Baidam and Deadly Coders join forces to ignite STEM career pathways for First Nations students
Baidam, a leading First Nations information technology provider, has signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding with Deadly Coders to ignite STEM career pathways, committing to fund intensive technology bootcamps for Indigenous students through its commercial recruitment success.
Baidam, a leading First Nations information technology provider, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Deadly Coders, an Indigenous-owned not-for-profit dedicated to engaging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in STEM.
This alliance formalises a shared commitment to closing the digital skills gap and creating sustainable career pathways for Indigenous Peoples across Australia.
This partnership between Baidam and Deadly Coders creates a blueprint for how corporations can create positive social change. Baidam will leverage its commercial recruitment arm to fund student placements in Deadly Coders' job-skilling bootcamps, removing financial barriers for aspiring Indigenous technologists. For every 10 job placements made by Baidam’s recruitment team, one student placement in the Deadly Coders Academy, valued at $20,000, will be funded.
Students placed at the Deadly Coders Academy will receive 8 weeks of industry-relevant technology training, a four-day-per-week paid learning model, and exposure to optional internship opportunities.
“The MOU with Deadly Coders formalises our strategic collaboration, which is focused on our shared ambition to create meaningful impact and help bridge the technical inequity gap. We believe it will create remarkable new career opportunities for First Nations students.”
The collaboration addresses a critical need for alternative pathways into the technology sector, focusing on identifying talent through non-traditional routes where attitude and aptitude are valued.
For Beau Hodge, Baidam's Chief Operating Officer, the key lies in creating diverse entry points, explaining:
“We know that traditional learning systems don't work for everyone. By linking our commercial recruitment success to the Deadly Coders Academy, we can ensure that when a customer chooses Baidam, they are directly funding a life-changing opportunity for a young Indigenous person.”
Deadly Coders has a mission to deliver digital technologies education to every Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student in Australia within the next decade. This MOU provides essential industry backing to scale their impact.
“Industry and government are telling us there is a growing gap between traditional university pathways and the rapidly evolving needs of the Australian tech sector,” says Andrew Brodie, Director and General Manager at Deadly Coders. “Universities are not keeping pace with industry requirements, which is why alternative, community-led pathways into tech careers are more important than ever. Our partnership with Baidam proves these models can deliver real employment outcomes.”