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For over 26 years, Thales Australia has proudly supported the readiness and availability of the Royal Australian Navy with dependable and reliable ship support, sustainment and lifecycle management services. Apprentices, trainees and graduates play a critical role in our activities, and recently gathered at Garden Island Defence Precinct for a development day to learn and collaborate.

On 28 September, more than 30 of the business’ apprentices, trainees and graduates were joined by their supervisors, colleagues and the Thales Australia Above Water Systems (AWS) leadership team for an afternoon of discussion, activities and leadership development. 

The first formal activity centred around the most important aspect of our work at Thales, and is at the heart of everything we do; Health Safety and Environment. The session focused on broad ‘safety in the workplace’ practices, how best to ‘look after your mates’ and the importance of stopping work if anything felt unsafe. 

Bridie Searle, a Project Management Office (PMO) Trainee commenced with Thales in January 2022 and says she has been enjoying all the opportunities so far. “Since May, I have been doing a superintendent type role - so I’ve progressed quite far and I’m loving it. I love the practical side of what I'm doing, that's the people management, and I’m pretty much directing traffic in terms of the project. It’s been fantastic and the experience I've gained so far has been unreal.”

Fourth-year boilermaker Apprentice Jack Bradley had similar thoughts on his apprenticeship program so far: “The apprenticeship program is well structured. The training and modules at TAFE combined with my on-the-job training has helped me build new skills and I want to keep striving to be better. When I finish my apprenticeship, I would like to keep working on the ships and stay at Garden Island. It’s a great place to work, fantastic atmosphere and location and you get to do different tasks.”

AWS Training and Capability Manager, Natalie Genc said, “Covid stopped face-to-face opportunities and bringing our people together. We are aiming to have more team building activities and knowledge sharing amongst our different cohort of apprentices, trainees and grads.  Communication and collaboration days encourage creativity and innovation, are great for company culture and most importantly are an opportunity to reinforce our safety messages.”

Vice-President Above Water Systems Max Kufner is an advocate for building capability within the business and notes the importance of apprentices, trainees and graduates, stating that, “investing in our next generation of leaders is an important strategic priority for Thales. As well as building capability and skills for the future to support Navy, we are developing our people along their career path, fostering a productive workplace and improving employee wellbeing.”

Over the past 10 years, over 100 apprentices and trainees have qualified in their chosen field with the support of the Above Water Systems apprenticeship and trainee programs, with this activity expected to increase under the new Plan Galileo model to support Defence and keep Australia safe.