A Directory of Australian Defence Acronyms

Advanced Capability Investment Fund

A Commonwealth co-investment vehicle with an initial $500 million public allocation, intended to draw in substantially more private capital alongside it.

Australian Cyber Security Centre

ASD's cyber security function, rather than a separate agency.

Australian Defence Association

Independent public-interest advocacy and defence policy commentary.

Australian Defence Export Office

Export promotion and facilitation. A different body to Defence Export Controls, which regulates. They coexist and are frequently confused.

Australian Defence Force

Navy, Army and Air Force. The uniformed organisation, as distinct from the Department of Defence.

Australian Defence Organisation

The ADF and the Department of Defence together. Useful when you need to refer to the whole enterprise rather than the uniformed part.

Australian Defence Science and Universities Network

The DSTG-coordinated network linking the state and territory defence research bodies. It is the map of where state-level defence research money sits.

Australian Government Security Vetting Agency

The central agency conducting security clearance assessments for Commonwealth, state and territory agencies. Sits within Defence. Its portal is myClearance. It no longer handles the top clearance tier.

Australian Industry Capability

The programme requiring tenderers and contractors to maximise Australian industry participation through contractually enforceable AIC Plans. An AIC Plan is mandatory where the tender is valued above $20 million, or where the procurement touches a Sovereign Defence Industrial Priority, regardless of value. For an SME, a prime's AIC obligation is one of the few structural reasons a prime has to find you.

Australian Industry and Defence Network

The national industry association for defence SMEs, run through state chapters. Advocacy, networking and prime introductions. For most small companies this is a faster route to a useful conversation than any government portal.

Australian Military Type Certificate

The predecessor to the Military Type Certificate. Certificates issued before 30 September 2016 remain valid unless replaced or withdrawn, but new certification runs through the MTC.

Australian National Audit Office

Audits Commonwealth programmes, including Defence acquisitions. ANAO performance audits are the most candid public account of how a major project actually went, and are free to read.

Australian Submarine Agency

The standalone agency acquiring, delivering and sustaining Australia's nuclear-powered submarine capability under AUKUS Pillar I. Established 1 July 2023. It sits outside the Defence Delivery Group consolidation, so submarine work runs on its own machinery.

Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator

Defence's in-house accelerator for moving emerging technology into ADF capability, sitting under the VCDF. Stood up on 1 July 2023, replacing both the Defence Innovation Hub and the Next Generation Technologies Fund. It runs three programmes: Missions, the Innovation Incubation Program, and the Emerging and Disruptive Technologies Program.

Australian Signals Directorate

The national signals intelligence and cyber security agency. Publishes the Information Security Manual and the Essential Eight. Its cyber security function is the Australian Cyber Security Centre.

Australian Standard for Defence Contracting

Defence's proforma suite of tendering and contracting templates, from Shortform through to Strategic Materiel. Read the relevant template before you bid, not after. It tells you what Defence will contractually require of you.

Australian Strategic Policy Institute

Independent strategic and defence policy analysis, partly funded by government and by industry.

Approach to Market

The umbrella term in the Commonwealth Procurement Rules for any notice inviting potential suppliers to participate. RFI, RFT, RFP, RFQ and EOI are all approaches to market.

AUKUS Authorised User

Registration status required before you can rely on the licence-free environment. Registration is a prerequisite, not a formality applied afterwards.

Australian Submarine Supplier Qualification Pilot

A related but distinct pilot delivered by HII Australia and H&B Defence, helping Australian businesses qualify into the US submarine supply chain.

AusTender

The Australian Government's central procurement portal, where approaches to market and awarded contracts are published.

Baseline security clearance

The entry-level Australian Government security clearance, giving access to information up to PROTECTED.

Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group

Acquired and sustained major platforms, equipment and systems. Merged into the Defence Delivery Group on 1 July 2026. Still the name most people say out loud.

Chief of the Defence Force

Military command and professional leadership of the ADF. Currently Admiral Mark Hammond AO RAN.

