Future Frontlines is moving to August 2027. Same city, same week — a little further down the track. The Awards for Excellence is still going ahead this year in Perth.
Policy
into Practice
National Conference & Awards for Excellence
Future Frontlines 2026
We've made the extremely difficult decision to postpone the Future Frontlines Conference to August 2027. Same time, same city, just a little further down the track than we originally planned.
We know cost pressures are real right now — for individuals, for volunteers, and for the organisations we work alongside every day — and we heard from so many of you that the budget was too tight to make this year happen. Alongside that, we've spent the past year working on a major new partnership, one that's going to lift Future Frontlines to a level we haven't been able to reach before, and it's just come together later than we'd hoped. We want the time to bring it properly into next year's program, so it reflects the value everyone brings to it.
If you've already got a ticket, we've begun processing refunds now, and you should see it come through in the coming days. Reach out to hello@vespiia.org if you don't, or if anything looks off.
You'll still hear from our speakers this year. We'll be recording long-form sessions with each of them for our Future Frontlines Podcast over the coming weeks, and we'll invite you to submit your own questions for them.
And the Awards for Excellence is still going ahead this year — a smaller evening here in Perth, live-streamed so anyone can join us. We've also extended nominations until 14 August, so everyone gets the chance to enter.
The room where
decisions are made
The Future Frontlines Conference started with a simple idea — that the people doing the work should be in the same room as the people making the decisions. In 2025 we proved it worked.
Future Frontlines is moving to August 2027. Same city, same week, same theme — Policy into Practice — just a little further down the track. We heard from too many in our community that cost pressures made this year genuinely hard, and we never want the people we exist to serve to feel priced out of an event built for them. In the meantime, our confirmed speakers are heading to the Future Frontlines Podcast, and the Awards for Excellence is still going ahead this year in Perth.
The conference ends with a structured Policy Lab that produces a real output: the Future Frontlines Paper, used directly in VESPIIA's national advocacy work for the following 12 months.
"Probably the most enjoyable and informative conference I have been to in the Military / First Responder / ESO space since discharging 15 years ago."
— 2025 Delegate
A national stage
in Adelaide
The National Wine Centre of Australia — chosen for its heritage character, national reputation and central Adelaide location. Accessible from every state and territory.
Recognising what
good looks like
Now in its third year, the VESPIIA Awards for Excellence recognises the individuals, teams, organisations and programs doing outstanding work across the veterans, emergency services and police sectors. Peer-judged, genuinely contested, held in front of the sector's most engaged delegates.
Open to the sector regardless of VESPIIA membership.
Your work deserves to be seen.
Use the submission process as a best-practice review of the year. Celebrate your team. Show the sector what you've built.
Building 2027,
together
We're back in planning for Future Frontlines 2027, and we'd rather shape it with our partners than announce it to them. Packages and pricing aren't locked in yet — if your organisation is interested in ministerial access, a published national policy output and a national cross-sector delegate cohort, let's start the conversation now, while there's still room to shape what it looks like.
Future Frontlines
returns in 2027
Same city. Same week in August. The same theme — Policy into Practice — with more time to build the event and the ticket price our sector deserves. Planning for 2027 is already underway, and we'd love to keep you in the loop.