Adjournment Question – GOTAFE Shepparton

My adjournment is for the Minister for Training and Skills and Minister for Higher Education, and the action I seek is that she visit the GOTAFE campus in Shepparton to see the benefits of the investment that the Victorian government has already made but still needs to make. Shepparton GOTAFE is offering the Shepparton community many of the skills needed to fill the vital roles in our district—qualifications in nursing, allied health, cybersecurity, business and IT, sport and recreation, hospitality, baking, hairdressing and beauty. The tertiary education centre is well supported, with 3800 students studying there. The TAFE needs an $86 million renovation to modernise the campus and continue offering students education in a fit-for-purpose building.

The Shepparton region has the most culturally and linguistically diverse community outside of Melbourne. It also has one of Australia’s highest youth unemployment rates. Shepparton alone has 1400 young people who are out of work as a result of having lost jobs during COVID, and 11 per cent of young people are disengaged from work and study. I think we all know that GOTAFE provides a place of entry for so many young people to set themselves on their path to the future.

GOTAFE has completed a master plan for redevelopment which outlines how it will deliver 21st-century learning spaces that attract and inspire regional students. The master plan includes a welcoming front for the whole of the building, other memorable buildings, inspiring public art and innovative research and learning spaces, including spaces to engage with the community. There are well-lit, safe pedestrian links from car parking zones and cycling infrastructure, dynamic and inclusive cultural and social spaces and opportunities for renewable energy improvements to the building in a very significant way.

I think it is fair to say that the TAFE in Shepparton is just such a pivotal part of what I have seen of the Shepparton Education Plan. The state government has invested in the Shepparton Education Plan very significantly, with $140 million for our new early learning centre, attached to Mooroopna Primary School, and the Greater Shepparton Secondary College, which is truly a state-of-the-art, very large secondary college in Shepparton that has brought together the four high schools of our district. It will open in February next year. Everyone is so excited by it. That connection between school and TAFE is very strong in Shepparton. Students share many courses, going backwards and forwards, so the opportunity to now give TAFE that injection of funding it needs is so very important.

Merry Christmas to everyone, including the parliamentary staff and especially our clerks, who do so much for me.