Michael Filmer was born in Canberra in 1997, and was raised and schooled in Adelaide. He was appointed to the Australian Army in 2015, commencing his officer training and academic studies at the Australian Defence Force Academy. He graduated from the Royal Military College – Duntroon in 2018 and commissioned into the Royal Australian Corps of Signals.

Lieutenant Filmer was subsequently posted to the 1st Signal Regiment as the Operations Officer within the 127th Signal Troop. In this role, he planned several international engagements in the South West Pacific in support of enhancing communications effects within the region. He gained valuable experience as a Communications Duty Officer within the Deployable Joint Force Headquarters (DJFHQ) on Exercise Talisman Sabre 2019.

Since 2020, Lieutenant Filmer has been posted to the 136th Signal Squadron, Defence Strategic Communications Branch as the Tactical Interface Troop Commander. In this role he is dually responsible for the command and management of a signals troop and as the OIC Watch for Defence Communications Station – Brisbane. This is an operationally focussed position, which performs a critical role in supporting the strategic and deployed ICT that enables ADF operations. After business hours, the position has a high-degree of autonomy to authorise workarounds to restore critical ICT services. Lieutenant Filmer also manages a remote Melbourne detachment who provide specialist support to deployed users. This role is required to have an exceptional understanding of Defence’s holistic strategic CIS construct.

In 2022, he will post to the 3rd Combat Signal Regiment as a squadron second-in-command.

Lieutenant Filmer holds a Bachelor of Science (with a double major in aviation and geography) from the University of New South Wales, and is currently studying a Masters of Cyber Security, Strategy and Diplomacy.

In his spare time, Lieutenant Filmer enjoys Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and hiking—with the view to complete Everest Base Camp when travel restrictions ease.