With defence and shipbuilding slated to play a major role in South Australia’s future economy, the South Australian Government has launched a job expo to attract school students to these and other emerging industries.
November’s “Jobex” careers and employment exhibition will stage in Adelaide on November 10-11 before moving to the regional cities of Port Augusta and Murray Bridge. It will feature five major emerging industries, including defence and shipbuilding, renewable energy and mining, health and biomedical, tourism and IT and high-tech manufacturing.
Major education institutions and more than 20 of the state’s defence companies have signed to appear at the exhibition, including three universities, BAE Systems, Babcock, Boeing Defence Australia, Lockheed Martin and Naval Group and SME’s such as Fleet Space and Myriota.
The accompanying conference will include a presentation program on emerging industries, future careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) and entrepreneurship.
South Australia will be home to an $89 billion continuous build program of naval shipbuilding projects, including Australia’s Future Submarines, Future Frigates and Offshore Patrol Vessels, which together are expected to create around 5,200 jobs by the mid-to-late-2020s.
South Australian industry leaders expect the proximity of naval technology, research, university collaboration and major international prime contractors to create an ecosystem of innovation and advanced technology that will find applications in various industries besides defence, as long as the state has the graduates and workforce to exploit them.
“Our thriving shipbuilding sector, especially through the Future Submarines program, is helping us forge links with other advanced, high-technology economies, such as France,” South Australian Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Kyam Maher said.
“We’ve created the nation’s first dedicated centre to grow the local space economy and create future hi-tech jobs. It will drive space industry innovation, research and entrepreneurial development. The emerging space industry, cyber security and autonomous systems will provide opportunities for our well-established research and development community.”