IT students reap local paid placements through Federation Co-op
Opportunities for Ballarat students on their doorstep
For Federation University students in the Ballarat region, the Co-op program is opening doors to paid, real-world experience – without the need to relocate.
Through partnerships with local employers like Central Highlands Water, students can build their careers while staying connected to their community.
“Central Highlands Water is one of the larger regional water corporations, where we provide safe drinking water, sewerage, recycled water and trade waste to our customers,” said Stephanie Burzacott, Senior People Partner – Talent at Central Highlands Water.
A long-standing partnership creating industry skills
“We're based here in Ballarat, with around about 230 employees,” said Stephanie.
“We're very lucky to have partnerships such as with Fed Uni so that we can connect with the students and then encourage them to come and join us here.”
This long-standing relationship has grown into practical opportunities for students to gain industry skills.
“Central Highlands Water has a 2040 strategy called More than Water, which really sets out aspirations for the future,” said Central Highlands Water’s Managing Director Jeff Haydon.
“So the relationship with all of our partners is really important in terms of us being able to deliver on our strategy.”
“We've had a great long-term relationship with Federation University in doing lots of great work together.”
Local IT students getting their start in Ballarat
In 2023, Central Highlands Water joined the Co-op pilot, offering IT placement spots to Federation students. Students like Bachelor of IT interns Anupa Jayathilak and Mohammad Anis quickly became valued team members.
For Mohammad, who has been working as a Service Delivery Intern for the organisation, the experience is a chance to apply his learning in a work environment while getting paid.
“They encouraged me to be a part of team discussions so that I can learn better in relation to what I'm studying in the university.”
“Everyone was so helpful. Everyone was so nice,” said Anupa, who worked with Central Highlands Water as an Industrial Automation and Control Systems (IACS) intern.
Local employers benefit from local talent
The benefits of Co-op are not just for students.
IACS Manager Michael Robinson noted that interns like Anupa offered a great return on investment for Central Highlands Water: “Bringing his IT skills that he's learned, it was definitely an advantage to the team to have that skill set. It's been a net positive in terms of how much we've had to put in versus how much we get out.”
Daniel Montgomery, Central Highlands Water’s Cyber Security Specialist, even found that the process of taking on a student intern helped with his own work.
Building Ballarat’s future workforce
For Jeff Haydon, the relationship with Federation University and the Co-op program is not just about helping local students. It’s also about building their own future workforce, ensuring that Central Highlands Water identify innovative solutions to a range of challenges.
“The students that have come in from Federation Uni have really brought a lot of energy to the workforce – providing an opportunity to grow, challenge and in some cases identify some really innovative solutions to the problems that we face.”