
The Illawarra Shoalhaven Defence Advantage
The Illawarra Shoalhaven is the perfect location to establish your defence business.
With the Illawarra Shoalhaven being Australia’s centre for naval aviation and strategically located between Canberra and Sydney, it can offer competitive business costs, a supportive environment and a stable workforce

Helping Defence businesses for over 10 years
The Illawarra and Shoalhaven Regional Defence Network is an alliance between industry, local, state and commonwealth governments, education and professional organisations working together to support defence industry development and expansion in the region.
- We have a decade of experience assisting the local defence industry
- We advocate on behalf of industry to all levels of government
- We promote local industry capabilities at key industry briefings and trade shows
- We facilitate assistance from local, state and federal governments

Our Capabilities
The NSW Government offers a range of incentives to attract new and growing businesses to regional NSW.
Businesses can take advantage of benefits including direct access to an investment concierge for expert and tailored support, grants and interest-free loans, and relocation assistance for skilled workers.
The Illawarra Shoalhaven region has significant defence industry capabilities across land, sea, air and joint domains.


featured business
Air Affairs
Air Affairs Australia is a world leader in providing specialist training services to Australia’s Defence Forces.
One of the specialist training services provided by Air Affairs is the use of specially modified Learjet 35s.Air Affairs’ pilots play the role of the “bad guys” in exercises, working and training in the sky with FA-18s, or “attacking” Navy ships at sea.