WA STUDENTS TO RECEIVE DEFENCE TECHNICAL SCHOLARSHIPS

The Hon Joel Fitzgibbon MP, Minister for Defence, has today announced two of the Western Australian recipients of the inaugural 2009 Defence Technical Scholarships (DTS).

“I’m pleased to announce that over 900 applications were received from students from across Australia, and it is a great pleasure to be able to personally present Scholarships to the first two Western Australian recipients, at Sevenoaks Senior College,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.

“This is a prestigious award and I would like to congratulate these students on this great achievement. Scholarship recipients will receive $2,000 for Year 11 students or $3,000 for Year 12 students.

“These Scholarships will be invaluable for the students, providing them with financial assistance towards their future technical trade career goals,” he said.

“As we know, Australia is experiencing a critical shortage of skilled technical tradespeople across all areas of industry and this is impacting on meeting recruitment targets for the ADF.

“The Government has recognised this shortage and has designed this initiative to increase the numbers of skilled tradespeople in the Australian Defence Force in the medium term.  This is particularly important in supporting those leading-edge technologies included in the Government’s recently released White Paper.  Our focus on the technical trades is critical to our future submarine force.

“Indeed, as part of the DTS selection process, students had to successfully demonstrate their interest in pursuing an ADF trade career, however, they remain under no obligation to join the ADF on completion of their Scholarship,” he said.

An announcement regarding all Scholarship winners for 2009 will be made over coming weeks, and soon after, all applicants and participating schools will be notified of the outcome of their applications.

All students currently in Year 10 and Year 11 are strongly encouraged to apply for a 2010 DTS, which will be available at www.defencejobs.gov.au/DTS from 1 June 2009.

“I strongly encourage all students interested in a technical trade career to look at what the ADF and what these Scholarships have to offer,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.

More detailed information on the Scholarships can be found on the DefenceJobs home page www.defencejobs.gov.au/DTS.

Media contacts:

Clare Enyi (Joel Fitzgibbon):                                   02 6277 7800 or 0404 893 565

Defence Media Liaison:                                           02 6265 3343 or 0408 498 664