Working together on solutions.
National defence means working together to create solutions, and it is up to us in industry to work towards our national outcomes. When arrangements currently rely on supply chains that include offshore components, it is up to us work together to provide Australian solutions.
Defence Nutrition Australia is proud to apply our experience to the Australian food industry to uplift and harden our national capability in a collaborative effort. We see this as an essential step in the right direction as we are facing the most unpredictable and dangerous strategic environment in decades.
Industry Membership
In response to the strategic challenges we are facing today, membership is designed to provide an avenue for the Australian food industry to uplift their capability and provide support to the nation in times of need. With a two levels of participation, a yearly membership providing a strategic industry connection and our cornerstone ‘Uplift’ partnership dedicated support for organisational uplift, both levels of access propels the industry towards our national outcomes and your organisational resilience.
Involve
Yearly membership - Open for applications now.
This yearly industry membership is designed for organisations seeking a deeper strategic connection into the evolving Defence, food security, and national resilience landscape. More than a traditional membership, it provides a pathway for organisations looking to strengthen operational resilience, identify emerging opportunities, and contribute to Australia’s broader national capability outcomes.
Members become part of a growing ecosystem focused on sovereign food capability, Defence sustainment, and industry uplift, gaining access to exclusive programs, specialist training, curated insights, and collaborative initiatives designed to build practical capability over time.
Membership is also about active participation. By contributing ideas, feedback, and capability into the broader conversation, members help shape industry-wide solutions that strengthen both their own competitive advantage and Australia’s long-term resilience.
Membership features
✓ Personalised introduction and onboarding to program once membership approved.
✓ Access to Members Portal for digital content to uplift your capability.
✓ ‘Involve’ level National Outcome progress updates.
✓ Access to Industry Uplift Program knowledge hub.
✓ Contribute to problem solving and provide solutions towards national outcomes.
✓ Access to Defence Nutrition Australia strategy sessions.
✓ Industry Uplift preparation online modules
Uplift: Designed for key industry partners
Our dedicated uplift program is designed to provide hands on support to key industry partners who can provide direct capability to our food security, national security and total defence. With the 6-phase supply uplift program as the cornerstone of this tier, it is a strategic partnership for organisations that can directly contribute to national food security, defence resilience, and capability outcomes. Partners receive full access to data and insights, direct advocacy and integration into strategic discussions, validation and testing pathway.
This tier is intentionally limited and tailored to organisations prepared to operate at a national capability level. For key industry partners who can provide direct capability to our food security, national security and total defence. This tier allows us to work with individual organisations directly in a 1:1 ratio, bringing a hands on approach for direct results. It links industry into national outcomes for national defence, ration supply and to build your revenue capability.
Operations: We will provide analysis, training and assistance to your operations to uplift towards a resilient standing in a combative world and preparation to supply in a defence context. Understand concepts such as information as a resource, cognitive security and information security as key elements in total defence and defence supply.
Advocacy: You will have access to our discussions towards ration supply and total defence. Our initiative is at the forefront of national security and food security, driving the discussion into decision makers and connecting with our university ecosystem to support operations. This includes at a ministerial level, national research connections and driving the discussions to decision makers.
Involvement: Get bespoke access to our key programs designed to drive innovation and capability. Find your products being tested by consumers, join other ‘Uplift’ participants in our monthly webinars, including being joined by nationally recognised speakers, thought leaders and subject matter experts.
Uplift - Complete Industry Uplift Program
Contact Defence Nutrition Australia to discuss your needs and access to this unique membership program.
For key industry partners who can provide direct capability to our food security, national security and total defence.
✓ A full upgrade from ‘Involve’ providing unparalleled access.
✓ Cornerstone 6-Phase supply uplift program supplied in person.
✓ Uplift courses including cyber and security assessment in person.
✓ R&D advocacy and activity integration.
✓ Direct advocacy in and integration in strategic discussions.
✓ Uplift webinars with industry experts providing one on one access.
✓ Sovereign Supply Accelerator access.
✓ Full access to our data and insights to drive operational success.
✓ Design input and early access to a suite of new innovative industry products.
Industry Uplift Fund: Providing direct operational support for our national outcomes
Industry Uplift Fund: Direct contributions into the fund provides support to keep Defence Nutrition Australia’s operations running and working for our national outcomes. This includes funds for matched grants, operational activities, provide training and administration support.
Defence Nutrition Australia offers targeted corporate support opportunities for organisations seeking to contribute to nationally significant outcomes in food security, supply chain resilience, and Defence-adjacent capability. This opportunity is designed for organisations that wish to make a values-aligned contribution beyond memberships, with contributions demonstrating national leadership, strategic responsibility, and commitment to long-term national outcomes. At any one time, Defence Nutrition Australia has numerous projects that can assist from support. For a corporate presentation on our activities to be delivered, contact Defence Nutrition Australia.
