Defence Teaming Centre program builds the next generation of leaders

Tucked away in Lot Fourteen’s Tech Central is the city office of Southern Launch, one of the first major movers in Australia’s own commercial space industry.

Founded in 2017, the company made history just three years later when it conducted Australia’s first commercial rocket launch from its Koonibba Test Range in South Australia.

From there, Southern Launch has gone from strength to strength, conducting regular rocket launches and world-first space missions, including four orbital re-entries of medicine-making spacecraft to the Koonibba Test Range. There have been many firsts along the journey, and Southern Launch is demonstrating that Australia’s commercial space industry is here right now and will only expand as its capabilities grow.

Leadership training available at Lot Fourteen supports employee upskilling

General Manager Sales and Marketing, Amy Featherston, has grown with the company. Starting as Southern Launch’s sole communications and media practitioner four years ago, she has stepped up to manage a team of five people. She is proud of the company and her role in its success.

“We think of ourselves as the trailblazers,” Amy said. “We’ve taken on all the hurdles and hopefully cleared the path for others to follow.”

In 2024, Amy sought industry-specific leadership training to help her move up through the organisation. She found it in the Defence Industry Leadership Program (DILP), offered by fellow Lot Fourteen tenant the Defence Teaming Centre.

The annual nine-month part-time DILP program combines formal leadership and management training, group projects, defence industry insights and visits.

Running since 2010, the course is recognised as Australia’s flagship program for those moving into defence industry leadership, featuring a 400-strong alumni and Federal Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy as patron. Partly funded by the South Australian Government, the program now features scholarships for Australian Defence Force veterans in partnership with Veterans SA.

Like many leadership programs, DILP training makes participants aware of their own personality and management style. Unlike most, the course also awards a nationally recognised management and leadership qualification.

But although it was the skills that attracted Amy to DILP, one of the greatest benefits came from somewhere unexpected.

Making connections is a valuable part of the leadership coursework

“I think what I was expecting was to sit through some workshops and come out with that certificate in leadership,” she said. “What I wasn’t expecting was the connections you make with your cohort.”

“Over the year, you see how much you grow, and you do that with the people around you. I think that is quite a unique thing about this program; it forces you to be vulnerable, but you also see other people being vulnerable. And they’re the leadership qualities I think you actually want – that understanding of how other people operate, how to lead them, but also how to know that you yourself aren’t at your best and how to adapt your leadership style to ensure that you keep everyone on track.”

For Amy, a move into leadership wasn’t instant upon completing DILP. But it helped her prepare.

“It’s been a pretty rapid growth into being a leader, but I think DILP gave me the groundwork to take that on with confidence,” she said.

With DILP graduates often moving into senior industry leadership roles, the bond of shared experience can be ongoing years after completion of the program, even without constant contact.

“It’s actually a genuine connection. We don’t just meet up and talk at industry events, it’s actually ‘no, we went through the trenches together, I don’t need to see you every day or week or month, but if I needed some help I could call you’.”

Applications for the 2027 Defence Industry Leadership Program will open in mid-July. See dtc.org.au for more information.