Centre for Defence Industry Capability

The former joint Defence and AusIndustry advisory and grants body, established 2016. Replaced by the Office of Defence Industry Support in 2021. Still turns up in out-of-date guidance.

Chief Information Officer Group

The former name of the Defence Digital Group. Renamed in 2023 and still widely used.

Capability Life Cycle

The former name for what is now the Defence Capability System. Expect to hear both for some years yet.

Commonwealth Procurement Rules

The core rules governing all Commonwealth procurement, made under the PGPA Act. The current edition is dated 17 November 2025, which raised the general procurement threshold from $80,000 to $125,000 and added a section on negotiations.

Defence Aviation Safety Authority

Australia's military aviation authority. It administers the Defence Aviation Safety Regulations and the Defence Aviation Safety Program, and issues the certificates and approvals without which nothing flies on Defence business.

Defence Aviation Safety Regulations

The regulations DASA administers, covering design, production, maintenance, continuing airworthiness and air operations for Defence aviation. Part 21 covers certification of products, parts and appliances.

Defence Capability System

The framework running from need identification through acquisition and sustainment to disposal. Renamed from the Capability Life Cycle in the 2026 reform. Note that DCS also stands for Direct Commercial Sales in an export context, which is an entirely different thing.

Defence Delivery Agency

The independent agency due to be established on 1 July 2027, reporting directly to ministers, which will replace the Defence Delivery Group.

Defence Delivery Group

The single delivery organisation for Defence acquisition and sustainment, formed on 1 July 2026 by merging CASG, the Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Group and the Naval Shipbuilding and Sustainment Group under the National Armaments Director. If a document still treats those three as separate groups, it predates July 2026.

Defence Export Controls

The regulator inside Defence for the export, supply, publication and brokering of controlled goods and technology. Not to be confused with the Australian Defence Export Office, which promotes exports rather than regulating them.

Defence Digital Group

Defence's information and digital organisation, renamed from the Chief Information Officer Group in 2023. Sometimes shortened to DDG in conversation.

The Defence diarchy

Joint leadership of the Australian Defence Organisation by the Secretary and the Chief of the Defence Force. Since 1 July 2026 a third line runs beside it: the National Armaments Director, who reports to ministers directly. Policy to the Secretary, force employment to the CDF, delivery to the NAD. Routing a conversation to the right one of the three signals you have done your homework.

Data Item Description

An ASDEFCON specification for a deliverable document, setting out exactly what a required report, plan or dataset must contain. Integrated Logistic Support data items carry the DID-ILS prefix.

Defence Industry Development Grants Program

Co-funded grants for SMEs aligned to the Sovereign Defence Industrial Priorities, across four streams: Sovereign Industrial Priorities, Skilling, Exports and Security. Grants run from $5,000 to $1 million at up to half the project cost. The Sovereign Industrial Priorities stream is temporarily closed and new guidelines are expected by 3 November 2026, so check the status before you build a plan around it.

Defence Industry Development Strategy

The policy setting out how Defence engages Australian industry, covering prioritisation, grants, skills and exports. The 2026 edition was released on 2 July 2026.

Defence Innovation Hub

Defence's former innovation contracting pathway. Closed in 2023 and absorbed into ASCA. Still referenced in older guidance and in a lot of pitch decks.

Defence Innovation Network

The New South Wales and ACT node, university-led across nine universities and established in 2017. Funds pilot projects, Strategic Investment Initiative projects, internships and joint grants.

Defence Trailblazer DINAMIC

An eighteen-month commercialisation pathway run by the University of Adelaide and UNSW, taking defence and dual-use technologies from research towards deployable capability.

Defence Innovation Partnership

The South Australian and Northern Territory node, a partnership of Defence SA, DSTG, the University of Adelaide and Flinders University. Runs the Collaborative Research Fund and the Activator Fund.

