Tasmania is again taking the lead in planning for the future of Australia’s defence workforce, with the announcement that the Australian Defence Magazine Defence Skilling and STEM Summit will return to Tasmania in September for its second year.
Minister for Advanced Manufacturing and Defence Industries, Madeleine Ogilvie, said the Tasmanian Government was proud to again host the Summit, which will see of more than 100 senior industry leaders from around the country gather in Hobart.
“This is fast becoming a key event for senior officials and industry to plan out the current and future skills requirements for the Australian Defence Force and supporting industries,” Minister Ogilvie said.
“The fact the event has returned for a second year after the runaway success of last year’s inaugural event reflects Tasmania’s growing reputation for quality and innovation in the defence domain.
“It also puts a spotlight on Tasmania’s defence industry which continues to play a key role in delivering leading offerings in education, research and products across land, air, sea and even space.”
Minister Ogilvie said the AUKUS agreement and our growing maritime defence capabilities reinforces the need for educational institutions such as the Australian Maritime College (AMC) and the University of Tasmania to be at the forefront in providing the workforce of the future.
“Tasmania-based institutions such as the AMC in Launceston are providing nation-leading research and training capability in STEM, particularly as it relates to maritime industries and defence,” she said.
“With its degrees in areas such as maritime engineering and hydrodynamics, AMC’s reputation is already well established in defence circles and a significant attraction for defence industries.
“The University of Tasmania-industry Space Domain Awareness partnership is also being noticed globally with its work in monitoring the risk of collision between space assets such as satellites or rockets and space debris becoming more important.
“With more than 5,000 active satellites and more than 170 million pieces of space debris orbiting Earth, our geographical position close to the Southern polar orbits gives us a special edge that our STEM strengths can capitalise on.
“With events like the Defence Skilling and STEM Summit becoming a regular feature in Hobart, we are not only putting forward our credentials in the defence, space and STEM fields, we are showing the key defence and industry decision makers that we offer world-class scientific and technical services right here in Tasmania.”
