Federation Training at Morwell will undergo a $35 million “transformation” – one of two Gippsland TAFE campuses to reap the benefits – following a commitment by the state government in this week’s Victorian budget.
A second Federation Training campus will be built at the Port of Sale under a $25 million plan to boost vocational education and training opportunities for people across Gippsland.
The major funding announcement comes off the back of a key promise in this year’s budget to make more than 30 TAFE and pre-apprenticeship courses free for prospective students across the state.
Training and Skills Minister Gayle Tierney today hit back at criticism by opposition and independent MPs after member for Morwell Russell Northe yesterday said the budget lacked a comprehensive jobs plan the region was “in desperate need of”.
Mr Northe was disappointed the budget lacked no new programs or initiatives designed to improve the current job market.
But in response, Ms Tierney said Mr Northe was part of the previous government that “went out of its way to destroy TAFE”.
“[The Coalition] destroyed the opportunities for young people to get the skills and training they need for the jobs that are available,” Ms Tierney said outside the new Gippsland Tech School on Thursday afternoon.
“In terms of the jobs and courses that are available in this community, we are joining the dots. That is part of the policy change we are making, making sure we are informed of exactly what jobs are available and what industry needs.”
The upgrades will realign both campuses with a business model focused on Gippsland’s primary industries, with construction to commence on both sites next year to be completed by 2021/22.
Federation Training interim chief executive Grant Radford said the Morwell campus would deliver market-leading training facilities in a world-class education hub for the region – next to the Gippsland Tech School in the Hi-Tech Precinct.
It is expected the Morwell campus will be renamed the Latrobe Campus following its upgrade.
“We’ll work with the local industries and the local communities to identify what are the career courses and those courses that will have job outcomes,” Mr Radford said.
“Therefore we’ll be giving the youth and others of the community opportunities to make sure they’ve got employment … it’s all about jobs.”
Member for Eastern Victoria Harriet Shing said the funding would provide better access to training for Gippslanders to gain future employment.
“We’ve worked for so many years here in the Latrobe Valley and across Gippsland not only to understand where the problems and challenges lay for technical education, skills and training and further education,” Ms Shing said.
“But this year’s budget and the announcement of around $60 million for capital improvements at the Port of Sale for a new Federation Training campus and $35.5 million for two centres involving trades as well as skills, training courses and other offerings is the start of an amazing new chapter for skills and training in Gippsland.”