Defence Industry Security Program

The membership programme setting the security standards a business must meet to handle Defence classified information, assets or contracts. Membership is held at a level per domain, across governance, personnel, physical security, and ICT and cyber. The governance level must equal or exceed the highest of the others. The ICT and cyber domain requires Essential Eight Maturity Level 2 at every level. Overseas entities are not eligible.

DISP Level 1

Covers information classified up to PROTECTED. The first level at which a member can sponsor security clearances.

DISP Level 2

Covers information classified up to SECRET.

DISP Level 3

Covers information classified up to TOP SECRET.

Defence Industry Vendor Qualification

An Australian Submarine Agency programme qualifying Australian businesses into the AUKUS submarine supply chains, with qualification performed by General Dynamics Electric Boat and HII Newport News alongside ASC. Established 2024 and rolled out in waves. Note that it is a submarine programme, not a general Defence SME programme.

Defence Science Centre

The Western Australian node, sitting under Defence West in the state government. Runs Collaborative Research Grants, typically in the range of $50,000 to $200,000.

Defence and Strategic Goods List

The legislative list of controlled goods, software and technology. Part 1 covers munitions, Part 2 covers dual-use items across ten categories. The current instrument was made in August 2024.

Defence Science Institute

The Victorian and Tasmanian node, connecting universities and industry to Defence research needs.

Defence Security Principles Framework

Defence's own principles-based protective security framework, binding on Defence personnel and contractors. No longer publicly downloadable in full. DISP members access it through Defence, and only Principle 16, covering DISP itself, is published as a public extract.

Defence Strategic Review

The 2023 review that reset ADF posture and created the two-yearly National Defence Strategy cycle. Still cited as foundational, but the operative document is now the 2026 NDS.

Defence Science and Technology Group

Defence's in-house science, experimentation and technical advice. Also publishes the Technology Readiness Level definitions that Australian Defence grant programmes point applicants to.

Defence Seaworthiness Authority

The Chief of Navy, in the role of seaworthiness authority for Defence maritime capability.

Defence Seaworthiness Management System

The regulatory system governing seaworthiness across Defence maritime capability. The maritime counterpart to the aviation safety regime, and the reason a maritime technology faces a certification gate as real as an airworthiness one.

Defence Seaworthiness Regulator

The single regulator administering the Defence Seaworthiness Management System, a role held by Head Navy Engineering. This is the office an industry supplier actually deals with.

Defence Trade Controls Amendment Act 2024

Received Royal Assent on 8 April 2024, commenced on 1 September 2024, and criminal penalties took effect on 1 March 2025 after a six-month transition. It created the AUKUS licence-free environment and three new offences: supplying controlled technology to a non-exempt foreign person inside Australia, re-supplying previously exported sensitive items, and providing certain services to foreign nationals outside Australia.

Defence Trade Controls Act 2012

The Act controlling the intangible supply, publication and brokering of goods and technology on the Defence and Strategic Goods List. It applies to emailing a technical file or showing a slide to a foreign national, not only to shipping hardware.

Dual-use technology

Technology with both civilian and military application. The category matters commercially and legally. Commercially, it lets you build a business that is not wholly dependent on a defence procurement cycle. Legally, it is the trap most commercial founders do not see coming, because a product you think of as civilian can still sit on Part 2 of the Defence and Strategic Goods List and be export controlled.

Essential Eight

ASD's eight baseline mitigation strategies against cyber intrusion, with maturity levels from zero to three. DISP requires Maturity Level 2 in the ICT and cyber domain at every membership level, which for most small companies is the single largest hidden cost of getting DISP.

Export Administration Regulations

The US dual-use control regime, at 15 CFR, administered by the Bureau of Industry and Security. Its AUKUS changes took effect as an interim rule in April 2024 and remain an interim rule.

Emerging and Disruptive Technologies Program

ASCA's third programme stream, covering technologies earlier than a Mission and broader than a Challenge.

Export Finance Australia

The government's export credit agency. Loans, guarantees and bonds for Australian exporters, including defence.

