$850,000 in facilities upgrades for the Tamworth TAFE campus, and the announcement of face-to-face Gamilaraay language courses to be held in Tamworth, Gunnedah, Quirindi were announced by Minister for Skills, TAFE and Tertiary Education Steven Whan yesterday.
At Tamworth TAFE’s Welding and Metal Fabrication block, Minister Whan said “It’s really important for our apprentices to be using the sort of equipment that they’re going to be seeing in their workplaces.”
“We’ve also seen an upgrade here to the welding areas, to make sure that we are state of the art and we’re able to keep providing these important skills.”
The money went towards not just equipment, including a state-of-the-art computer-guided laser cutter, but also upgrades to the building to bring it in line with the changing face of Australia’s manufacturing sector – including long-needed women’s toilets, to reflect the diversity of those who are going into the trades.
“One of the things that we want to do is make sure that our trades are being made available, and we’re encouraging women to actually come in and undertake our trades,” Minister Whan said.
“An important part of that is having the facilities to go with it.”
The facilities upgrade was $500,000 of the $850,000, and included, along with the female toilets, an upgrade to the welding facilities and asbestos removal.
The investment, Minister Whan said, comes after a chronic shortage of workers in key industrial areas, notably construction and the renewable energy sector, alongside sectors like aged care and disability services.
“In areas where there’s renewable energy zones, it’s a very important part of the skills that we need.”
The upgrades come off the back of a state budget criticised for having little in the way of funding for rural and regional areas, a criticism Minister Whan was quick to downplay.
“I do think the state budget was very strong in regional New South Wales, particularly in areas like health and education,” Whan said, citing budget allocations for rural and regional health and education, and that TAFE improvements were happening across the state.
“Most importantly, the Minns government has focused on making sure that we are paying our public servants enough to keep them in the jobs in regional New South Wales.”
There has been consistently strong demand for engineering courses in the Tamworth and wider New England region, Whan said, with the money spent on the TAFE addressing genuine need of industries in the area.
For Michael Taylor, a third-year apprentice with Obieco Industries in Taminda, training on the laser cutter is a valuable skill to have.
“I know my workplace wants to get some things like the laser cutter and having the experience, bringing in will be good,” Taylor said.
Taylor’s classmate, Emma Allen, a woman working for herself building vehicle trays, agreed, saying it was a “fast and efficient way to get things done in a short period of time,” and encouraged more women to get into the course.
“Get out there and do it.”
The other big announcement was the start of an Indigenous language course.
The Certificate I in Aboriginal Languages For Everyday Use will be held in classes at Quirindi, Gunnedah, and Tamworth, kicking off for the second semester of 2025.
“The announcements reflect the 2025 NAIDOC Week theme ‘The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy’,” Whan said.
Natalie Little, Head Teacher of Aboriginal Culture and Language at Tamworth TAFE said that enrollments are “slowly increasing” in the course.
Little said while there’s not a lot of demand for Indigenous language in industry at the moment, formal qualifications and the need for Indigenous language is slowly increasing.
Odee Welsh, a teacher of Aboriginal languages, who’ll be teaching Gamilaraay, said that it was “really exciting for the community.”
“We’ve been asking for a while,” Welsh said, “You know, working in the languages space for a while, people often ask when we’re doing any kind of study ‘Is there a certificate at the end of it?’”
“And you know, in the community setting, there isn’t.”
This could provide a vital link to culture, for Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike, Welsh says, with the course open to all.
While the Certificate I will only provide a basic understanding of the local language, Welsh and Little hope to see the course eventually expand to higher levels, teaching those who can then disseminate further into the community.
“One thing we’re lacking with Gamilaraay, and I think a lot of Aboriginal languages, is teachers who can go and spread that language around within their communities.”
“It’s the first time we’ve offered them face-to-face in both those communities (Gunnedah and Quirindi),” Little said.
“Hopefully we get them filled, and away we go.”
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