To ask the Minister for Higher Education and Skills: In relation to the Baillieu government’s cuts to Victorian TAFEs, will the minister give a commitment to the community of Portland that the Portland campus of the South West Institute of TAFE will not be closed due to the savage cuts made to the TAFE sector by the Baillieu government.
ANSWER:
I am informed as follows:
- Since the announcement of ‘Refocusing Vocational Training in Victoria’ through the 2012-13 state budget, the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development has completed an initial round of meetings with the senior management of every TAFE in the state, including a detailed discussion with representatives from the South West Institute of TAFE.
- The major part of these meetings has been a discussion on each TAFE’s forecast of any impacts of the changes on their delivery models, and the implications of this for each TAFE, including issues of support through the transition process that government may be able to offer.
- I expect that TAFE boards will be continuing their modelling and making decisions about their future delivery models and any impacts that this will have on their need for resources.
- I understand that in their discussions the South West Institute of TAFE indicated that their modelling suggested that the Portland campus would continue to be viable.