Excluded Goods and Technologies List

The Australian list of items carved out of the AUKUS licence-free environment. If your technology is on it, the licence-free route does not apply to you.

DISP Entry Level

Covers information classified OFFICIAL and OFFICIAL:Sensitive. The critical practical limitation is that Entry Level membership cannot sponsor security clearances for your staff. If your people need clearances, you need Level 1 or above, and that changes your timeline and cost materially.

Expression of Interest

Usually the first stage of a multi-stage procurement, used to shortlist before a full tender.

Excluded Technology List

The US list of technologies ineligible for the ITAR AUKUS exemption. The US State Department assessed that around 18 per cent of Australian and UK licence requests would still not qualify. The Australian, UK and US exclusion lists deliberately do not align, so checking one does not tell you about the others.

Fundamental Inputs to Capability

The set of component inputs that have to be integrated to produce a usable military capability, of which equipment is only one. The point for a vendor is that supplying the hardware is a fraction of what Defence has to solve, and a proposal that ignores the rest reads as naive. The authoritative element list sat in the Defence Capability Manual, which is currently not publicly available.

First Pass and Second Pass

The two government approval decisions in a major capability programme. First Pass approves options for detailed development; Second Pass approves the chosen solution and the money. Knowing which side of Second Pass a programme sits on tells you whether you are in a position to influence a requirement or merely to respond to one.

Flow-down clause

A term of US origin for a prime contract obligation passed down to a subcontractor. It is heard in Australia and appears incidentally in some Defence documents, but it is not a defined ASDEFCON term.

Foreign Military Sales

The US government-to-government sales channel through which Australia buys a great deal of American equipment. Australian Industry Capability obligations are not waived because a purchase runs through FMS.

Foreground and Background intellectual property

The older model that split intellectual property into what existed before the contract and what was created during it. Defence has moved away from it in favour of the Technical Data and Intellectual Property framework, though it still appears in legacy contracts and in advice that has not been refreshed.

Gate Zero

An internal Defence decision point at the front of a capability programme, formally reinstated in the 2026 reform. Gates 1 and 2 follow, preceding the First Pass and Second Pass government decisions.

Government Furnished Material

Material, equipment, facilities, data or information the Commonwealth provides to a contractor to perform the contract. A defined term in ASDEFCON and a common source of schedule risk when it arrives late.

Global Supply Chain Program

Defence funds participating primes to run in-house teams that source export work packages for Australian suppliers. More than $2.35 billion has gone to over 307 Australian suppliers. Thirteen primes currently participate: Babcock, BAE Systems, Boeing, HII Australia, Kongsberg, L3Harris, Lockheed Martin, Moog, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon Australia, Rheinmetall, Saab and Thales.

Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance

Sovereign manufacture, acquisition and stockpile management of weapons, and one of the seven Sovereign Defence Industrial Priorities. The standalone Group merged into the Defence Delivery Group on 1 July 2026.

High Growth Incubation

The final stage of the Defence Trailblazer's DINAMIC pathway, providing follow-on funding to companies that complete the programme.

Integrated Investment Program

The costed, decade-long capability investment plan that funds the National Defence Strategy. Roughly $425 billion over the decade in the 2026 edition. If your technology is not traceable to a line in here, there is no budget behind the conversation.

Integrated Logistic Support

The discipline of designing support into a capability rather than bolting it on, covering spares, maintenance, training, documentation, facilities and supply. It appears throughout ASDEFCON as a category of contract data items.

ASCA Innovation Incubation Program

ASCA's open-call pathway. Requests for information and proposals issued against published challenge statements, followed by pitch days and test and evaluation trials. Individual activities are branded as Challenges. Note that ASCA's Innovation Incubation Program and the Integrated Investment Program both get shortened to IIP in conversation.

Integration Readiness Level

A US term with no Australian Defence definition. Australian Defence uses System Readiness Level in its place, which avoids the common error of importing the US IRL and SRL pairing wholesale.

