A new Naval Shipbuilding College aimed at building Australia’s skilled workforce for major shipbuilding programs will soon be established at Osborne, South Australia.

The College, led by the newly announced Naval Shipbuilding Institute – a joint venture between Kellogg Brown & Root and Huntington Ingalls Industries – will ensure Australia’s workforce takes full advantage of the Federal Government’s $90 billion shipbuilding program.

The College will collaborate with Australian education and industry providers, including the Defence Industry Education and Skills Consortium to increase the size and skill-level of Australia’s naval shipbuilding and sustainment workforce.

The members of the Consortium include the Defence Teaming Centre, University of South Australia, University of Adelaide, Flinders University and Tafe SA.

Defence SA Chief Executive Richard Price welcomed the announcement of the start of the College and its new governing body, the Naval Shipbuilding Institute team, which represents over 200 years of commercial experience in naval shipbuilding education and skilling.

“The Naval Shipbuilding College is a positive step forward in creating a strong and capable skilled workforce in order to meet the national requirements of major shipbuilding programs, such as the Future Submarines and Future Frigates, to be based in South Australia,” he said.   

“The college will operate as a hub-and-spoke model, working closely with industry and Australia’s strong network of high-quality education providers to create a pipeline of skilled workers needed for our shipbuilding industry for decades to come.”

The naval shipbuilding workforce in Australia is likely to grow to around 5200 workers by the mid-2020s. This includes more than 1400 people in the outfitting workforce, over 1000 people in the structural workforce, along with a further 300 management roles.   

For more information about the Naval Shipbuilding College, or how to get involved, visit: 
http://www.defence.gov.au/NavalShipbuilding/College/Default.asp