Partners & Projects

Defence Aviation Regulatory Implementation with Beca

  • Gunggandji Aerospace worked with Beca, an engineering and consulting firm delivering complexinfrastructure, aviation, and Defence projects, on Defence Aviation Safety Regulation Part 139implementation, contributing Aerodrome Operations and Air Traffic Management expertise aspart of Beca’s delivery team.DASR.139 matters because Defence aerodromes are not simply infrastructure assets. They arecontrolled aviation environments where regulation, governance, safety assurance, air trafficmanagement, documentation, procedures, and stakeholder coordination must be translatedinto consistent operational practice. For Navy, Army, and Air Force, consistent aerodromeregulation supports safer, clearer, and more reliable aviation operations across Defence.

  • Gunggandji Aerospace’s role centred on bringing practical aerodrome operations and air traffic management knowledge into the implementation environment, helping bridge the gap between regulatory requirements and how aerodromes are operated, managed, and assured in practice.The engagement required specialist aviation knowledge to be applied inside a larger technical delivery team, in a regulated Defence setting where ambiguity, inconsistency, or gaps between regulation and practice can affect safety assurance, operational continuity, and the governance of Defence aviation activity.

  • The work with Beca required Defence aviation regulation, stakeholder coordination, andtechnical and operational knowledge to be applied in a heavily regulated and complexenvironment. That meant reducing ambiguity between regulation and practice, strengtheningconsistency across Defence aerodromes, and helping ensure aerodrome governance enabledsafe, assured, and operationally reliable aviation activity.By contributing Aerodrome Operations and Air Traffic Management expertise to DASR.139implementation, Gunggandji Aerospace helped translate regulatory intent into practical aviation management outcomes, supporting Navy, Army, and Air Force to operate Defence aerodromes with greater consistency, clarity, and assurance.

Operational Readiness and Airport Transfer (ORAT) Change Management at Melbourne Airport

  • Gunggandji Aerospace supported the Melbourne Airport Airfield Renaming Project through ORAT Change Management, helping plan the safe transition of taxiway and apron taxi lane naming into live airport operations. This was a safety-critical operational change program required toprepare Melbourne Airport for future growth, new taxiway flows, and increased aircraftmovements.The project formed part of Melbourne Airport’s long term airfield development, including majorinfrastructure change, preparation for the Melbourne Third Runway, and future parallel runwayoperations. This was not a simple naming exercise. In a live airport environment, taxiway and apron taxi lane identifiers affect how pilots, air traffic control, airport operations, ground handlers, emergency services, regulatory stakeholders, and other airside users understand, communicate, and move across the airfield. Clear, compliant, and logical identification is essential to safe movement, operational continuity, and stakeholder confidence.

  • Gunggandji Aerospace led the project through scoping, planning, and launch, shaping a practical delivery pathway for one of the most operationally sensitive forms of airport change, embedding a new operational framework across the systems, documentation, procedures, and stakeholder behaviours that support safe movement across a live airfield.The work required deep technical knowledge of aerodrome and airfield systems and operations, disciplined ORAT Change Management, operational risk awareness, and stakeholder coordination. This included stakeholder engagement, documentation and system update planning, communications, training impacts, implementation staging, and changeover readiness. It also required a clear understanding of the practical requirements of multiple organisations operating across the airfield, including airport operations, airlines, groundhandlers, emergency services, air traffic control, and regulatory stakeholders.

  • For Gunggandji Aerospace, the project demonstrates our ability to manage complex, safety-critical aviation change where technical systems, compliance, operational continuity, stakeholder readiness, and disciplined implementation are critical to success. By combining technical airfield knowledge with practical delivery discipline, Gunggandji Aerospace helped reduce implementation risk and support the safe operational transition required for future airport infrastructure, ensuring the systems and services that rely on the airfield could continue to operate with confidence, while stakeholders remained clear, coordinated, and ready for what comes next.

Turning Applied Research into Operational Capability

  • Gunggandji Aerospace is supporting Curtin University and AuScope on the Universal Remote Platform, an applied technology development initiative exploring how standardised, modular infrastructure can support research operations in remote Australian environments. Remote research infrastructure is often constrained by distance, access, workforce availability, operating conditions, and the cost of sustaining equipment across dispersed sites. A universal platform has the potential to make remote sensing and field-based research more scalable, adaptable, and efficient across different scientific applications. For that potential to translate into real-world use, the technical concept needs to be matched with an operating model built for remote research environments, and capable of working across research users, community partners, and future service models.

  • Gunggandji Aerospace is helping shape the operating model for the Universal Remote Platform, considering how the platform could be governed, supported, staffed, deployed, and sustained in real conditions. The work brings operational reality into the development process early, including remote operations requirements, Indigenous community engagement, workforce pathways, operations room concepts, stakeholder engagement, safety and risk considerations, deployment planning, and long-term sustainment.

  • For Gunggandji Aerospace, the Curtin / AuScope project demonstrates our ability to support applied technology development where research, infrastructure, operating models, and stakeholder confidence need to come together. By supporting the operational layer around the technology, we are helping create a pathway for remote research infrastructure to move from feasibility and preliminary design toward scalable, commercially viable, and sustained use.

Gunggandji Aerospace Operations Centre

  • Gunggandji Aerospace is managing the SPARAS operations centre at Adelaide Airport as part of a critical emergency aviation partnership with Toll Aviation, the Royal Flying Doctor Service, and the South Australian Government. The operations centre supports critical day-to-day operations for State Police, Ambulance, and Rescue Aviation Services across South Australia, forming part of the South AustralianGovernment’s $870 million investment in new fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters through its partnership with Toll Aviation. The centre is currently in mobilisation, with hiring and training underway ahead of operations commencing in November 2026.

  • Gunggandji Aerospace’s role demonstrates its ability to support operational readiness in a critical emergency aviation environment, where workforce mobilisation, governance, service continuity, and stakeholder coordination must be planned, integrated, and delivered with the discipline, reliability, and control essential services require. The project also creates practical aviation employment opportunities for First Nations South Australians, with Indigenous employment embedded into the delivery model rather than treatedas a separate initiative. Gunggandji Aerospace’s low barrier entry model starts with a practical question: what can someone contribute on day one, and how do we build capability from there? With the right support, supervision, and exposure, foundational operational tasks can become the starting point for long-term aviation capability, strengthening Australia’s workforce and building resilience in the critical services communities rely on.

  • Gunggandji Aerospace’s Managing Director, Daniel Joinbee, reflects on the broader significance for Australians: “This partnership is not just about participation. It’s about building real operational capability in people, giving them the confidence, judgement, and technical understanding to work within the environment, meet the standard required, and grow into roles that support critical services.When First Nations people are part of that capability, the value is bigger than employment alone.It strengthens families and communities, while building the workforce depth Australia needs tosustain the critical aviation services the public relies on into the future.”For Gunggandji Aerospace, SPARAS proves that capability and purpose do not need to sit separately. In a critical aviation setting, we are helping build the people, systems, and delivery model needed to support essential services, while creating a practical pathway for First Nations capability to become part of Australia’s aviation future.

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Whether you’re assessing C-UAS risk, developing an emerging capability or planning for operational integration, we’re here to help. Tell us a little about your organisation, operating environment and current requirements, and our team will be in touch to discuss the next steps.

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