Albanese Government
Australian Labor government led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese since May 2022, with a major AUKUS and defence investment mandate.
Last refreshed: 30 April 2026
- How much is Australia spending on counter-drones?
- The Albanese Government committed up to A$7 billion over ten years to counter-drone capabilities, announced on 21 April 2026 as part of a wider A$22 billion drone and autonomous-systems envelope inside the 2026 Integrated Investment Program.Source: Australian Defence Ministers media release
- What is the Albanese Government's defence policy?
- The government's defence posture is shaped by the AUKUS partnership, the 2023 Defence Strategic Review, and the 2024 National Defence Strategy, which prioritise sovereign industrial capability, Indo-Pacific focus, and major investment in autonomous systems and counter-drone technologies.Source: Australian Government
- What is AUKUS and how does Australia's government relate to it?
- AUKUS is a trilateral security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, signed in 2021 under the Morrison Government and continued by the Albanese Government. Its Pillar I provides Australia with nuclear-powered submarine capability; Pillar II covers advanced technologies including autonomous systems and quantum.Source: Australian Government
- When did Anthony Albanese become Prime Minister of Australia?
- Anthony Albanese became Prime Minister in May 2022 after Labor won the federal election, defeating Scott Morrison's Coalition government after nine years in opposition.Source: Australian Electoral Commission
Background
The Albanese Government is the executive government of Australia formed following the Labor Party's victory at the May 2022 federal election, with Anthony Albanese as Prime Minister. It succeeded the nine-year Morrison-era Coalition government and has since pursued a substantial restructuring of Australia's defence posture, anchored by the AUKUS partnership, successive defence reviews, and a programme of integrated investment exceeding A$300 billion over the decade. On 21 April 2026, the government announced a commitment of up to A$7 billion over the next decade to counter-drone capabilities, embedded within a wider A$22 billion drone, counter-drone and autonomous-systems envelope inside the 2026 Integrated Investment Program (IIP), a 69% increase on the A$13 billion committed in the 2024 IIP .
The 2023 Defence Strategic Review and the 2024 National Defence Strategy framed Australia's threat environment as the most challenging since the Second World War, identifying the Indo-Pacific as the primary theatre and sovereign capability as the central objective. The 2026 IIP, from which the A$22 billion drone and counter-drone envelope is drawn, translates those reviews into funded programmes. Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy announced the first ASCA Mission Syracuse contracts under the counter-drone commitment: A$21.3 million to AIM Defence for the Fractl high-powered laser and A$10.4 million to SYPAQ Systems for the Corvo Strike loitering interceptor, both integrating into the Australian Defence Force's Land 156 battle management network .
The government's defence investment trajectory makes Australia the third major non-US national C-UAS programme alongside Britain's £4 billion commitment and the EU AGILE plan. The Albanese Government's approach has emphasised sovereign industrial capability over direct US equipment imports for prioritised technology categories, a posture reflected in the ASCA Mission Syracuse seed awards to Australian SMEs. This positions the government's defence policy as structurally distinct from the preceding Coalition government's preference for off-the-shelf US acquisitions, with consequences for which domestic firms participate in the follow-on A$22 billion procurement cycle through 2035.
