The Review Team were tasked with ensuring that Defence is fit for purpose and is able to deliver against its strategy with the minimum resources necessary. Using a structured framework, the team have conducted an end-to-end holistic review based on the outcomes required of Defence and founded on the first principles agreed by the review team.

This is the Secretary of Defence and Chief of the Defence Force’s performance report to the Minister for Defence, the Parliament of Australia and the Australian public for the 2017–18 financial year. The report addresses the purposes and outcomes of the Department of Defence, including the Australian Defence Force—collectively known as Defence.

The 2018–19 Defence Corporate Plan sets out Defence’s role, objectives and functions and describes how we will measure our performance in achieving our Purposes. Performance against the Corporate Plan will be reported through annual performance statements, to be included in the Defence Annual Report for 2018–19.