New South Wales: Australia’s aerospace hub
New South Wales has Australia’s largest and most diverse economy and is a national
leader in aerospace operations and innovation. It offers a highly attractive location
for aerospace companies looking to establish an Asia Pacific base to service global
supply chains.
Many innovative NSW aerospace companies play an active role in global defence and
commercial aviation supply chains, including for state-of- the-art aircraft such as
the Boeing 787 and the Joint Strike Fighter. NSW has the largest manufacturing sector
in Australia accounting for around one third of national manufacturing income.
Major aerospace companies operating in NSW include BAE Systems, Boeing Australia,
Eurocopter, Hawker Pacific, Lockheed Martin, Qantas Defence Services, Raytheon and Turbomeca.
The capability of the NSW aerospace industry is diverse, reflecting the broad and strong industrial base of the State. Key industry strengths include:
- design and analysis
- education and training, including pilot and engineering training
- manufacture of airframes, components and ground support equipment
- maintenance, repair and overhaul
- multi-platform test solutions
- systems development, engineering and avionics
- aviation tooling
The industry is spread throughout key industry clusters across the state including Sydney, the Hunter, New England, Murray-Riverina, and the Shoalhaven.
New South Wales is home to over 80 defence sites, including many of Australia’s key defence facilities such as:
- RAAF Base Williamtown, Australia’s primary fighter base.
- RAAF Base Richmond, which supports the RAAF’s air transport fleet and is the main hub of logistics support for the Australian Defence Force.
- HMAS Albatross (Nowra), home of the Royal Australian Navy’s Fleet Air Arm and Navy Aviation Systems Program Office. It is the largest operational naval establishment in Australia and the navy’s only air station
Education and training
New South Wales offers a highly educated workforce and key aerospace education and training facilities and
opportunities. TAFE provides specialist on-site technical and engineering trade training in aerospace through
dedicated centres in Sydney (Padstow), Wagga Wagga and Tamworth.
In addition, the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales offer professional degrees in aeronautical engineering.
Research and development: pushing the aerospace envelope
The NSW Government recently extended for its support for nine Australian Research Council (ARC) Centres
of Excellence either based or with a significant presence in the State. This includes the ARC Centre of
Excellence for Autonomous Systems, with nodes at the University of Sydney, University of NSW and the
University of Technology Sydney. This centre has built a global reputation for its work in robotics,
autonomous systems and mechatronics and has expertise in a range of aerospace related areas, including unmanned aerial vehicles.
The research and development strengths at NSW based universities also extends to areas such as advanced flight
vehicle structures and materials, morphing airframes, computational aerodynamics and fluid dynamics,
flight mechanics, navigation and micro-satellites.
For more information, please contact:
Industry Division
Department of State and Regional Development
GPO Box 5477
Sydney NSW 2001
Australia
Ph: +61 2 9338 6777
dsrdaerospace@business.nsw.gov.au
www.business.nsw.gov.au