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School-industry partnerships enable Year 11 and 12 students to gain nationally recognised competencies in a wide range of industries through structured work placement. This booklet reports on a study aimed at determining whether Australian businesses are experiencing benefits from students learning on site and, if so, what those benefits are. The study then identifies the reasons why benefits were experienced by some businesses and not by others. The report illustrates how the costs and benefits of structured work placements might best be understood and how the benefits could be harnessed so that the school-industry partnership program attracts and retains the participation of businesses. The research process involved interviews with over 59 companies from small local businesses to large multinationals within a range of industries. The companies were required to have had at least one year's experience in providing work placement for secondary students. Some of the benefits identified in the study were community recognition, increased productivity, enhancement of the company's skillbase, and the opportunity to identify future employees. Five companies became case studies and these are used to illustrate the report. Appendices contain information about the methodology, the sample companies, the reference group supporting the study, and the questions used for the survey.