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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-10-14 Daily Xml
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TAFE SA

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:32): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills questions in relation to the future of the TAFE campus in Millicent.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: I understand that there is currently a statewide review of TAFE SA campuses. As part of this review, senior TAFE staff visited Millicent on 24 September to consult with the local community about the future of its TAFE campus. My questions for the minister are:

1. What is the aim of the statewide review of TAFE campuses and which person, or persons, is undertaking the review?

2. When will the results of the review be finalised and publicly released?

3. Is it possible that, in response to the review's findings, some TAFE campuses will close, staff positions will be lost or the number of TAFE courses offered in regional communities will be reduced?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (14:33): I thank the honourable member for his most important questions. TAFE has undergone a process to transform the way it is delivering training to South Australia. The aim of that review is to increase access, flexibility, job outcomes and build TAFE's reputation as Australia's largest training provider.

The state government recognises TAFE as a quality provider. It provides very important access, particularly to many of our remote and rural regions, where more competitive arrangements for best delivery would not be viable. The significant reforms are aimed at TAFE campuses being more innovative and flexible in the way they deliver services to students, their need to improve their use of scarce resources and their need to reduce their draw on the public purse. They have also indicated that they need to provide a more sustainable business to be able to operate in a highly competitive market.

In terms of messaging, they have indicated that they want to use this process to provide improved access to training to ensure that their courses lead to jobs or to further education. Also, there is the need to ensure the availability of lecturers and place those where they are needed, improve access to online training, reduce waste and ensure that the facilities they use are modern and fit for purpose.

TAFE, I have been advised, is also developing regional training plans based on the priority training needs for each region informed by TASC, the RDA roadmaps, TAFE regional managers and intelligence re demand for training. Assessments are being made in relation to the opportunities to further modernise their delivery through, as I said, improved online delivery and improved access to lecturers by arming them with the necessary technology and equipment so that they are more mobile and able to deliver training wherever it is needed and where it may not have been previously available.

TAFE SA, I'm advised, currently has 45 delivery sites. Many of those facilities are very old buildings and not of a standard that the community currently expects for training. A number of these have low student training numbers. Training demand has shifted and training methods have also changed considerably, given the uptake of online training to date. TAFE is obviously looking for opportunities to improve the delivery of training. It is looking at blended models of delivery—a combination of face-to-face and online, moving more training out to workplaces and farms and suchlike, and looking at opportunities to co-locate with other organisations and not necessarily have stand-alone infrastructure.

A report will be given when they have finished their consultation throughout all the regions and that will then be made publicly available. TAFE has indicated that it has not made any decisions at this point about site closures or the particular requirements of each site. TAFE is still consulting, as I said, and a final report will be made when that is completed. As I indicated, that report will be made publicly available.

The PRESIDENT: Supplementary, the Hon. Mr Wade.

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