On 31 October 2025, the Defence subcommittee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade will hear from the Department of Defence for its inquiry into the Department of Defence Annual Report 2023–24.

Media release issue date: Thursday, 30 October 2025

On 31 October 2025, the Defence subcommittee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade will hear from the Department of Defence for its inquiry into the Department of Defence Annual Report 2023–24. The subcommittee will discuss the following topics with Defence: Uncrewed/Autonomous Systems and their integration into the Joint Force Progress on the transformation to an integrated focused force Australian international defence cooperation and competition The Chair of the Defence subcommittee, Senator Deborah O’Neill, said ‘it is a good opportunity for the Defence subcommittee to hear from the Department of Defence on these matters.’ ‘The Department of Defence often appears as a witness to Parliamentary Committees, providing a forum to scrutinise its activities and contribute to their mission in safeguarding the nation.’ ‘The subcommittee is keen to support the Australian Defence Force as it embarks on a major transformation to meet the challenges of a changing security environment.’ Further information, including the full Terms of Reference, is available on the inquiry webpage. Public hearing details Date: Friday, 31 October 2025 Time: 1.00 pm–3.00 pm (AEDT) Location: Committee Room 2R1, Parliament House, Canberra The hearing will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live. Media enquiries Senator Deborah O’Neill, Chair Shane McLeod, Chief of Staff Shane.McLeod@aph.gov.au For background information Committee Secretariat Ph: 02 6277 2313 jscfadt@aph.gov.au For more information about this Committee, you can visit its website. On the site, you can make a submission to an inquiry, read other submissions, and get details for upcoming public hearings. You can also track the Committee and receive email updates by clicking on the blue ‘Track Committee’ button in the bottom right-hand corner of the page.

On 28 October 2025, the Defence Subcommittee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade will conduct its first public hearing into the Department of Defence Annual Report 2023–24 since the inquiry was re-adopted in the 48th Parliament.

Media release issue date: Monday, 27 October 2025

On 28 October 2025, the Defence Subcommittee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade will conduct its first public hearing into the Department of Defence Annual Report 2023–24 since the inquiry was re-adopted in the 48th Parliament. The Subcommittee will hear evidence from the Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) and the Lowy Institute regarding several of the inquiry’s key focus areas: Sovereign Defence Industrial Priorities AUKUS Progress on the transformation to an integrated focused force Australian international defence cooperation and competition The Chair of the Defence Subcommittee, Senator Deborah O’Neill, said ‘Given the ongoing relevance and clear public interest in the issues, the Defence Subcommittee has re-adopted the inquiry as an important transparency mechanism for the Parliament to review Defence progress in a number of critical areas.’ ‘The Subcommittee is now looking to deepen inquiry evidence by talking to relevant industry and strategic experts to support Subcommittee inquiry outcomes.’ Further information, including the full Terms of Reference, is available on the inquiry webpage. Public Hearing Details Date: Tuesday, 28 October 2025 Time: 5.40pm–7.30pm (AEDT) Location: Committee Room 1R1, Parliament House, Canberra The hearing will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live. Media inquiries Senator Deborah O’Neill, Chair Shane McLeod, Chief of Staff Shane.McLeod@aph.gov.au For background information Committee Secretariat Ph: 02 6277 2313 jscfadt@aph.gov.au For more information about this Committee, you can visit its website. On the site, you can make a submission to an inquiry, read other submissions, and get details for upcoming public hearings. You can also track the Committee and receive email updates by clicking on the blue ‘Track Committee’ button in the bottom right-hand corner of the page.

The Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade has adopted a new inquiry into the Department of Defence Annual Report 2023–24. This will resume the inquiry commenced by the Committee prior to the 2025 federal election.

Media release issue date: Friday, 29 August 2025

The Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade has adopted a new inquiry into the Department of Defence Annual Report 2023–24. This will resume the inquiry commenced by the Committee prior to the 2025 federal election. The Chair of the Defence Subcommittee, Senator Deborah O’Neill, said ‘During the last Parliament, the subcommittee received many submissions addressing the inquiry, particularly relating to Sovereign Defence Industrial Priorities. Given the importance of the issues, the committee intends to complete the inquiry into the Department of Defence Annual Report 2023–24 in the early stages of this new Parliamentary term’. Key themes of the inquiry’s focus include: Sovereign Defence Industrial Priorities Defence Estate, Security and Resilience AUKUS Uncrewed/Autonomous Systems and their integration into the Joint Force Progress on the transformation to an integrated focused force Australian international defence cooperation and competition Other issues as communicated to Defence Submissions and evidence related to this inquiry that were received by the committee in the 47th Parliament have been made available to the new committee. This means that submissions related to this inquiry that have already been provided to the committee do not need to be re-submitted. The Subcommittee is now inviting written submissions by Friday, 10 October 2025. Media inquiries Shane McLeod, office of Senator Deborah O’Neill (Senator for NSW; Chair, Defence Sub-committee) Ph: 0419 788 275 For background information Committee Secretariat Ph: 02 6277 2313 jscfadt@aph.gov.au For more information about this Committee, you can visit its website. On the site, you can make a submission to an inquiry, read other submissions, and get details for upcoming public hearings. You can also track the Committee and receive email updates by clicking on the blue ‘Track Committee’ button in the bottom right-hand corner of the page.