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Saab joins industry partners in apprenticeship program for South Australian engineering students.
Saab has joined BAE Systems and ASC in committing to onboarding first year software engineering students as full-time apprentices over a five-year period.
“It blends academic study with employment, creates work-ready graduates for the Australian defence and security sector, fills industry shortfalls in software engineering, and helps break down financial barriers for students wanting to study in this field,” said Professor Michael Webb, Adelaide University executive director, Defence and Security Institute.
The Software Engineering Degree Apprenticeship, which was launched by the University of South Australia and the state government in 2024, which will continue under Adelaide University, seeks to combine tertiary study and theory with the practical workplace skills and training to support South Australia’s defence sector.
Program director Dr Jo Zucco explained that the apprenticeship has been an insightful and useful initiative not only for the apprentices but the businesses as well.
“From all reports, they are bringing fresh energy to the teams they are placed in and are involved in meaningful work, completing tasks that have been on the organisations’ ‘to-do lists’ for months.”
“From the apprentices’ perspective, they benefit from directly applying what they are learning in the classroom to their workplace. They are performing exceptionally well academically, demonstrating the immense value of the apprenticeship model.”
Being Australia’s first degree apprenticeship co-designed by academia, industry and government is placing software engineering students in South Australia’s defence sector from day one, ultimately producing graduates who can step into critical defence industry roles, positioning the state to meet the workforce requirements of AUKUS.
Saab Australia managing director Andy Keough said this is “the next step to strengthen the skills pipeline for defence projects in South Australia”.
“By bringing young people into the workforce through the Software Engineering Degree Apprenticeship program, we can fast-track their development and assist them to undertake more challenging work earlier in their careers.
