Jeremy Rockliff

Premier of Tasmania



13 August 2020

Jeremy Rockliff, Minister for Education and Training

TasTAFE continuing to support students

The Tasmanian Government has a clear plan to support and invest in TasTAFE so that it can continue to deliver vital training during the COVID-19 recovery phase and help ensure Tasmania has the skilled workforce it needs.

TasTAFE’s Corporate Plan 2020-2023, released today, shows the organisation is being proactive in planning its future and has a clear path to address the impact of the pandemic on vocational education and training.

We see an organisation that continues to remain student focussed, demand driven and has modernised delivery through online learning as expected from a contemporary TAFE.

In February this year TasTAFE was in its strongest financial position ever looking to generate a cash surplus for the first time, however, as with most Higher Education providers nationally, COVID-19 has impacted on TasTAFE’s financial situation with the Corporate Plan showing a decline in revenue sources, in particular from the international student market and commercial training.

The Government will work closely with TasTAFE to help them recover from this COVID-19 related downturn.

TasTAFE will continue to play a significant role in training, up-skilling and re-skilling Tasmanians who have been impacted by COVID-19 and they are expected to be a beneficiary of the $21 million JobTrainer fund, which has not been factored into revenue forecasts.

The Government is also planning a major campaign later this year to encourage more Tasmanians to consider a vocational career.

Our Plan for TasTAFE remains in place and we will continue to make a record investment in infrastructure to ensure students can learn in state of the art facilities. This includes:

  • $14 million to build a $21 million Trades and Water Centre of Excellence at Clarence Campus;
  • $4 million in upgrades for Alanvale Campus in Launceston including new nursing, aged care and disability facilities, close to completion;
  • $5 million for an Agriculture Training Centre of Excellence at TasTAFE’s Freer Farm in Burnie; and
  • $1.4 million for a new health training hub at Clarence Campus in Hobart which was opened today.

These investments will ensure TasTAFE students are job ready by providing high quality training experiences which meet the latest industry standards.

In addition, the highly successful TasTAFE SkillUp training initiative continues to offer no cost or low cost training to Tasmanians to help those re-enter the workforce.

We will continue to work closely with TasTAFE and industry bodies to identify skills needed for economic recovery, and support our skills and training industry as we re-build our economy.

https://www.tastafe.tas.edu.au/about/corporate-information/reports-and-publications



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