The ASPI Defence Conference is Canberra’s premier forum for shaping Australia’s defence and security choices. Convening senior policymakers, military leaders, diplomats, industry executives and leading scholars from Australia and abroad, the Conference moves beyond diagnosing problems to advancing practical solutions.

At a time of increasing uncertainty, intensifying competition and accelerating technological change, the Conference provides a platform for serious discussion about how Australia and its partners can strengthen deterrence, build credible capability and reinforce collective security. Discussions focus on implementation: how strategy is translated into operational readiness, how new capabilities are fielded at pace, and how partnerships are turned into practical advantage.

Taking place on 25 June 2026 and focusing on ‘Securing the Region for Uncertainty’, the 2026 Conference recognises that today’s challenges cannot be met through military power alone. Security, economic resilience and technological edge are increasingly interconnected. Success will depend on aligning national effort across government and industry to deliver credible capability and sustain the national resolve required to defend Australia’s interests in a contested era.  

2026 Conference Themes:

• Strengthening Regional Operational Credibility. Do our policies, resources, and operational planning align effectively to promote our regional security interests? What more can Australia and its allies and partners do to reinforce security, promote a rules-based international order, deter aggression, and support each other against common threats? How do we bring attention to, and counter, malign behaviour and influence? How do we strengthen operational credibility?  
• Implementing Australia’s Defence Agenda at Speed. Did Australia’s next National Defence Strategy deliver a framework to advance its security, economic and strategic interests? Has Australia aligned policy intent with operational capability? Is the strategy resourced for success?  
• Building a Robust Industrial Base and Economic Resilience. What collaborative approaches will further enhance cooperation in defence procurement, industrial capacity, and supply chain resilience? What barriers exist in Australia and with partners to generate greater opportunities for co-development, co-production, and co-sustainment between defence and industry? 
• Fielding Integrated Capability. What immediate actions and critical fixes are required to ensure capabilities—across domains, services and partners—are genuinely integrated? As Australia invests in space, cyber, autonomy and information operations, the challenge is not acquisition alone, but operational integration. Are new systems delivering decision advantage and resilience or adding complexity? What lessons from abroad can be translated rapidly into Australian capability planning? 
• Enhancing Collective Security and Deterrence. Are we prioritising the most significant threats to our vital national interests amidst intense contest and competition? Do we agree on the threats and priorities? What more should we be doing to uphold a free and open Indo-Pacific? How do we operationalise cooperation in competition to enhance an effective collective deterrence strategy?  

If you are interested in sponsoring the 2026 ASPI Defence Conference, please contact Mike Hughes, Director of ASPI's Defence Strategy Program via: aspievents@aspi.org.au