Veterans, families and specialists on life after military service
UNSW Canberra's podcast feed carries Next Mission, where veterans, a parent, employers, support organisations and a psychiatrist talk through the move from military service into civilian life. Alongside it sits a recorded Leadership in ACTion evening with Lieutenant General Natasha Fox AO CSC on the theme of leading people.
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UNSW Canberra's podcast feed carries Next Mission, the university's career transition series about moving from military service into the civilian workforce. Guests bring professional expertise, their own journeys out of uniform, or both. In several episodes Georgia Hammond, UNSW Canberra's External Engagement Coordinator, introduces them and steers the talk, and her courteous, slightly formal welcomes give way to candid conversation. A listener gets two sides of the same move. The practical side comes from a panel of guests from defence industry, a jobs platform and Invictus Australia. Defence industry work is pitched as a place where service skills stay in use, and one guest makes the case for a single job profile kept current across a career instead of a fresh CV and cover letter for every application. The other side is harder to put on a form. In the second part of Veteran From Day One, Natalie is asked about skills that people leaving the military may not recognise in themselves, and she points to self-confidence, capability and teamwork. Matt says the mental transition, more than the practical one, was the most challenging part of leaving the service. The talk turns to deliberately making 'military veteran' the first two words of a LinkedIn profile. A separate two-part conversation pairs Alison Cray, who spent 30 years in the regular army and is still a reservist, with Michaela Gilovich. One guest catches herself saying she only served for five minutes, then concedes she needs to be kinder to herself. Michaela also appears alongside her mum, Christine, whose worry about her daughter's military career was bound up with a family history that includes prisoners of war in Europe and service in Vietnam. Near the end of that episode the advice is plain: after anxiety, depression or PTSD, stay vigilant and keep working at it. Jonathan Lane, a senior lecturer in psychiatry at the University of Tasmania, brings a clinical view. He is evaluating a peer-led group treatment program for military, veterans, police and emergency services personnel, and he recalls how he came, by accident, to work as a psychiatrist with a US mental health team in Kandahar. The feed also holds something more ceremonial: a recorded Leadership in ACTion evening with Lieutenant General Natasha Fox AO CSC, Chief of Personnel of the Australian Defence Force, on the theme of leading people. UNSW Canberra's Rector and Dean opens with an acknowledgement of the Ngunnawal people and welcomes guests including General Angus Campbell, Chief of the Defence Force. The welcome ties leadership to the university's relationship with the Australian Defence Force Academy and notes that both generals are UNSW Canberra alumni.
Made for: Suits a listener who is preparing to leave the military, or has already left, and wants practical leads on civilian work alongside honest talk about identity, mental health and family. It also fits someone supporting a person through that move.
What sets it apart: It comes at the move out of uniform from several directions at once: veterans on identity and regret, a parent on family worry, employers and support organisations on work, and a psychiatrist on treatment. A recorded evening with the Australian Defence Force's Chief of Personnel sits alongside the career conversations.
Welcome to UNSW Canberra Podcasts; a platform lead by UNSW Canberra experts dedicated to unpacking the world around us and exploring a range of themes under a specialist lens. UNSW Canberra podcasts are produced onsite in UNSW Canberra’s Creative Media Unit Studio.UNSW Canberra is also a proud presenting partner of the Australian Naval History Podcast, which is recorded onsite at UNSW Canberra : https://soundcloud.com/australian-naval-historyUNSW Canberra Podcasts are available on all major podcast streaming platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIN, Castbox and more.Make sure to continue the conversation on our social media channels:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UNSWCanberra…
The uniform comes off; your LinkedIn headline still has some explaining to do.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A candid conversation about military transition, self-worth, and the support that helps a new working life take shape.
Leaving a military career comes through as a shift in identity, not just a change of job. Alison Cray looks back on 30 years in the regular army, continued reserve service, and a portfolio career built from several strands.
A clear, practical guide to employment, defence industry, and community support around military-to-civilian transition.
This Next Mission conversation keeps its focus on the practical support available to people moving from military service into civilian work, especially where existing skills can still carry weight.
A candid family conversation about military transition, hidden distress, and the work of staying well.
Next Mission: The Importance of Family looks at military service as something that reaches well beyond the person in uniform. Through Georgia Hammond's conversation with Michaela Gilovich and her mother, Christine, the episode traces how uncertainty, fear, and delayed…
A grounded review of the identity shift behind military-to-civilian career transitions.
Leaving the military is framed here as more than a career change. On The Next Mission, Natalie and Matt look at the strengths veterans can bring into civilian work, including confidence, teamwork, hard work, training, and ethical conduct.
A psychiatrist's unusual military path shows how institutional gaps can shape transition and care.
Next Mission follows Dr. Jonathan Lane through career transition, military psychiatry, and peer-led support for service personnel. Christina Corkell draws out the unusual path that led him to the United States mental health team at NATO in Kandahar: a cancelled role, a request…
UNSW Canberra's Next Mission interviews Dr Jonathan Lane, a psychiatrist, Army reservist, and PhD candidate evaluating GEARS with Military and Emergency Services Health Australia.
James McMahon, former commanding officer of the SAS Regiment, says business due diligence and battlefield reconnaissance follow "the same process and logic." He warns veterans against saying "we didn't do it like that in the military" and recommends "humble pie" after he moved from commanding operations to a chief operating officer role.
Alison Cray and Michaela Gilovich continue their Next Mission conversation on finding community after the ADF, with Michaela recalling a panic attack at her first Mates for Mates visit after waiting about 12 months.
Mark Causton says Orcus Jobs can rank 100 candidates and make them “anonymously” searchable by skills.
UNSW Canberra’s The Next Mission episode follows Nat and Matt as they unpack how military service builds “self-confident and capable” people who have already done “great training” and teamwork.
UNSW Canberra Podcasts' Next Mission episode focuses on Michaela Gilovich, Christine, and the family impact of leaving the ADF, not just the member's own discharge.
UNSW Canberra Podcasts' Next Mission: Finding Your People - Part 1 follows Michaela Gilovich and Alison Cray as they discuss military transition, identity, and community after service.
Natalie Colbert left a nearly 25-year Air Force career to run a childcare business she co-founded with her sister-in-law, and Matt McCorback left 31 years in the Navy for an academic role at UNSW.
A university-hosted leadership discourse featuring Lieutenant General Natasha Fox discussing people leadership in the Australian Defence Force.
A welcome address at an event about Australian political history, introducing a talk by journalist Troy Bramston.
A discussion with retired Vice Admiral Peter Jones on enhancing Australia's strategic resilience through historical and social science perspectives.
An expert interview discussing the global biodiversity crisis, species extinction risks, and the legal frameworks needed for transformative change.