South West TAFE, Warrnambool campus received a major funding boost to upgrade facilities and buy new training equipment, Member for Western Victoria, Gayle Tierney said.
The Premier, John Brumby, and the Minister for Skills, Jacinta Allan, announced the new $20 million funding to be shared by all 18 Victorian TAFEs.
Ms Tierney said the investment would help ensure local students were skilled for an innovation-driven future.
“Warrnambool must have the skills needed for the jobs of the future,” Ms Tierney said.
“This new equipment and other initiatives will help us meet the challenges facing our economy – particularly skills shortages which need to be addressed to make sure local businesses thrive.”
Ms Tierney the $20m package included:
• $5.3 million will be spent on new training;
• $5 million will fund water recycling projects and other works to help TAFE’s cut their water and energy;
• $5 million for new IT resources; and
• $4.7 million for upgrades to make TAFE campuses safer.
Specific to the Warrnambool TAFE campus this includes:
• $147,000 to extend power facilities to prevent outage
• $170,000 to relo0cate the ICT server to the ground floor
• $485,000 for a new substation
The Minister for Skills, Jacinta Allan, said the Brumby Government had invested more than $1.1 billion in vocational education and training since 1999.
“This week’s announcement is another significant example of how we are investing in our TAFE system to provide innovative training resources and skills for critical parts of our economy. “