The Autism Academy for Software Quality Assurance (AASQA) is an Australian social innovation initiative with the vision of harnessing the special talents of people with Autism for the collective benefit of those with Autism, industry and the wider community.
The mission of the AASQA is to enable individuals on the autism spectrum to leverage their unique talents through training, educating and mentoring programs, so as to create pathways to valued, long-term employment; whilst addressing the business needs of the Australian ICT industry facing challenges in attracting and retaining software testers within the sector.
The AASQA provides high-level expertise and services in assessment, training, education and work placements for individuals with Autism in the software testing industry. The primary key components of the AASQA include:
The rich inter-dependencies between the Academy and Enterprise provides a strong business model to service the growing demands of the software testing industry, as well as delivering a game-changing shift in enabling valued employment opportunities for adults with Autism.
Underpinning the training academy is the development of programs targeting (1) outreach to high school students; (2) training and education support in ICT discipline areas; and (3) creation of work experience opportunities through internships.
Genius Armoury offers a range of courses to help introduce neurodiverse individuals to cybersecurity, exploring some of the fundamentals of coding, threats, and exploits, networking, and more. Available to anyone and free to complete, modules only take around 30 minutes to complete, full details on each module can be found in the link above.
Genius Armoury partners with further education providers to offer education opportunities for Genius Armoury Agents (this is what you will be called after you successfully completed all modules of the training program). If you are an Agent located in Western Australia and would like to enroll in an undergraduate Bachelor of Science course in Cybersecurity at Curtin University without an eligible ATAR, you can apply for consideration through the Portfolio entry system.
For further information about eligibility and how to apply for Portfolio entry, please click here.
Curtin University Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity information can be accessed here.
We are located at Innovation Central Perth:
Level 2, Building 216
Curtin University
Kent Street
WA 6102
If you have any enquiries, please contact Associate Professor Tele Tan via email: t.tan@curtin.edu.au