponsors: BAE Systems, AECOM and Hanwha Defence Australia
- Silver sponsors: BUPA and Smart
- Bronze sponsor: Aspen Medical.
In no particular order our finalists are:
Engineering
To be awarded to the defence community's most outstanding female individual working within the engineering field. This category is open to all disciplines within the engineering community.
- Angela Argall, Engineering Manager – Maritime Autonomous Systems Unit, Royal Australian Navy
- Danielle Harris, Aerospace Engineer, BAE Systems Australia
- Nisa Salim, Director, Swinburne-CSIRO National Testlab for Composite Additive Manufacturing, Swinburne University of Technology
- Sarah Welsh, Duty Engineer, Royal Australian Air Force
- Tamara West, Squadron Engineer, Royal Australian Air Force
Executive Management
To be awarded to the defence community's most outstanding female individual working within the executive management field.
- Celanie Meyer, Business Manager and Executive Officer, Ascent Pty Ltd
- Lauren Spring, Area Manager ACT and ANZ Defence Environment Client Account Manager, AECOM
- Louisa Pontonio, Mission Software Solutions Executive, Leidos Australia
- Rebecca Livesey, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, ASC Pty Ltd
- Sue-Ellen Jahshan, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, ASC Pty Ltd
ICT & Cyber
Awarded to the defence community's most outstanding female working within the information, communications, technology, computing and cyber sectors.
- Bec Salvage, Program Manager Deployed ICT Sustainment Program, KBR
- Brianna Manning, Cyber Warfare Specialist, Royal Australian Navy
- Char-lee Holloway, Director of Digital Warfighting Terrain/Advanced Capabilities, Department of Defence
- Katrina Dawe, Joint Force Maritime Component Communications Officer/Specialist, Royal Australian Navy
- Tracey Hemley, Contractor to Defence, ProgramSpace
Indigenous
To be awarded to the defence community's most outstanding indigenous individual female working in any field.
- Aimee McCartney, Flight Lieutenant, Royal Australian Air Force.
- Brianna Briscoe, Leading Seaman, Royal Australian Navy.
- Greta Stephensen, Aerospace Engineer, BAE Systems Australia.
- Jemila Darr, Associate Environmental Engineer, Contaminated Land Assessment & Remediation, Jacobs.
- Sophie Bloomfield, Director First Nations Strategy and Initiatives, Department of Defence
Legal / Contracting
To be awarded to the defence community's most outstanding female individual working within the legal/contracting field.
- Alicia Irving, Principal Solicitor, March On Legal
- Anthea Koerbin, Global Trade and Policy Lead, CEA Technologies Pty Limited
- Claire Milton, Sustainment Project Lead, Aero PM
- Jasmine Chen, Senior Legal Counsel, Toll Government and Defence
- Penelope Twemlow, Chief Operations Officer, Phinteq
- Sonia Clark, Chief Contracts Officer, Ocius Technology
Marketing & Communications
To be awarded to the defence community's most outstanding female individual working within the communications/marketing/stakeholder engagement field.
- Alisha Welch, Senior Manager Marketing and Communication, Amentum
- Diana Wilk, Chief of Staff, CEA Technologies Pty Limited
- Fiona Boughton, Head of Marketing, Defence Force Recruiting, Adecco Australia
- Hinako Shiraishi, Public Affairs Officer, Royal Australian Navy
- Jessica Coe, Communications Advisor, ASC Pty Ltd
- Jessica Wedding, Principal Strategic Marketing Advisor, Buildings and Places and Defence ANZ, AECOM
Operations
To be awarded to the defence community's most outstanding female individual to recognise efforts of women in deployed/remote areas with a focus on logistics, services and support roles.
- Anne Kennedy, Senior Hydrographic Surveyor, Ocean Infinity (Australia) Pty Ltd
- Brodie Sweeney, Qualified Flying Instructor, Royal Australian Air Force
- Chloe Lowndes, Plans Officer, Royal Australian Air Force
- Lisa Ryan, Space Operations, Royal Australian Air Force
People and Culture
To be awarded to the defence community's most outstanding female individual who has developed and/or administered initiatives to support women in the defence community.
- Alison Petchell, Acting First Assistant Secretary, Strategy, Planning and Independent Assurance Division, Department of Defence
- Lucinda Casey, Director (Current Serving & Ex-Serving Veterans), Institute of Veterans' Advocacy
- Michelle Ryan, Commanding Officer Personnel Support Unit, Royal Australian Navy
- Natasha Hilbers, Founder, She Served AU
- Taryn Dickens PLY, CM-N Registry Admin and Coordination, Royal Australian Navy
Project Management
To be awarded to the defence community's most outstanding female individual working within project management.
- Daniela Hood, Project Manager and Solution Architect, Bureau Veritas Australia
- Lisa Hubbard, Project Manager for the Training Support Contract (Contract Change Proposal (CCP)), Aero PM
- Michelle Toscan, Head of APAC, Advanced Navigation
- Scarlet Kong, Program Lead - Undersea Warfare, DMTC Ltd.
- Shelly Sinha-Hollier, Program Manager Land and Sea Systems, Leidos
Rising Star (30 Years and under)
To be awarded to the defence community's most outstanding female individual aged under 30 years.
- Alisha Hand, Business Development (BD) Manager, Electronic Warfare (EW) and Strategic Surveillance (SS), BAE Systems Australia
- Angela Patajo, Systems Engineer, Downer
- Gabrielle Popovic, Operations Resource Lead, BAE Systems Australia
- Grace Corboy-Stevens, Logistics Operations Co-ordinator, Port Services – North, Royal Australian Navy
- Katrine Horne, Fleet Sexual Ethics and Respectful Relationships Coordinator, Royal Australian Navy
- Madeline Moroney, Deputy Maritime Logistics Officer, Royal Australian Navy
Technical Trade
To be awarded to the defence community's most outstanding female individual working within operations, production or trade fields.
- Angela Argall, Engineering Manager – Maritime Autonomous Systems Unit, Royal Australian Navy
- Prudence Harper, Aviation Technician, Royal Australian Navy
- Tiffany Lewis, Electronics Technician, Royal Australian Navy
We'd like to extend an enormous congratulations to all our finalists. Make sure to keep an eye on our website – we'll be sharing the details of the finalists in each category. In the meantime, be sure to nominate for the ADM 30 Under 30 Awards which opened on Monday! Nominate here!
The winners and Hall of Fame inductee will be announced at a gala dinner at The National Arboretum, Canberra, on 29 October 2026. Book your tickets here – we hope to see you there!