Launched in July 2021, together with State and Territory Study Australia Partnership (SAP) members, Australian providers, and delivery partner Practera, Austrade's national flagship program – the Study Australia Industry Experience Program (SAIEP) – won the Innovation Award at the recently concluded AIEC 2022 on the Gold Coast.
SAIEP offers free virtual placements to international students and transcends borders within and outside of Australia. Current international students, onshore and offshore, work in a diverse team of 5-6 Australian and international students from diverse demographic backgrounds.
These multi-disciplinary teams work directly with businesses on real-world projects, providing mutual benefits to students and businesses alike. 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. Participating student teams are offered the opportunity to apply their knowledge, enjoy an enhanced 'work integrated learning' student experience, demonstrate their skills and capabilities to potential employers, and build their international peer-to-peer networks.
Since July 2021, SAIEP has engaged with over 2800 students from 50 nationalities studying in 55 Australian education institutions who have worked with over 350 global organisations. In the recently concluded September 2022 cohort, over 91% of participating students said that they would recommend SAIEP to their peers for participation and over 96% of students said that they will refer to their SAIEP experience in their job applications.
SAIEP was also granted the 'Highly Commended' program award in the employability category of the PIEoneer Awards 22 in September.
The next cohorts of SAIEP will run in November 2022 and January/February 2023. To learn about how your students can participate in the upcoming intakes, please visit the Study Australia Industry Experience Program
