Portfolio — 23 July 2026

The Minister for Pacific Island Affairs and Minister for Defence Industry, Mr Conroy, announced the construction of an 11-storey Defence HQ Innovation Centre at Lot Fourteen in Adelaide, the centrepiece of a package of co-funded infrastructure investments designed to concentrate defence, space and critical technology capability in South Australia [TA-260722-infras-b9f582e7a330:m249127].

The building will house three co-located projects with a combined value exceeding $100 million. BAE Systems Australia will relocate its South Australian headquarters into the facility, giving the precinct a major prime-contractor anchor [TA-260722-infras-b9f582e7a330:m249127]. The $60 million Australian Defence Technologies Academy — split equally between the Australian and South Australian governments — forms the largest single investment, pairing federal and state funding to build sovereign workforce capability directly linked to AUKUS commitments.

The $24.5 million Innovation Hub, jointly funded by both governments and operated by the University of Adelaide, is structured to bridge research, industry and government — a model the portfolio has used elsewhere to accelerate technology transition. A $20 million SpaceBase, fully funded by the South Australian Government, rounds out the precinct and reflects South Australia's separate ambition to cement its position in the national space sector.

Construction is expected to complete by end of 2028, with the Lot Fourteen workforce projected to more than double to over 3,000 people [TA-260722-infras-b9f582e7a330:m249127]. The announcement signals a deliberate portfolio strategy: use co-funded physical infrastructure and university-industry partnerships as the vehicle for embedding AUKUS-relevant capability in a single precinct, rather than dispersing investment across multiple sites.

The concentration of BAE Systems, a major AUKUS industrial partner, alongside an academy and a research hub in one building strengthens the precinct's credibility as an integrated capability node rather than a collection of separate grants.