ADM is delighted to announce the finalists of the Women in Defence Awards 2023.
Our panel of judges were thrilled to see the incredibly diverse, talented and high-calibre group of individuals nominated this year, from uniformed personnel and Australian Public Service members, to women in a range of roles in Defence industry in both primes and SMEs.
Across all categories, judges looked for entries that demonstrated outstanding success in their careers and particularly in 2022; showed a commitment to values and behaviours that led to success; overcame personal challenges; and went above and beyond their position descriptions to advance the reputation of the defence sector or to mentor and guide others. Each category’s unique judging panel also considered more specific challenges and circumstances to arrive at a list of finalists, all of whom are outstanding in their fields.
To be awarded to the defence community’s most outstanding female individual working within the communications/marketing/stakeholder engagement field.
- Deanna Nott of Wings Public Relations and the Royal Australian Air Force
- Jessica Craig of the Royal Australian Navy
- Kristie Lavery of Elysium EPL
- Meilin Loi of Leidos
- Sarah Cullens of Precision Public Affairs
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.
- Andrea House of Airbus Australia Pacific
- Julia Dickinson of Lockheed Martin Australia
- Lauren Hassall of KBR
- Wendy Beeston of BAE Systems Australia
To be awarded to the defence community’s most outstanding female working within a senior management level.
- Alison Inglis of Raytheon Australia
- Belinda Wilson of Bravery Trust
- Deanne Barnett of Northrop Grumman Australia
- Lee de Winton of Pacific Aerospace Consulting
To be awarded to the defence community’s most outstanding indigenous individual female working in any field.
- Jasmine Newman of Killara Services
- Kezia Smith of Ventia
- Rhiannon Busch of JY Australia
- Rikki Cooper of BGIS
- Vanessa Lee Cheu of the Royal Australian Navy
To be awarded to the defence community’s most outstanding female individual working within the legal/contracting field.
- Anne Hough of Boeing Defence Australia
- Elizabeth Cooke of the Royal Australian Navy
- Ebony-Jade Dignan of NIOA
- Lisa Cornell of BAE Systems Australia
- Tamara Ritchie of Lockheed Martin Australia
To be awarded to the Defence Community’s most outstanding female individual to recognize efforts of women in deployed/remote areas with a focus on logistics, services and support roles.
- Gemma Casserly of the Royal Australian Navy
- Hannah Crossley of Downer Defence
- Ping Goodwin of BAE Systems Australia
- Tania Osborn of the Australian Army
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.
- Christine Gillon of KBR
- Kylie McGuinness of the Royal Australian Navy
- Lizette Bull of Ventia
To be awarded to the defence community’s most outstanding female individual working within project management.
- Caroline Chai of Saab Australia
- Catherine Woodward of Leidos Australia
- Kelly Poniris of JLL
- Lara Perkovic of the Australian Army
- Tracey Clavell of BAE Systems Australia
To be awarded to the defence community’s most outstanding individual academic or researcher working on Defence related matters.
- Amanda Lax of Informatech
- Carly Geer of BAE Systems Australia
- Jessica Caston of BAE Systems Australia
- Karen Blackmore of the University of Newcastle
- Rachel Horne of Trusted Autonomous Systems
To be awarded to the defence community’s most outstanding female individual aged under 30 years (as of 31st December 2022).
- Abbie Smith of Penten
- Jamie Lord of the Royal Australian Navy
- Jasmine Aspinall of the Royal Australian Navy
- Kaylee Verrier of Defence Space Command
- Lara Stevens of Boeing Defence Australia
To be awarded to the defence community’s most outstanding female individual working within operations, production or trade fields.
- Clare 'Odie' O'Driscoll of Northrop Grumman Australia
- Jacqueline Hempfing of Leidos Australia
- Tanya Alempijevic of Serco Australia
We'd like to extend a huge 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 from Friday 8 September.
The winners and Hall of Fame inductee will be announced at a gala dinner at The National Arboretum Canberra on 25 October 2023. Book your tickets here – we hope to see you there!