Australian Defence Technologies Academy announced for Adelaide city's Lot Fourteen innovation hub in 2026

The $60 million Australian Defence Technologies Academy would join the 103 organisations and 61 startup companies that were based in 2024 at Lot Fourteen innovation precinct on North Terrace, Adelaide city.
Image courtesy Lot Fourteen

The $60 million Australian Defence Technologies Academy, providing digital training, education and research crucial for the defence industry in South Australia, was expected to open in 2026 at Adelaide city’s Lot Fourteen innovation precinct on North Terrace.

Adelaide University would operate the academy under an agreement signed between the South Australian government, Adelaide University and the University of South Australia. Co vice chancellors of Adelaide University Peter Høj and David Lloyd said the academy signalled the role of the new combined university as a “national leader for defence and national security research and education”.

The vice chanellors said Advanced Defence Technologies Training Academy would be unique in Australia by offering will offer new fit-for-purpose premises, including sophisticated secure zones, that universities didn't have: “South Australia’s role as a trusted partner in a dynamic world is underpinned by a commitment to research in partnership with industry, ensuring that students at all levels experience the latest thinking and technology innovations.”

The academy was funded through the Adelaide City Deal, a 10-year agreement created under the Scott Morrison federal and Steven Marshall state Liberal governments to create “jobs of the future”, boost the population, and enhance cultural experiences “by generating greater opportunities in Adelaide’s robust visitor economy”. Signed in 2019, the deal planned to deliver $551 million to South Australian through joint investment, with $174 million to come from the federal government, $364 million from the state government and $12.6 million from the City of Adelaide.

Labor federal government infrastructure, transport, regional development and local government minister Catherine King said in 2024 that the academy would “create a global hub for the defence industry and position Lot Fourteen as a world-class innovation hub”.

South Australian premier Peter Malkinauskas said the academy had at its core a research capability to train the workforce that the state desperately needed for  “the thousands of young people that are going to work on the AUKUS (Australia, United Kingdom, United States) submarines but also work on other defence opportunities within our state".

Home to 103 organisations and 61 startup companies, Lot Fourteen had received  $753 million of state and federal government investment.