Defence Innovation, Science and Technology Strategy

A ten-year blueprint for Defence innovation, launched on 4 August 2026. It names six priority technologies: long-range fires and hypersonic weapons, high-energy lasers, autonomous systems, quantum technology, artificial intelligence, and undersea warfare.

Information Security Manual

ASD's cyber security framework of principles and controls, applied through an organisation's own risk management framework. Updated regularly; the current release is dated September 2026.

International Traffic in Arms Regulations

The US regime controlling defense articles and services, at 22 CFR. The AUKUS exemption under section 126.7 became a final rule on 30 December 2025, superseding the interim rule from September 2024 that most secondary sources still cite.

Invitation to Register

A Defence and ASDEFCON-specific instrument used to register interested suppliers. It is not a term defined in the Commonwealth Procurement Rules, so it will not appear in general Commonwealth procurement guidance.

Joint Project

The prefix for a project spanning more than one domain, typically a joint enabler such as communications, command and control, or logistics rather than a single-service platform.

Licence-free environment

The AUKUS arrangement waiving permits for most military and dual-use goods and technology moving between Australia, the UK and the US. Five conditions all have to be met: an eligible AUKUS end user, supply to or receipt in one of the three countries, an item not on the excluded list or the Australian Military Sales Program, registration as an AUKUS Authorised User, and pre-notification to Defence.

Logistic Support Analysis

The analytical process behind Integrated Logistic Support, used to work out what support a system will need across its life. Covered in the Australian Defence standards DEF(AUST)5691 and 5692, which derive from the US MIL-STD-1388 series.

Materiel Acquisition Agreement

The internal equivalent of an MSA on the acquisition side. Its status under the redesigned Defence Capability System is not stated in the 2026 reform documents, so treat any reference to it as needing a date check.

MADE portal

The Defence portal through which export permit applications and licence-free environment pre-notifications are lodged.

Military Air Operator Certificate

The certificate authorising a Military Air Operator to conduct military air operations, with an attached Operations Specification setting what is permitted. All Defence-registered aircraft must operate under one.

ASCA Missions

VCDF-endorsed, roughly three-year programmes with performance targets and off-ramps, aimed at delivering a specific capability. Named missions have included Black Thorn, Syracuse, Indra, Sea Spear, Talon Strike and Ghost Shark.

Manufacturing Readiness Level

A one-to-ten US Department of Defense scale of manufacturing maturity, widely quoted in Australian conversation.

Materiel Sustainment Agreement

The internal customer and supplier agreement between a Capability Manager and the delivery organisation covering sustainment. Confirmed as the core sustainment control mechanism under the 2026 reform.

Military Type Certificate

The certificate issued by DASA under DASR 21 establishing that an aircraft type meets the applicable airworthiness requirements, accompanied by a Type Certificate Data Sheet. Related instruments include the Military Supplemental Type Certificate for modifications, and Military Design and Production Organisation Approvals.

myClearance

The AGSVA portal through which security clearance applications and maintenance are managed.

National Armaments Director

The single accountable head of Defence capability acquisition and sustainment, reporting directly to ministers. The post is currently filled in an acting capacity while recruitment for the permanent appointment continues.

National Defence Strategy

The government's top-level statement of defence strategy and the capability priorities that flow from it. Published every two years. The current edition was released on 16 April 2026; the next is due in 2028.

Next Generation Technologies Fund

Defence's former research and innovation fund. Ceased on 1 July 2023, with its functions absorbed into ASCA.

National Reconstruction Fund

The government's $15 billion investment vehicle, with defence capability among its named priority areas. Equity, debt and guarantees rather than grants, so it behaves like an investor and will ask investor questions.

Naval Shipbuilding and Sustainment Group

Continuous naval shipbuilding and maritime sustainment. Merged into the Defence Delivery Group on 1 July 2026.

Negative Vetting Level 1

A security clearance giving access to information up to SECRET, and in some cases temporary access to TOP SECRET. Not renamed in the 2025 changes.

