Western Australian Defence Industry Workforce Office

Government Body

Overview

The Western Australian Defence Industry Workforce Office (WADIWO) was established in May 2019 as an outcome of the Advancing Education, Training and Skilling strategy. This is part of the Western Australian Defence and Defence Industries Strategic Plan launched by the Premier in 2018. The office leads the development of the WA Defence Workforce Development Plan in close collaboration with Defence West, education and training providers including the Team WA universities, the WA industry and the Department of Training and Workforce Development. The plan focuses on the State’s industry strengths aligned to the five capability domains outlined in the Australian Government’s Force Structure Program. It is also developing a State based skills profile for naval shipbuilding and sustainment industry to enable the State’s education and training sector to better understand the ongoing skills requirements in the industry, enabling them to increase their capacity and capability to respond to emerging workforce needs. The WADIWO is co-located with the Department of Training and Workforce Development and a member of the WA Defence Advisory Forum which reports directly to the Minister for Defence Issues to support the State Government on defence industry capability and business development issues including workforce, skills, research and infrastructure requirements. The WADIWO also works closely with the Naval Shipbuilding College which has been established as an Australian Government initiative to ensure a skilled and qualified workforce is available to achieve the first continuous Naval Shipbuilding Program.