La Trobe University’s Bendigo campus has been part of the region for decades. But its relationship with local tech businesses is shifting—from occasional internships to something more substantial.

I spent time talking with both university staff and business owners about what’s actually working.

The Internship Pipeline

The most established connection is internships. La Trobe’s IT and business programs require work experience, and local tech businesses provide placements.

“We’ve had interns every semester for five years,” one Bendigo software company told me. “Three of our current permanent staff started as interns. It’s become our primary recruitment channel.”

From the university perspective, local placements offer advantages over Melbourne alternatives. Students can stay in Bendigo, maintain existing commitments, and transition to local employment after graduation.

“When students do Melbourne internships, they often don’t come back,” a program coordinator acknowledged. “Local placements build local careers.”

Beyond Basic Internships

Some partnerships have evolved beyond standard internship arrangements.

Project-based collaboration: Several businesses work with student teams on real projects—developing applications, analysing data, researching technologies. Students gain portfolio pieces; businesses get work at minimal cost.

“We had a student team build a prototype for a product we’d been thinking about,” one founder explained. “Took them a semester. We paid modest stipends. The prototype proved the concept enough to pursue properly.”

Capstone sponsorship: Final-year projects can be sponsored by businesses, with real-world problems becoming academic exercises. The best solutions get implemented.

Research partnerships: For businesses doing genuinely novel work, the university has research expertise and sometimes grant access that small companies can’t match independently.

Graduate Employment

La Trobe Bendigo produces IT graduates who want regional careers. Businesses that build university relationships get first access to this talent.

“I speak at a class once a year,” one company owner said. “Students learn we exist, see what we do, and apply when they graduate. It’s not complicated but it works.”

The challenge is scale. Graduate numbers are modest compared to Melbourne campuses. Businesses compete for limited local talent.

“We can’t fill every role from La Trobe. But the graduates we hire tend to stay. That retention value matters.”

Professional Development

The university offers professional development relevant to existing workers, not just students.

Short courses, micro-credentials, and executive education programs provide pathways for workforce development without full degree commitments.

“We’ve put several staff through La Trobe courses,” a Bendigo business owner said. “Cheaper than Melbourne options when you factor travel, and content is surprisingly good.”

This pathway remains underutilised. Many businesses don’t realise what’s available locally.

Research Translation

La Trobe conducts research with commercial potential. Connecting that research to regional businesses is challenging but occasionally successful.

“We adapted university research on machine learning for our specific application,” one tech company explained. “The academic approach needed significant work to become practical, but the foundation saved us years of research.”

These connections typically require active relationship-building. Research capabilities aren’t easily discoverable; personal connections make partnerships happen.

Barriers to Deeper Partnership

Why don’t more businesses engage with La Trobe?

Awareness: Many businesses simply don’t know what’s available or how to access it.

Academic timelines: University semesters don’t align with business urgency. Projects that fit academic schedules may not fit commercial needs.

Overhead: Establishing partnerships requires administrative effort. Small businesses often lack bandwidth for this.

Capability matching: Not every business need maps to academic expertise. Mismatched expectations lead to disappointing partnerships.

These are surmountable but require investment from both sides.

What Would Help

Conversations suggested several improvements:

Single point of contact: A dedicated liaison role matching business needs to university capabilities would reduce friction.

Faster engagement: Streamlined processes for simple partnerships (internships, project sponsorship) would increase participation.

Better communication: Regular communication of what’s available, aimed at businesses rather than academic audiences.

Success stories: More visible examples of effective partnerships would encourage others to try.

The university is aware of these gaps and working on improvements. Progress is incremental.

The Broader Opportunity

Regional universities like La Trobe Bendigo have significant potential as anchors for local tech ecosystems.

They concentrate talent, provide training pathways, conduct relevant research, and create community gathering points. These functions are harder to replicate through purely commercial means.

But realising this potential requires intentional effort—from the university to engage with business needs, from businesses to invest in relationships, from government to support infrastructure and coordination.

Practical Steps for Businesses

If you’re a Bendigo tech business interested in university partnership:

Start with internships. The process is established and relatively simple. Taking an intern is the easiest first step.

Attend campus events. The university runs events where business presence is welcome. Show up and meet people.

Talk to the Business School. Even for technical needs, the Business School often coordinates industry engagement across faculties.

Be specific about needs. Vague interest doesn’t convert to partnerships. Concrete problems create actionable collaboration.

Invest in relationships. One-off engagements rarely succeed. Sustained relationships compound over time.

The opportunity is real. La Trobe Bendigo isn’t Melbourne, but that’s partly the point—a smaller university in a smaller market can offer more responsive, personal partnerships than massive metropolitan institutions.

For businesses willing to invest the time, the returns can be significant.

Business Victoria provides resources connecting businesses with education providers, and Regional Development Victoria supports programs building regional workforce capability.