The Business Council welcomes the release of the Australian Defence Industry Workforce and Skills Report and Action Plan which will support growing the highly skilled workforce, however business needs a seat at the table to ensure the delivery of Australia's most critical defence projects, Business Council chief executive Bran Black said.
"AUKUS presents significant economic opportunities for Australian businesses and workers and we must leverage every opportunity to develop our local industries in order to deliver broad economic benefits beyond the defence sector.
"To realise the true potential of AUKUS, Australian businesses big and small need to play a much bigger role in the roll out of AUKUS initiatives.
Mr Black said training the workforce we will be critical to deliver these complex defence projects.
"AUKUS is about so much more than submarines, it is about leveraging more high paid Australian jobs in emerging fields including quantum, cyber and AI and locking in more economic opportunities.
"The BCA supports the establishment of a Skills and Training Academy to support the uplift of the industrial base for continuous naval shipbuilding and Australia's nuclear-powered submarine program.
"The BCA has long advocated for vocational and higher education training to be located in areas of skills needs and establishing a defence-focused training academy in South Australia is a step in the right direction.
"Business looks forward to continuing our collaboration with the Federal and South Australian Governments to ensure we have the skills we need to grow our future industries."
