Michael Daley and Labor have announced that they will make TAFE free for courses in skills shortage areas, if elected, and according to the Country Labor Candidate for Oxley, Susan Jenvey, Mid North Coast is perfectly positioned to take advantage.
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The policy will offer more than 600,000 fee-free TAFE places over the next decade and will be offered for all certificate level courses in areas where there are skills shortages, such as childcare, aged care, disability care, construction, plumbing and the electrical trades.
“Aged care and allied health are the region’s biggest employers. The region is welcoming more and more families fleeing high housing prices in the capital cities and these families will need child care,” Ms Jenvey said.
“In a few years time, construction will commence on the Coffs Harbour Bypass and run for several years. Local TAFE’s are in a prime position to supply workers for this.
“Federal Labor, if elected, is also committed to building more than 250,000 new affordable houses and units over the next decade.
“The TAFE campuses in Kempsey and Macksville are perfectly positioned to deliver the people and skills for these and other projects.
“These projects with local workers will help reduce our chronic unemployment problems and give the regional economy a much-needed boost.”
Michael Daley and Labor’s Free TAFE Plan say they will once again make TAFE genuinely accessible to all and revitalise the vocational education system in the state after it has been decimated by eight years of the Liberals and Nationals.
Michael Daley and Labor will also cap the amount of contestable funding for private providers at 30 per cent, and establish a Private Providers Investigations Unit to investigate complaints by students, ensure private providers are delivering courses at a high standard, and prevent private providers preying on vulnerable people.
This will cement the role of TAFE as the premier public provider of vocational education and training in NSW.
“As a father of two young people in their twenties, I’ve seen how tough it can be for young people to nail down a secure, quality job,” Mr Daley said.
Free TAFE will help those starting out or those retraining to find jobs in industries that are crying out for more workers.
“This is the ultimate jobs plan, and will be great for jobs growth in both urban and regional NSW. It delivers the skilled workforce of the future,” Mr Daley said.
“Abolishing fees for courses in areas where there is a known skill shortage is a real, common sense way to connect eager workers with good jobs,” NSW Shadow Minister for Skills Prue Car said.
This policy has been costed by the independent Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) at $64.5 million over forward estimates.