Industry Engagement
WA Industries will gear up to be AUKUS ready. There will be skills shortages and they will be open to connecting with schools through work experience, guest speakers, and partnerships which will help schools to connect with emerging opportunities.
To get good information about what the West Australian defence-related industry is up to, LinkIn with Serge Desilva-Ranasinghe. He frequently promotes research documents and advertises conferences and information sessions, and he is a good link to the industry.
VET
In 2022 South Metro TAFE won the National Training Award as Australia’s best defence trainer. That is a great place to start.
All of the TAFE colleges run computing programs that are excellent and already in high demand. The demand for IT skills will increase.
There is no current nuclear energy course being run in Western Australia.
I anticipate that on-the-job knowledge of the application of skills in the defence industry will open up opportunities around the world. That will apply to all VET skills, from trades and business people.
Universities
Curtin University has a reputation for being industry-focused, but then all of our universities run world-class computing and engineering courses.
Again, all courses will have applications within this project, even urban design!
For the academic superstars, there will be a boom in opportunities to do applied research.
Normal students will have increased opportunities to work across defence and large projects around the world.
I anticipate new scholarships, internships and opportunities to study overseas.
Research
I have been in touch with Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre which had not begun any research on implications for the WA economy of the initiative. They are going to seek out any research that is underway and pass it on.
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