On 26 March 2025, ADM had its premier Australian Defence Magazine Women in Defence Walk led by Associate Publisher of ADM, Kylie Leonard at the Avalon Australian International Airshow.
Throughout the day multiple companies hosted the ADM Walk, including the Victorian Government, Airbus, CAE, QinetiQ Australia, KBR, Women's Defence Connection, BAE Systems Australia, Leidos Australia, Applied Virtual Simulation, the ACT Government, AeroPM, CEA Technologies, Defence Teaming Centre, the ADF Drone Racing Team and Hanwha Defence Australia. ADM would love to thank them all for their contributions and time.
ADM collected female workforce participation data as part of the annual Top 40 Defence Contractors survey. The results showed that only seven companies reported female participation rates equal to or greater than 49 per cent.
The Defence industry average is for women in the workforce is 22 per cent.
Industry standards are met at BAE Systems Australia with 22 per cent women in its workforce. CEA Technologies is above industry standard by having 25 per cent women employees.
“Our goal is to attract many more women to join us at all levels of our organisation, and across all parts of our business,” a spokesperson at BAE Systems Australia said. “BAE Systems Australia aspires to promote opportunity, equality and fairness, in everything we do. The company is committed to being an inclusive organisation with a diverse workforce that reflects the communities in which we operate.”
Some of the other companies remain below industry standard, however, their willingness to host the ADM Women’s Walk demonstrates they are open to supporting women within defence and are interested in expanding their female workforce.
Hanwha Defence Australia gave us a tour of their Hanwha Armoured Vehicle Centre of Excellence (H-ACE) facilities, where our walkers had a close look at the Huntsman assembly line.
Here is what some of the women had to say about the walk:
“Thank you for organising the ADM Women’s Walk. It was a fantastic experience,” a Leidos software engineer, Jade Emery, said.
“The day was a fabulous opportunity to meet new people and get an overview of the industry and see the mechanics of the show. My highlight was visiting Hanwha,” Ground Marketing and Communications Manager, Rita Botta, said.
“Thank you so much for arranging this walk around. I really valued the experience and connections,” Chief People Officer at CEA Technologies Kate Corkery stated. “I really valued the Hanwha tour – it was truly awesome.”
“It was a great day and such a fantastic opportunity, and the Hanwha tour was incredible,” Madeline Forbes commented.
“Thank you so much for the AMAZING ADM Women’s Walk yesterday. I loved every part of it! Thank you so much for organising such a walk as there is no way to get that time from companies,” UNSW Canberra Senior Lecturer Doctor Oleksandra Molloy said.
“Absolutely loved it. Thank you so much for organising,” Director Branch and Program Management Electromagnetic Warfare and Intelligence Systems Vanessa Lowe commented.
Partnership options are now available for the Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition 2025 ADM Women in Defence Walk. Please contact Kylie Leonard for details.