Weapons companies are facing growing resistance to their involvement in Australian education, with a new report revealing a significant shift in how schools, unions and communities are responding.
The ‘Weapons Companies in Education: A Progress Report’, released last week by the Medical Association for Prevention of War, highlights a decline in STEM programs linked to the defence industry, alongside rising awareness of the ethical risks such partnerships pose.
As conflicts intensify globally, and initiatives like AUKUS seek to deepen industry ties with education, the report warns that efforts to embed the weapons industry in schools are being met with increasing public and institutional pushback.
While risks remain, the report points to encouraging momentum driven by grassroots advocacy and growing public awareness.
“Our report shows there have been big steps forward on this issue, with some real policy changes, more awareness of the harms of the weapons industry, and more people taking action,” Teachers For Peace director Elise West told The Educator.
“We now have people in every state and territory rejecting the weapons industry's attempts to use STEM education to normalise its business, gain social legitimacy, influence children, and secure commercial advantage. There are now more Australian states with education policies that prohibit the weapons industry from associating with schools.”
West said the issue has also raised in state and federal parliaments, where important questions about corporate involvement in education, political interference, and governance and quality have also become apparent.
“For example, five years into the Department of Defence’s STEM Workforce Vision there is no framework to measure the educational value, alignment with the curriculum, value for money, and actual outcomes of programs designed to funnel kids into the weapons industry,” she said.
“When people look at the horrific war on Gaza, or airstrikes on Yemen, or people fleeing war in Sudan - they are rightly asking themselves 'what can I do?', and 'what's my role in this?'”.
West said the growing awareness has reached a tipping point—what was once seen as fringe activism is now sparking serious policy conversations and reshaping how schools think about the ethical foundations of education itself.
“By repudiating any association with companies that profit from war and suffering, we can say very clearly that we don't accept that armed conflict is normal or inevitable, and that we don't want to be complicit – or complacent,” she said.
“Kids should be able to participate in great programs like the National Youth Science Forum [NYSF] without being exposed to the influence of Lockheed Martin, the world's biggest weapons company. School leaders, students, teachers, and families can let programs like NYSF know that they should drop their harmful sponsor.”