Qantas to open new ‘safety academy’ in 2025 to teach other industries how to avoid disaster

Qantas is preparing to cash in on its solid safety record by lending its name to a new ‘safety academy’ to be run in partnership with Griffith University and RMIT.

Qantas is heading further into the tertiary education field with plans to open its own university-backed ‘safety academy’ from next year. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

Qantas is preparing to cash in on its solid safety record by lending its name to a new “safety academy” to be run in partnership with Griffith University and RMIT.

People seeking to enhance their safety credentials across a wide range of areas, including health, cyber, data and risk management will be able to pay to undertake a short course at the virtual academy from next year.

Qantas executive manager of group safety and health Ian Hosegood said the airline’s reputation as a safety leader was well known and the team looked forward to sharing that expertise in an increasingly safety-conscious world.

“I think it’s becoming more and more important that we maintain and develop the skills of safety professionals because there’s been an exponential change in some of the complexity,” Dr Hosegood said.

“With technological advances, with changes in regulation, and disruption into different industries, I think the pace of change is now much greater.”

He said Qantas personnel would be involved directly in the academy by providing mentorship and teaching, and developing materials with Griffith and RMIT.

“As we move into the later phases, we could have work placements in Qantas so people outside of Qantas would be able to come and have some integrated work learning within the Qantas environment,” Dr Hosegood said.

The establishment of the academy, which would offer online webinars in the first instance, would be funded by Qantas, Griffith and RMIT.

Qantas is investing into a facility for training crew in emergency and safety procedures.

Courses – or micro credentials – would be paid for in much the same way as other university courses, with the cost expected to be within $500–$3500.

Credits from the courses would count towards other relevant postgraduate qualifications.

“This is not a cookie-cutter approach to safety science, but micro credentials with depth which offers a postgraduate learning environment for professionals who want to advance their careers and take the next step,” said Griffith Sciences Group dean Rosalind Archer.

RMIT Aviation Academy director Lea Vesic said the academy would help build a pipeline of safety leaders with a broad set of critical skills.

“RMIT’s partnership with Qantas is testament to the quality of our training and leadership – not just in producing job-ready graduates but fostering collaboration across the sector,” Ms Vesic said.

“These types of industry partnerships – and innovative training delivery – will be even more critical as we look to futureproof the aviation industry in Australia.”

Qantas also announced plans to invest $40m in a new ground training facility at its Mascot campus in Sydney, to keep its own people skilled in emergency procedures.

More than 5000 pilots and cabin crew were expected to be trained at the facility each year, once it opened in mid-2026.

Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson said that with more than 100 new aircraft on order for the airline and low-cost carrier Jetstar, the investment in training was vital.

“Each of those new aircraft represents a growth opportunity for our people and the broader industry,” Ms Hudson said.

“Our multimillion-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.”

Qantas already lends its name to a pilot training academy in Toowoomba and will open an engineering academy in Melbourne next year.

Originally published as Qantas to open new ‘safety academy’ in 2025 to teach other industries how to avoid disaster