Student Eligibility - diip

Student Information

Students who do not meet all the eligibility criteria cannot be considered for participation in the DIIP.

Eligibility

The DIIP is designed for talented and emerging engineering and technology students who are ready to take the next steps in their professional journey. Students must meet a set of eligibility requirements to ensure they can successfully participate in the internship and contribute meaningfully to defence industry projects.

To be eligible to participate in the DIIP you must be:

18 years or older
an Australian citizen
currently enrolled at an Australian university and studying an engineering or technology-related degree
a penultimate (second last) or final-year undergraduate student
available to complete a 450-hour internship
able to demonstrate strong academic results
eligible to obtain a security clearance if required
undertaking your first DIIP internship

Schedule

Internships can be completed in multiple ways from November 2026 to May 2027, including a 12-week block over the summer holiday period (preferred), or a combination of full or part-time hours over the summer holiday period and part time hours during semester one 2027.

Students must be available for internship commencement in November/December 2026.

Internship timeline schedule:

20 July - 30 August 2026: Applications Open
August - September 2026: Assessments & Matching
September - October 2026: SME Candidate Shortlisting & Interviews
October 2026: Internship Offers Sent & Confirmed
November - December 2026: Internships Commence

Latest News

Intern & SME applications are currently open until 30 August 2026

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I never realised a job in defence could be this interesting.

I used to think it was all project management or maintenance work, but this experience opened my eyes to the exciting R&D opportunities that exist behind the scenes.

I’ve also had the chance to connect with some amazing professionals whose careers I really admire. Being able to build that kind of network as a student has been a huge bonus. My supervisors also allowed me to pursue technical directions that aligned with my interests, which really helped me grow my skills.

The Defence Industry Internship Program provided me with an invaluable opportunity to gain exposure to cutting-edge defence technologies.

During my time at Arkeus, I applied the skills I had acquired through my university studies while being mentored by incredibly bright, talented, and hard-working individuals.

As part of a team, I took on real responsibility for tasks that contributed meaningfully to the advancement of Arkeus’ mission.

I would strongly recommend the program to university students seeking an internship.

Throughout the internship, the DIIP team maintained regular check-ins with both my supervisor and me to monitor my progress and ensure I was benefiting from the experience.

Their ongoing support played a big part in making the internship such a rewarding and productive opportunity. I had the opportunity to contribute to real-world engineering projects that were both highly technical and deeply engaging. Through this I gained practical knowledge relevant to my field.

My internship was an incredibly enriching and positive experience that reinforced my passion for applying data science to solve complex problems, providing me with the support and resources needed for me to kickstart, as well as excel within my professional career.

I had the opportunity to apply my data science skills in a real-world engineering context.

I contributed to projects that focused on predictive maintenance and remaining useful life of mechanical systems, and gained first hand experience on how data can be used to improve decision making processes in defence engineering settings.

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