Construction of New Skills and Training Academy Campus Underway in South Australia

The ground work has commenced on a new Skills and Training Academy at Osborne in South Australia. The Skills and Training Academy Campus will offer the infrastructure required to support the provision of comprehensive training and qualifications required by Australia’s industrial workforce for shipbuilding and nuclear-powered submarine construction.

The Albanese Government in Australia, stated that it is investing $480 million in building the Skills and Training Academy to deliver the high-tech education and training needed for continuous naval shipbuilding and AUKUS in South Australia.

“South Australia’s industry will deliver billions of dollars in defence capabilities and thousands of well-paid, high skilled jobs – and the Skills and Training Academy Campus at Osborne is at the centre of this work,” said Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Richard Marles.

The Skills and Training Academy Campus will simulate a submarine construction yard, providing hands-on skills and classroom-based learning. The facility will also feature trade workshops, state of the art classrooms and a large central submarine mock-up area.

“Developing the skills needed to deliver Adelaide-built nuclear-powered submarines is both the biggest opportunity, and biggest risk of AUKUS,” said the Premier of South Australia, Peter Malinauskas, he added, “We’ve seen at Barrow-in-Furness in the UK just how successfully a Skills and Training Academy can operate, and we’ll need to replicate that effort here.”

At its peak, up to 4,000 Australian workers are slated to be employed to design and build the infrastructure for a submarine construction yard at Osborne. The course and skills delivered at the new academy will also support the workforce required to deliver Royal Australian Navy Hunter class frigates.

The new Skills and Training Academy Campus will be designed and delivered by Australian Naval Infrastructure (ANI). Australia’s Sovereign Submarine Build Partners, BAE Systems and ASC Pty Ltd are supporting the design and build of the academy campus.