In July 2021, Austrade together with State and Territory Study Australia Partnership (SAP) members, Australian providers, and delivery partner Practera, launched a one-year pilot program – the Study Australia Industry Experience Program (SAIEP).
SAIEP offers free virtual placements to international students, transcending borders within and outside of Australia. The program assigns current international students onshore and offshore with small groups of Australian and international students in teams of 5 to 6 of varying demographics. The program is designed to facilitate peer-to-peer and cross-border student networks, build global and multi-disciplinary student perspectives, and enhance student employability.
These multi-disciplinary teams work directly with businesses on real-world projects, providing mutual benefits to students and businesses alike. The program offers students the opportunity to apply their knowledge, enjoy an enhanced ‘work integrated learning’ student experience, demonstrate their skills and capability, and build their international peer-to-peer networks.
In the pilot year, SAIEP delivered three cohorts in July and November 2021 and February 2022. The program engaged 1910 international and domestic students from 54 institutions across all states and territories in authentic industry projects with more than 240 Australian and global employers.
The program maintained an average rating of 90% in the student’s willingness to recommend the program to their peers and 87% in client willingness to recommend the program to their business networks.
The SAIEP Pilot Year report, provides further student and business outcomes and testimonials. A tailored SAIEP program was also delivered during the Dubai World Expo in January 2022 for international students studying in offshore campuses for Australian institutions located in United Arab Emirates.
Shortlisted as a finalist in the Employability International Impact Award category for the PIEoneer Awards 22, the next cohort of SAIEP will run from 4 July 2022 to 15 July 2022. To learn more about how your students can participate in the upcoming intake, please visit the Study Australia Industry Experience Program website or contact the Practera team directly at saiep@practera.com.
You may also wish to refer the opportunity to your business networks or offer a project opportunity as a provider to a global student team. You may connect with the team at Practera to discuss a project opportunity.
