Thursday, 15 August 2019

In reply to  Mr ONDARCHIE (Northern Metropolitan) (18 June 2019)

Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria—Minister for Training and Skills, Minister for Higher Education):

The Victorian Government is committed to providing appropriate training and skills to industry, including businesses such as Carjo Furniture in the Northern Metropolitan Region of Melbourne. Our Skills First reforms introduced in 2017 are aimed at ensuring Victoria’s training and TAFE system can deliver high quality training aligned to industry and business needs.

The 2018-19 Victorian Budget provided $172 million to fund Free TAFE for priority courses as part of a $644 million package to strengthen TAFE and apprenticeships and provide 30,000 extra government- subsidised training places. The 2019-20 Victorian Budget included a further $231.1 million investment to continue transforming our training sector to ensure we meet the skills needs of our dynamic economy, including:

• $69.7 million to expand and continue Free TAFE for Priority Courses for Victorians who are eligible for Victorian-Government subsidised training.

• $41.2 million to continue rolling out the Free TAFE program across Victoria’s TAFE network.

• $82.7 million to provide more places for eligible students in TAFEs and training organisations.

• $10.3 million for apprenticeship initiatives including $5.6 million for the Big Build and Social Services higher apprentices to give Victorians new opportunities to earn while they learn at higher qualification levels, and $4.7 million to ensure apprentices have the support they need.

Free TAFE for Priority Courses covers tuition fees for students who are eligible for government- subsidised training including apprenticeship pathway courses for students considering undertaking apprenticeships.

Melbourne Polytechnic at its Heidelberg Campus is currently running Certificate II in Furniture Making pathways (MSF 20313) as a full time course over 15 weeks and is available under Free TAFE. This course currently has 18 students enrolled since the beginning of 2019, with another intake planned for August this year. I encourage businesses in the Northern Metropolitan region of Melbourne to consider employing graduates from this course.

Victorian Government initiatives under Skills First enable businesses like Carjo Furniture to work with their local TAFEs to attract and train the staff they need.

The Department is in contact with the owner of Carjo Furniture to learn from his experiences and assist him with his needs, where possible.