Industry Uplift Fund contributions are distinct from memberships or subscriptions and do not confer commercial, procurement, or preferential access benefits; contributors should seek their own advice regarding tax treatment. Defence Nutrition Australia is not a registered charity. Contributions are contained in a separate account and supported by an ‘Industry Uplift Fund – Management Charter’. The charter can be accessed by emailing Defence Nutrition Australia at [email protected] prior to entering a contribution. Defence Nutrition Australia is listed as a lobby organisation, though it is not our primary function, we are involved in advocacy for change as an industry body representing our industry as a whole. Our activities are solely for the industry and our stated national outcomes. Defence Nutrition Australia seeks to discuss policy, procurement, funding and other related government functions in accordance with it’s stated purposes, aims, future directions and community growth. We actively engage in correspondence with the Commonwealth to advocate for our national outcomes. Defence Nutrition Australia will not communicate with government on behalf of a contributor.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
General
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Defence Nutrition Australia is a collaborative initiative focused on strengthening food security, supply resilience, and nutritional capability in support of the Commonwealth, national resilience, and broader industry outcomes.
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The Defence Nutrition Australia Industry Uplift Program applies the same distributed, high-adaptability model that has proven decisive in Ukraine, where crowd-sourced ideas, funding and contributions enabled rapid innovation in logistics, medical support, nutrition and field technology. By creating fast information-pull loops, where frontline needs drive development rather than waiting for centralised procurement, Ukraine achieved exceptional strategic flexibility, allowing new solutions to be fielded, refined and redeployed faster than adversaries could respond. This produced powerful asymmetric advantages, where relatively small investments delivered disproportionate operational effects against a much larger force. The Industry Uplift Program brings this approach to Australia’s food security and Defence sustainment, enabling many contributors across agriculture, manufacturing, science and logistics to collectively strengthen sovereign supply chains, resilience and readiness as part of Total Defence.
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Memberships are designed for individuals, SMEs, and organisations across the food, agriculture, logistics, manufacturing, technology, and related sectors who want to:
Contribute to nationally significant outcomes
Improve operational resilience
Gain Defence-aligned insight
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Involve are broadly accessible to most organisations and requires an application prior to entry.
Uplift is selective and available to organisations able to contribute directly to capability and national outcomes.
Involve
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SMEs and mid-market organisations
Manufacturers, processors, and suppliers
Organisations seeking Defence-aligned resilience and insight but do not know where to start.
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Involve includes access to uplift courses, including cyber and security assessment pathways. Specific assessments may vary by organisation and engagement scope and are costed out separately.
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Involve replaces multiple standalone costs (training, assessments, industry programs) with a single, integrated membership that provides ongoing access and participation. It requires a full year of access to get the full benefits.
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As the courses are online facilitated, we can offer them at a lower costs and being online means we can provide flexibility in delivery without imposing travel costs or arrangements. It is recognised that online experiences vary from in-person and this is also factored into those costs.
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Involve membership gives access to online resources where as the uplift courses are hands on, online facilitated with Defence Nutrition Australia. Your Involve membership gives you access and eligibility to uplift programs. Individual courses are priced separately to reflect the real cost of delivery, ensuring fairness and quality without inflating membership fees.
Uplift
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Uplift is a strategic partnership, not a standard membership.
It is designed for organisations able to contribute capability, innovation, or scale toward national food security and Defence resilience.
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Uplift partnerships are limited and tailored to ensure alignment, trust, and meaningful contribution. Pricing reflects scope, integration, and impact.
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Uplift partners may:
Participate in strategic discussions
Contribute to R&D and capability development
Align with national outcomes
This does not guarantee procurement or contracts.
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No. Membership at any level does not guarantee procurement, contracts, or preferential treatment.
Participation is capability and outcomes-focused, not transactional.
Pricing & Value
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These memberships go beyond networking and newsletters by offering:
Structured uplift programs
Defence-aligned insight
Capability development
National outcome participation
This places Involve and Engage above standard industry associations in value and impact.
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In some cases, SME or early-partner rates may be available. These are handled on a case-by-case basis.
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In most cases, yes. Memberships are typically categorised as professional development, training, or industry participation expenses.
Defence Nutrition memberships are provided as professional and industry participation services. Members should seek their own accounting and tax advice regarding deductibility.
