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The South Australian Defence Industry Workforce and Skills Report is a joint commitment between the Australian and South Australian governments, and includes initiatives that directly support attracting, skilling and developing the state’s defence industry workforce.

A year on from its release, more than 80 per cent of the initiatives in the report are now underway.

With 11,000 skilled defence industry workers required in South Australia by the 2040s – and even more for the local construction of the SSN-AUKUS conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines – the Defence Industry Pathways Program (DIPP) will help to build a pipeline of professionals to meet these demands.

This new traineeship gives jobseekers the opportunity to combine industry-aligned study with paid, on-the-job experience.

The 12-month program will guide participants through both theoretical and hands-on training with TAFE SA, while PEER will employ the trainees and facilitate their work placements, allowing them to apply their learning directly in a workplace setting.

Participants are expected to commence their traineeships from March 2025.

PEER is also partnering with TAFE SA on the Shipbuilding Employment Pathways pilot to create a pipeline of highly skilled people to help fulfill our commitment to continuous naval shipbuilding.

The pilot apprenticeship program will offer participants the opportunity to gain a Certificate III in the engineering and electrical streams.

And as part of the state’s role in delivering complex naval shipbuilding and defence projects, the South Australian Government recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Australia’s sovereign submarine builder, ASC.

This cooperative working arrangement will enable ASC to undertake the life-of-type extension for the Collins Class fleet of submarines, as well as becoming the joint shipbuilder for SSN AUKUS submarines, and the sole sustainer for SSN AUKUS and Virginia Class submarines.

The MoU will further enhance existing relationships with local industry, research institutes and education providers to ensure we have an agile, diverse and highly skilled defence industry workforce.

These initiatives join those already underway, including the Schools Pathways Program, the Findon Technical College, the pilot Mechanical Engineering and Software Engineering degree apprenticeships, the Defence Industry Connection Program, and more.

They are part of our commitment to not only cater to current workforce demands, but to also lay the groundwork for the state’s future needs – providing work for a generation of South Australians while injecting tens of billions of dollars into our economy.