Promoted to Commodore in December 2022, Commodore Alison Westwood was appointed to the role of Director General Joint Cyber Warfare – Force Development.

Born in Launceston Tasmania, Commodore Westwood joined the Royal Australian Navy in 1991 and commenced her early career as a Maritime Warfare Office, serving as an Officer of the Watch in HMA Ships Tobruk and Sydney 1996-1999.

Following this, Commodore Westwood embarked on a career in Intelligence, deploying in various platforms, both surface and sub-surface, with Command Staff to the Middle East (2003), and as the senior intelligence officer for the Middle East Region (2015) at Australia’s Joint Task Force Headquarters. Commodore Westwood’s staff experience spans across operational and strategic headquarters levels within the intelligence community and Navy, including roles within Navy Communications and Information Warfare, Director Navy Intelligence; Submarine Operations at Headquarters Joint Operations Command; and Navy personnel management.

Her career command and leadership appointments have been the Executive Officer HMAS Waterhen in Sydney (2010-2012) and Commanding Officer HMAS Harman in Canberra (2016-2017), which resulted in Commodore Westwood being recognised as one of the Top 100 Navy leaders. During her tenure at Waterhen, Commodore Westwood also performed the duties as Liaison Officer for the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Elizabeth Broderick, during her review into treatment of women in the ADF.

Commodore Westwood was appointed as the Chief of Staff to the Vice Chief of Defence Force in 2020 providing significant exposure to major Defence and Australian Government initiatives. This was followed by her appointment as the Director Intelligence Operations at Headquarters Joint Operations Command in 2021 and 2022.

A graduate of the Australian Defence Force Academy, Commodore Westwood has a Bachelor of Arts with Honours from the University of New South Wales and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of New England. She enjoys bushwalking, gardening and photography.