The funding will enable new student places to build a future workforce with strong defence and nuclear technology capabilities.
UNSW has welcomed the federal budget announcement of $128.5 million in new funding to create 4000 student places over the next four years to boost the number of STEM graduates. The places will be delivered across the university sector spanning energy, defence and nuclear engineering to develop the skills needed for the AUKUS agreement, with up 20,000 high skilled jobs expected to be created over the next 30 years in support of the submarine program.
UNSW Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Attila Brungs said the additional university places will support the nation’s security and defence priorities aligned with the AUKUS agreement.
“New funding will enable UNSW to leverage its clear strengths in energy, defence and nuclear education to enable the workforce required to deliver Australia’s future defence priorities. We welcome the opportunity to work with the federal government in support of the national interest,” Prof. Brungs said.
UNSW has the largest engineering faculty in Australia, playing a critical role in meeting national skills needs into the future. The University is ideally placed to leverage the following partnerships and initiatives:
- UNSW is the education partner for the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA)
- UNSW operates the Defence Research Institute in Canberra
- UNSW is one of six Trailblazer universities speeding up the commercialisation of technology with industry partnerships. The University has two government funded research projects:
- Defence (includes Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Computing)
- Clean Energy/Recycling
- UNSW Founders is encouraging defence startups to operate on campus via Defence 10x Accelerator, a startup building solution aimed to enhance Australia’s sovereign capability.
UNSW is also well-positioned to assist the federal government’s health focus with four new allied health degrees launched in early 2023. The new degrees in pharmacy, physiotherapy and dietetics, will assist by alleviating pressure on general practitioners (GPs) and other health workers.
“New university places can assist in addressing priority worker gaps which help to meet the national interest,” Prof. Brungs said. “With pharmacists now getting more scope to deliver a wider range of allied health services, we believe our new pharmacy degree may alleviate future GP waiting lists and hospital admissions.”