Industry Uplift Fund
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The Defence Nutrition Australia Industry Uplift Fund exists to support public-interest work that strengthens Australia’s food security, Defence readiness, and national resilience, work that cannot be reliably funded through memberships, consulting, or commercial programs alone.
Australia’s military and national resilience depend on secure, sovereign food supply chains, skilled industry, and collaboration between Defence, science and Australian producers. The Fund enables Defence Nutrition Australia to pursue these national outcomes through research, engagement, capability development, and industry coordination.
Contributions allow organisations and individuals to demonstrate leadership and long-term commitment to Australia’s Defence and food security objectives beyond normal commercial participation.
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Crowdfunding has been a highly visible and effective mechanism in Ukraine, where global supporters and Ukrainian citizens have contributed directly to critical needs, including humanitarian aid, medical supplies, and defence equipment, through transparent, mission-driven platforms. These contributions enabled rapid delivery of essential capabilities outside traditional government funding cycles and demonstrated how collective support can meaningfully augment national resilience.
Similarly, the Industry Uplift Fund is designed to enable public-interest contributions toward Australia’s food security, Defence readiness, and sovereign industry capability. While not a defence procurement vehicle and not tied to military equipment purchases, the Fund shares the same underlying principle: enabling collective support for national resilience goals that are not easily funded through normal commercial or government channels. Just as contributors in Ukraine backed specific capability outcomes with transparency and purpose, supporters of the Industry Uplift Fund help underwrite strategic work, such as research, capability development, industry engagement and policy-neutral advocacy that strengthens Australia’s long-term capacity to sustain Defence operations and national resilience.
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No.
The Industry Uplift Fund does not support:
Political campaigning
Electoral activity
Party-political advocacy
Defence procurement, contracting, or tender outcomes
It exists solely to support political-neutral industry capability, national resilience, and Defence readiness in the public interest.
Defence Nutrition Australia engages with government, Defence, science and industry in the same way any responsible national industry body does, through research, submissions, dialogue and collaboration, independently, transparently and lawfully.
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No.
Contributions to the Industry Uplift Fund do not provide any right to direct, shape, approve, or influence Defence Nutrition Australia’s policy positions, advocacy activities, or engagement with Defence, government, or regulators.
The Fund is governed independently and exists to support public-interest outcomes, not private agendas. Donors do not receive preferential treatment, commercial advantage, Defence access, or influence over priorities.
All advocacy and engagement is conducted independently and in the national interest, not on behalf of contributors.
All donors agree to the above legal framework prior to any involvement.
Getting Started
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Involve and Uplift memberships are accessed via enquiry to ensure alignment and appropriate onboarding.
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Contact Defence Nutrition Australia via the enquiry form or listed contact details to discuss the most appropriate membership tier – [email protected].
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Industry Uplift Fund contributions are distinct from memberships or subscriptions and do not confer commercial, procurement, or preferential access benefits; contributors should seek their own advice regarding tax treatment. Defence Nutrition Australia is not a registered charity. Contributions are contained in a separate account and supported by an ‘Industry Uplift Fund – Management Charter’. The charter can be accessed by emailing Defence Nutrition Australia at [email protected] prior to entering a contribution. Defence Nutrition Australia is listed as a lobby organisation, though it is not our primary function, we are involved in advocacy for change as an industry body representing our members. Our activities are solely for the industry and our stated national outcomes. Defence Nutrition Australia seeks to discuss policy, procurement, funding and other related government functions in accordance with it’s stated purposes, aims, future directions and community growth. We actively engage in correspondence with the Commonwealth to advocate for our national outcomes. Defence Nutrition Australia will not communicate with government on behalf of a contributor.
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Defence Nutrition Australia does seek to discuss policy, procurement, funding and other related government functions in accordance with it’s stated purposes, aims, future directions and community growth. We actively engage in correspondence with Defence and the commonwealth to advocate for our national outcomes.
All engagement is conducted in accordance with applicable probity, integrity, and lobbying frameworks, and is focused on capability alignment, transparency, and public-interest outcomes. Defence Nutrition Australia will maintain registration on Australian Government Register of Lobbyists.
Defence Nutrition Australia will not communicate with government on behalf of a client.
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Email Defence Nutrition Australia membership for membership terms [email protected]
Governance & Sensitivity
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No. All information shared is unclassified and appropriate for industry engagement. Information is the result of a number of years research and is all opensource, related to the public domain and the public interest. Sensitive topics are handled responsibly and within appropriate boundaries.
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Intel Circle forums are moderated and governed by participation guidelines to ensure constructive, respectful, and secure discussion.
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Engage subscriptions can be cancelled quarterly.
Involve is an annual commitment.
Uplift is negotiated on a separate contract.
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