Session 2.3c Update: Defence CIS Workforce in 2026: Market Realities for Employers and SMEs
Tracks
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| Wednesday, November 18, 2026 |
| 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM |
| Menzies Theatre |
Presentation Outline
Australia's defence CIS workforce is not behaving the way the job ads suggest. Advertised roles are down. The shortage has not gone away. And the conditions facing employers and SMEs today are more complex than a single market narrative can capture.
This presentation draws on Kinexus' Defence Industry Insights report, built on more than 30,000 conversations per year with employers and candidates across the Australian defence industry. Now in its 12th edition, it provides one of the most comprehensive longitudinal data sets available on defence workforce trends, salary movements, clearance patterns, and workforce sentiment. For employers, it examines the gap between clearance population growth and genuine capability growth, the impact of the APS growth agenda on contractor availability, and the latest data on hiring conditions and retention pressures.
For SMEs, it draws on current market data to examine business pressures, workforce availability, and growth outlook — and what the numbers say about where the sector is heading. Both audiences will leave with a grounded, data-led read on where the defence CIS labour market stands in 2026 and what it means for workforce planning in the year ahead.
Speaker
Mr Raj Kutty
Director
Kinexus
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Biography
Raj Kutty is a founding member of Kinexus and has over 25 years’ experience supporting Australia’s defence industry through providing recruitment, workforce and capability solutions.
As the Founder of Kinexus, Raj established Australia’s first recruitment agency dedicated to defence industry workforce requirements in 2001. Over the past two decades, Kinexus has grown to operate nationally, with offices in Sydney and Melbourne, placing ICT and engineering professionals across every major Defence hub and several niche locations nationally.
The team at Kinexus is the most experienced defence industry recruitment team in Australia and has used that experience to develop the Defence Industry Insights report, which is used as a trusted reference across Defence, government and industry to understand workforce demographics, skills, and salary trends, and to provide information that helps de-risk projects and capability delivery.
As a leader of an SME in the defence sector, Raj has experienced firsthand the ebbs and flows of Defence programs and the effect these cycles have on workforce availability and stability. He continues to work closely with government, primes, and SMEs to ensure organisations can access and retain the right skills at the right time to meet Defence’s evolving capability needs.
As the Founder of Kinexus, Raj established Australia’s first recruitment agency dedicated to defence industry workforce requirements in 2001. Over the past two decades, Kinexus has grown to operate nationally, with offices in Sydney and Melbourne, placing ICT and engineering professionals across every major Defence hub and several niche locations nationally.
The team at Kinexus is the most experienced defence industry recruitment team in Australia and has used that experience to develop the Defence Industry Insights report, which is used as a trusted reference across Defence, government and industry to understand workforce demographics, skills, and salary trends, and to provide information that helps de-risk projects and capability delivery.
As a leader of an SME in the defence sector, Raj has experienced firsthand the ebbs and flows of Defence programs and the effect these cycles have on workforce availability and stability. He continues to work closely with government, primes, and SMEs to ensure organisations can access and retain the right skills at the right time to meet Defence’s evolving capability needs.
