GOTAFE Receives $10.7 Million For Goulburn Trade Training Centre
The funding will go towards stage two of the expansion of the GOTAFE Goulburn Trade Training Centre at Archer Street in Shepparton.
The Minister for Training and Skills and Minister for Higher Education, The Hon. Gayle Tierney, today announced $10.7 million dollars from May’s Victorian budget to go towards stage two of the expansion of the GOTAFE Goulburn Trade Training Centre at Archer Street in Shepparton.
This funding will address a range of opportunities for education delivery in the Greater Shepparton area, creating a purpose-built modern facility to deliver best-in-class technical education. This project is a part of the Transformation of GOTAFE in Shepparton Project and complements the Victorian Government’s commitment to high-quality education in Shepparton.
GOTAFE CEO, Travis Heeney has welcomed the funding, as it will help meet the needs of the construction boom in regional Victoria and restart the local economy.
“This morning’s announcement from the Minister is very welcome. This funding couldn’t come at a better time, with demand for trade training at an all-time high as the regional economy recovers from COVID-19. We are excited to see this important investment in Shepparton and this precinct in Archer Street, which has had a long history of trade and technical education”
With community at the heart of this project, GOTAFE were excited to partner with Greater Shepparton City Council to jointly advocate Government to secure this important funding.
“We understand how much this facility will mean to our community and our wider region,” said Cr Kim O’Keeffe, Mayor of Greater Shepparton City Council.
“This project is an enormous step towards economic prosperity and job security for Greater Shepparton. It will ensure locals are highly skilled in specific trades, while creating many employment and education opportunities to ensure our community are well-placed for the future.”
The funding provided to build the second stage of the Goulburn Trade Training Centre gives students exposure to high-quality teaching practices and learning conditions that will equip them with the knowledge, skills and dispositions for lifelong learning and shaping the world around them. The project will also provide opportunities for businesses to grow and young people to engage with meaningful work by meeting the economic need for more trades in the Shepparton region.
The $10.7 million in funding will go towards developing a new western wing to the Archer street campus of the Goulburn Trade Training Centre, housing state-of-the-art plumbing and electrical trade training facilities. This will allow GOTAFE to increase their delivery of training in these trades, centralise their trade training with coursework already taught at the Archer street site, and create permanent jobs for the region.
This project will directly benefit more than one hundred students over the next five years.
Brett Ambrosio, Director Technology and Built Environment for GOTAFE is enthusiastic about the future of the Goulburn Trade Training Centre. “Being able to provide best-in-class training facilities right here in Shepparton, to meet the needs of our industry and community, is a great opportunity. We’ll be able to expand our plumbing and electrical training and create more regional jobs.”
Travis Heeney is looking forward to continuing the strong relationship with State Government for GOTAFE and regional Victoria. “The support from the State Government to help our regions recover from COVID-19 is allowing us to provide the training and opportunities we know our community and our industry need.”