Negative Vetting Level 2

A security clearance giving access to information up to TOP SECRET. Not renamed in the 2025 changes.

Office of Defence Industry Support

Defence's advisory front door for SMEs. Regional advisers give guidance, mentoring and help navigating grants and procurement. It replaced the Centre for Defence Industry Capability in 2021.

Original Equipment Manufacturer

The company that made the original equipment, as distinct from those who maintain, modify or supply parts for it. The distinction matters in sustainment, where OEM data rights often determine whether anyone else can support a platform at all.

Panel arrangement

A multi-supplier standing offer. Getting onto a panel is not a sale. Each purchase from a panel is a separate procurement requiring its own value-for-money demonstration, so the work of winning starts after you are on it.

Portfolio Budget Statements

The annual Budget paper setting out Defence appropriations, outcomes and programs. The plainest public document for seeing what is actually funded rather than merely announced.

Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013

The Act under which the Commonwealth Procurement Rules are made and Commonwealth entities are governed.

Project phase

A discrete, separately approved tranche of scope and funding inside a larger project, which is why LAND 400 Phase 2 and Phase 3 were separate acquisitions with separate decisions and separate winners.

AUKUS Pillar I

Australia's acquisition of a conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarine capability. Delivered through the Australian Submarine Agency rather than the main Defence delivery machinery.

AUKUS Pillar II

The development and delivery of advanced capabilities across quantum, advanced cyber, electronic warfare, undersea warfare, autonomy and artificial intelligence, and hypersonics and counter-hypersonics. For most deep tech companies, Pillar II is the relevant door.

Prime contractors

The large system integrators that hold the major Defence contracts. Defence typically buys an end capability; a prime typically buys components and subassemblies. Working out which of the two you are selling to is usually more important than working out who to email.

LAND, SEA, AIR, JP, DEF and SPA project numbers

Defence names major projects with a domain prefix and a number, such as LAND 400, SEA 3000 or AIR 6500. LAND is Army and land systems, SEA is Navy and maritime, AIR is Air Force and air, JP is a joint project spanning more than one domain, DEF is a Defence-wide enabling project, and SPA has begun appearing for space. The convention survived the 2026 reforms unchanged.

Protective Security Policy Framework

The whole-of-government mandatory protective security policy for Commonwealth entities. Release 2026 was issued on 1 July 2026 and is owned by the Department of Home Affairs.

Positive Vetting

The former highest clearance tier, being replaced by TOP SECRET-Privileged Access. Still issuable during the transition, so both terms are currently in use.

Queensland Defence Science Alliance

The Queensland node, established in 2021 across seven Queensland universities.

Request for Information

A market-scanning approach that gathers information rather than selecting a supplier. Responding well to an RFI is how you get into the thinking before a requirement hardens.

Request for Proposal

An approach to market that invites proposed solutions rather than pricing against a fixed specification. More common where Defence knows the problem but not the answer.

Request for Quote

A simple price request, typically for lower-value or well-defined purchases.

Request for Tender

A formal invitation to submit a tender against a defined requirement. By the time you see one, the requirement has usually already been shaped.

Small Business Innovation Research for Defence

A two-stage grant scheme run under the Next Generation Technologies Fund, with a feasibility stage followed by an invited proof-of-concept stage. The NGTF ceased in 2023 and no project activities are currently scheduled, so treat SBIRD as dormant rather than live.

Sovereign Defence Industrial Priorities

The seven industrial capabilities the government has decided Australia must hold onshore. Aircraft maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade; continuous naval shipbuilding and sustainment; the combined-arms land system; guided weapons, explosive ordnance and munitions manufacture; autonomous systems; battlespace awareness and management systems; and test, evaluation, certification and assurance.

Sovereign Industrial Capability Priorities

The pre-2024 framework that the SDIPs replaced. The associated grant stream is closed. Still appears in older tender documents and consultant decks, which is usually a sign the document has not been refreshed since 2023.

