A new partnership between Qantas and RMIT University is set to upskill professionals across a range of high reliability sectors in Australia, including the transport industry.
The partnership has culminated in the creation of the Qantas Group Safety Academy, which will launch in 2025, to upskill leaders, safety professionals and entry level workers in both in-person and online formats.
The courses, which have also been developed alongside Griffith University, will develop a new national standard through the awarding of microcredentials across a range of areas including safety culture, risk management, data management and human safety factors.
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RMIT currently has the largest fleet of aircraft in the higher education sector in Australia and has been operating RMIT Aviation for over 80 years.
It expanded its training catchment to include Bendigo in 2019, and the new Academy is expected to offer post-graduate and research programs from 2026 onwards.
The programs will complement RMIT’s existing aviation training and education, which will be available to Academy graduates who look to explore higher or post-graduate qualifications.
RMIT Aviation Academy Director Lea Vesic says the broadening of partnerships between industry and education providers will help future-proof Australia’s transport industry.
“RMIT’s partnership with Qantas is a testament to the quality of our training and leadership – not just in producing job-ready graduates but fostering collaboration across the sector.
“These types of industry partnership – and innovative training delivery – will be even more critical as we look to future-proof the aviation industry in Australia.
“The new Qantas Safety Academy will utilise our training expertise to build a pipeline of safety leaders who have a broad set of critical skills.”
Qantas will be investing $40 million in new facilities across Australia as part of the partnership and will double the number of Pilot Academy scholarships awarded in 2025.
The Sydney Training Ground Facility is set to open in mid-2026 and will provide emergency procedures training for over 5000 Qantas Group pilots and crew each year.
“The new Qantas Safety Academy will help upskill a generation of safety and risk professionals, leaning on Qantas’ century of practical experience with safety leadership and the academic expertise of RMIT and Griffith University,” Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson says.
“Our multi-million-dollar training investment means there will be new facilities and state-of-the-art equipment across Australia to train our current pilots and cabin crew, as well as the thousands of crew expected to join the Qantas Group over the next decade.
“As we train the next generation of pilots, we want to make sure we’re reaching a broader and more diverse talent base, which is why we’re expanding our scholarship program for the Qantas Group Pilot Academy.”
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