The report, The Impact of BAE Systems on the Australian Economy showed that the company’s operations contributed $1.3 billion of economic value to the country and sustained over 7,500 full-time jobs. Employing some of the most highly skilled people in Australia, more than two thirds of the company’s workforce comprises engineers or highly skilled technicians, with employee productivity equating to more than 40 percent above the national average.

 

Speaking at the launch of the report, BAE Systems chairman Sir Roger Carr said, “For more than 60 years we have been working in Australia to deliver solutions that help protect the nation. This report demonstrates that our work in Australia goes further, helping to deliver growth, provide highly skills jobs and assist the country’s transition to a high technology economy.”

 

BAE Systems Australia’s work has a broader impact on the Australian economy through sustained investment over the past five years of nearly $500 million in capital expenditure, research and development and growing the talents and skills of its people.

 

The report produced by Oxford Economics shows that BAE Systems Australia’s impact extends to its support of one of Australia’s largest defence supply chains, purchasing $360 million worth of goods and services from around 1,600 Australian suppliers.

 

“We partner across the breadth of the Australian supply chain, actively transferring skills, expertise and knowledge, supporting the development of a stronger sovereign Defence industry,” Sir Roger Carr said.

 

Through strategic partnerships with defence and academia, BAE Systems Australia also contributes skills and experience to commercialise defence technology and expand a growing defence export industry. Worth around $80 million in 2015, internationally competitive exports helps to deliver the scale required for continued investment in Australian technology.