In mum’s footsteps: The new path for SA’s future subs makers
One Adelaide student is already studying advanced manufacturing while in high school, hoping to one day work on the AUKUS nuclear submarines.
South Australian high school student Nic Di Lorenzo decided traditional school is not for him, and is instead following in his mum’s footsteps in a bid to land a job with the Australian Submarine Company (ASC).
Nic is a Year 10 student at Tonsley Technical College, a state government initiative designed to help upskill students for the jobs of the future, while his mother is ASC general manager of workforce growth and development.
Tonsley Technical College is one of five new technical colleges in South Australia and opened this year, with the state government spruiking the colleges as important pathways to help build a workforce for the AUKUS nuclear submarine programme.
Students start at the technical colleges from Year 10 and by the end of Year 11 they have completed SACE Stage One and Two. In Year 12, students remain connected to the college but have already transitioned into their chosen career pathway, either pursuing a trade or a university degree.
Nic said the alternative educational pathway was “a very good option for me”.
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“I’ve always been very hands-on,” he said.
“The college is great – students get a lot of support, and it’s just fun to be here.
“There’s lots of hands-on opportunities – and we’re not learning about things we won’t use in five or 10 years. Everything we do is based on the trade we’re learning about.
“It’s good to know we’re going to get somewhere.”
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He hoped to one day be working on the Australian government’s multibillion-dollar nuclear submarine construction program.
To be delivered under the trilateral defence pact with Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States (AUKUS), five of the new SSN-AUKUS submarines will be built at Osborne, north of Adelaide, from the end of the decade.
Construction of Osborne’s new $8.5 billion submarine shipyard has already started.
Nic’s mother Tanya Di Lorenzo said the subs builder needed more skilled workers to rise to the challenge of AUKUS.
“To support Australia’s submarine enterprise, we need an increasing number of skilled people,” Di Lorenzo said.
“We are being deliberate in the way we’re creating a workforce pipeline, working with kids early so they understand our industry and the opportunities available within it.”
She said that technical colleges were a good pathway for students that want something more ‘hands-on’.
“The colleges provide an avenue for kids where traditional schooling might now have been the most inspiring avenue for them,” Di Lorenzo said.
“It’s helping students get work ready.”
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