Mentorship is a powerful way to shape the future of Australia’s defence industry while also fostering your own professional growth.
Forge Your Future is connecting early-career defence industry professionals with students eager to explore careers in this exciting sector. By becoming a ‘speed mentor’ to a curious student, you’ll provide invaluable guidance, share real-world insights, and inspire the next generation to pursue meaningful careers.
This program includes free mentor training that will equip you to participate in a one-off supervised ‘speed mentoring’ session with a student (either online or in-person), as well as learn valuable mentoring skills you can take back to your organisations and use throughout your career.
For individuals, serving as a mentor is a rewarding way to share your experiences, hone your mentorship and leadership abilities, and make a difference in a young person’s life.
For defence organisations, mentorship programs offer a strategic opportunity to engage employees in professional development while giving back to the industry. Mentoring helps build leadership, communication, and coaching skills, enhancing both personal and organisational capability.
Our first mentor intake is now open
Forge Your Future has speed mentorship opportunities available in 2025 for both in-person (Adelaide location) or online, with expressions of interest now open.
If you’re an early-career professional — someone who has entered the sector in the last five years and can share real, first-hand insights into their pathways, challenges, and successes – then we want to hear from you.
Becoming a Forge Your Future mentor is a volunteer position that requires approximately a 10-hour time investment, designed to fit around your existing professional commitments. Together with our partners, the Art of Mentoring, we provide you with free training and professional development before matching you with a student for a one-off ‘speed mentoring’ session, ensuring you’re fully prepared for the experience.
This is a great opportunity for young professionals to get a taste of mentorship and support the next generation.
Here’s what to expect:
A unique speed mentoring experience: Our approach is unique in that you will be paired with a student for a one-off ‘speed mentoring’ session. This is a chance to experience what mentoring is like by participating in a supervised conversation with a student for no more than 30-minutes, so you can share your experience and answer their questions about careers in defence industry. Throughout the program you’ll also pick up broader mentoring skills you can use back in your organisations and throughout your career.
Training & preparation: You will receive access to best-practice mentor training resources to support you in how to build a developmental mentoring relationship (both as part of this program and more broadly throughout your career). You will also need to have a valid Working with Vulnerable People Check (WWCC).
If you do not have a WWCC, you will need to apply through the website for your state or territory.
Mentor preparatory workshop: Join us and your fellow mentors for a two-hour professional development workshop a few weeks ahead of your mentoring session to run through some mentoring tips, how to approach the ‘speed mentoring’ session with your student and help you think about how you may frame your discussion to be valuable for both you and the student.
In-person mentoring session: Participate in one supervised short (i.e. 30 minute) mentoring session either 1) at the Adelaide Careers & Employment Expo or 2) virtually, where you’ll:
Share why you chose a career in defence
Discuss your career journey and how you got to where you are today
Provide insights into a ‘day in the life’ of your role
Answer any questions students may have
Speed mentoring round 1: Key dates & milestones
March
Expressions of interest to participate in the mentoring program now open.
You will start to receive resources to prepare you for your mentoring journey.
May
Mentor training resources released, including guides on being a mentor, and some brief pre-session preparation tasks.
May
The first 2-hour online mentor workshop will be held. We’ll walk through your role and what’s required, how speed mentoring works and you can ask us any questions.
June
Be matched with a student and have the opportunity to engage with someone eager to learn about your career and experiences.
June
Online and in-person mentorship events begin.
For organisations who have employees participating as mentors, we will send you a post-event debrief for your records and feedback.
How to get involved?
Register now to express your interest and receive updates on upcoming mentoring opportunities.
Organisations
Invest in your people through mentorship
If your organisation is looking to strengthen industry engagement and invest in future talent, consider encouraging your employees to participate as mentors. Having your employees participate in mentoring through the Forge Your Future program is free for your business and a great way to get started with exploring the value of mentorship for your organisation.
If you’re passionate about your industry and want to guide the next generation, we invite you to join our mentorship program. As a mentor, you’ll be matched with students interested in defence careers, providing advice, career insights, and encouragement.
