Tracey Hemley has been named as a finalist in the 2026 Women in Defence Awards.
The annual awards recognise women who have made a significant contribution to the ADF in the past 12 months.
Mrs Hemley, who has been nominated in the ICT & Cyber category, said data analytics was a great way of telling stories.
"Data only becomes useful when it is transformed into a narrative that explains what is happening, why it is happening and what action should be taken next," Mrs Hemley said.
Her work at Land Capability Division (LCD) is focused on the continued adoption of the Defence synchronisation tool (DST) across Army.
"DST is a planning and governance mechanism used within Defence to coordinate activities across the capability lifecycle, providing visibility of planned milestones, trials, materiel delivery, workforce training and key decision points to support effective delivery of Army outcomes," Mrs Hemley said.
"It's about forward work plans utilisation of workforce, and providing situational awareness, which is essential to Army's modernisation process.
"The DST turns thousands of data points into a story, showing what activities are occurring, and how they contribute to Army's broader transformation objectives.
"It provides a framework that aligns activities and decision points across multiple Defence organisations."
'Data only becomes useful when it is transformed into a narrative that explains what is happening, why it is happening and what action should be taken next.'
Acting director of Land Business and Commercial Management, LCD, Lieutenant Colonel Jaymi Matthews, said Mrs Hemley's remit continued to evolve.
"Tracey was originally engaged to support the adoption of the DST, but she has expanded her role to support enterprise reform," Lieutenant Colonel Matthews said.
"She has fundamentally reshaped how Army plans, governs and synchronises capability and training through digital systems and has become the central authority on DST within Army Headquarters, delivering training, tailored system configurations and ongoing support across multiple formations."
Mrs Hemley said her passions were working with people and finding meaningful information in the complexity and occasional "chaos" of vast amounts of data.
She credited her manager, Lieutenant Colonel Matthews, and her colleague Karunya Sankar Kumar - a finalist in the 2025 ICT & Cyber category for her work in designing and delivering a finance dashboard - for their support and encouragement.
The awards will be presented at a gala dinner at the National Arboretum in Canberra on October 29.
