The State Government has launched plans to identify the future skills needs of Western Australian industry to win more national defence contracts.
Companies involved in tendering for defence contracts are being urged to take part in a survey which will form the basis for the State's Defence Industry Skills Audit.
"An additional $15.9billion in national defence expenditure this year - and a commitment to a three per cent per annum real increase in defence investment over the next 10 years - present enormous growth opportunities for Western Australian business," Minister Assisting the Minister for Education and Training Norm Marlborough said.
The Carpenter Government has established a Defence Industry Skills Taskforce, led by the Minister, to examine the future expansion of the industry in WA and identify training requirements.
The taskforce, which has industry and Government representation, has commissioned education, training and labour market specialists Huntly Consulting Group to conduct a skills audit of the industry.
"The audit will be used to determine what the defence sector's current and future skills needs are, so that the best strategies to get the skilled labour supply right for the sector can be developed and implemented," the Minister explained.
"Some companies are large-scale defence suppliers, while others are smaller but equally important and I urge those companies to take part in the audit so that together we can further improve the relevance of our education and training systems to meet future skill needs."
Some of the 450 WA-based businesses have received invitations to take part in the Defence Industry Skills Audit. .