Small to medium enterprise

In Commonwealth procurement, an Australian or New Zealand business with fewer than 200 full-time equivalent employees. The definition matters because SME participation targets and reporting are written against it.

Space project prefix

A newer domain prefix used for space projects, appearing for example in SPA 9102, the narrowband satellite communications requirement that went to market in September 2026.

System Readiness Level

A one-to-nine scale of system maturity that includes integration with other systems, extended from TRLs by DSTO. Australian Defence uses SRL where US literature would reach for Integration Readiness Level. The source handbook dates from 2010, so currency is uncertain.

Standing offer

An arrangement setting the terms, conditions and pricing basis under which a supplier agrees to supply for a specified period.

Subcontractor and Approved Subcontractor

Defined terms in ASDEFCON. An Approved Subcontractor is one nominated in and approved under the contract. Obligations reach you through the prime being required to ensure its subcontracts achieve a given outcome, such as the treatment of intellectual property created under the subcontract.

Sustainment

Keeping a capability operating, supported and upgraded across its life. Defence's own preferred term for what industry often calls through-life support, and the reason the acquisition value of a platform is usually the smaller number.

Test and Evaluation

The activity that establishes whether a system does what it is claimed to do, under conditions that matter. Defence published a Test and Evaluation Strategy in 2021 setting a target state for 2030.

ASDEFCON Technical Data and Intellectual Property framework

The current framework governing intellectual property in Defence contracts. It works item by item across Technical Data, Software and Contract Material rather than by categorising IP as foreground or background. The contractor generally owns new intellectual property created under the contract, and the Commonwealth takes a broad licence for Defence purposes rather than for commercial exploitation.

Team Defence Australia

Austrade and Defence's joint export-facilitation programme. Free exhibition space at international trade shows, market insight and introductions. The cheapest way to appear at a major show under a national banner.

Technical Data and Software Rights Schedule

Attachment G to an ASDEFCON contract, recording any restrictions on the Commonwealth's rights in your technical data and software. Tenderers are required to submit a draft with their tender.

Technical Data

A defined term in ASDEFCON covering technical or scientific data, know-how or information in material form relating to the system, including calculations, databases, designs, drawings, handbooks, manuals, models, plans, reports, specifications, standards, training materials and test results. It includes source code. It excludes financial, contract-management and administrative data.

Tier 1, 2 and 3 suppliers

The industry tiering defined in the Defence Industry Development Strategy. Tier 1 is prime system integrators delivering a platform, system or product. Tier 2 is businesses delivering major equipment, systems, assemblies and services, subdivided in the 2026 edition into Tier 2a for functional sub-systems, Tier 2b for major sub-assemblies and Tier 2c for assemblies with specific functions. Tier 3 is parts, consumables and enabling services.

Through Life Support

Industry shorthand for supporting a capability across its whole life.

Technology Readiness Level

A one-to-nine scale of technology maturity, from basic principles observed through to a system proven in its real operating environment. DSTG publishes the Australian definitions that Defence grant programmes point applicants to.

TOP SECRET-Privileged Access

The replacement for Positive Vetting, announced on 20 November 2025, with a vetting authority managed within ASIO. The transition is phased. Note that Baseline, NV1 and NV2 were not renamed, and some Defence pages still describe the old four-level structure.

Technology Transfer Office

The university office that manages intellectual property and licensing. If your technology originated in a university, the TTO's position on IP will shape every commercial conversation you have afterwards.

Venture capital and strategic investors

Not an acronym worth explaining, but worth flagging as a category. Australian defence-focused venture capital is less mature than in the US or Europe, and local capital typically wants later-stage proof than a defence sales cycle allows. This mismatch, not a lack of technology, is what pushes Australian founders to raise offshore.

Vice Chief of the Defence Force

Enterprise-level capability development, force design and preparedness. ASCA sits under this office, which is why VCDF matters to innovators more than the title suggests. Currently Air Marshal Robert Chipman.