A Defence TAFE Centre of Excellence will be set up in Western Australia with the help of the federal government to deliver industry training opportunities in support of AUKUS.
The centre, announced alongside the state’s Defence and Defence Industry Strategy 2025 on Wednesday, will offer training across the five defence domains of land, air, maritime, space and cyber.
It will help the state build a “defence industry workforce pipeline” and deliver on its pledge for capabilities across all Defence domains to be developed within the state by 2040.
The $14.6 million Defence TAFE Centre of Excellence — one of 20 centres being funded through the five-year National Skills Agreement — will offer a Women in Defence Industry Scholarship Program to deliver electronics and engineering training.
It will also deliver a Defence Industry Pathways Program to help year 11 students learn about different career options in defence industries and achieve a Certificate III in Defence Industry Pathways.
The centre will operate out of four South Metropolitan TAFE campuses across the state and be guided by a Curriculum Advisory Group, Community of Practice and other governance policies and procedures.
Defence minister Richard Marles said in a statement that the centre would help Western Australians develop the high-tech skills needed to deliver several new defence projects in the state.
“It is an exciting time for the defence industry here in Perth and we are giving every opportunity for Western Australians to join the industry,” Mr Marles said.
Western Australia’s Training and Workforce Development minister Simone McGurk said the centre would ensure the state’s workforce is “can undertake nuclear-powered submarine sustainment work at HMAS Stirling from 2027”.
The centre will also help deliver WA’s Defence and Defence Industry Strategy 2025, which outlines six key pillars in partnership with the federal government, Department of Defence and industry, as well as other high-level outcomes to be met by 2040.
This includes a focus on research and innovation to help meet the state’s 2040 target of having “grown our capabilities across all the other defence domains, and leveraged opportunities presented under AUKUS Pillar II”.
The all-important advanced capabilities pillar includes areas like cybersecurity, quantum computing and artificial intelligence, as well as hypersonics and electronic warfare.
The WA government plans to “facilitate the development of a collaboration hub” to accelerate translation and commercialisation of research aligned with Defence priorities, and to establish more national and international R&D partnerships.
It also plans to create more research-industry partnerships, including with Defence West’s Defence Science Centre to “ advance Defence priorities under AUKUS Pillar II”, the strategy states.
A Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability programme under Pillar II is already underway, with the first satellite expected to be operational in Western Australia by 2026.
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