The Rudd Government today welcomed the announcement of $16.15 million in new training facilities at Central Gippsland Institute of TAFE (GippsTAFE).
The Government is pleased to announce today that these new training facilities will be used to help train workers to build the $43 billion National Broadband Network.
This means GippsTAFE will supply some of the on average, 25,000 jobs each year it will take to construct a National Broadband Network over the next 8 years.
Today's $16.15 million announcement will mean GippsTAFE can:
* Upgrade its existing telecommunications, gas and electricity training yard
* The training yard allows trainees to learn how to lay underground and overhead telecommunications cable.
* Build three new state of the art technology training classrooms; and
* Construct a new fibre optic training room.
Today's announcement is one of the 31 projects funded in this year's budget as part of the $934 million round two funding from the Education Investment Fund.
GippsTAFE will become one of a series of technical colleges across the country with the specialist facilities to provide training for NBN workers.
The specialist training facilities at GippsTAFE's Chadstone campus will enable jobseekers to gain the competencies required to participate in the construction of the biggest nation-building project in Australian history.
This project will establish a world-class 21st century training and education facility in an area of identified skills need.
GippsTAFE is one of few specialist telecommunications and energy sector training facilities.
GippsTAFE is also investing a further $3 million towards this project.
The Education Investment Fund will transform our tertiary campuses into 21st century environments that will not only play a key role in delivering a sustainable future through teaching and research but also act as demonstration sites for new and emerging technologies and enable them to be tested at scale.
The GippsTAFE project at its Chadstone Campus will advance the Government's priority of creating a world-leading tertiary education sector in Australia. In addition, this investment will stimulate economic activity in the short term and expand growth potential in the medium-to-long-term.
The Government has also announced a nominal allocation of $500 million for EIF Round 3, which will include around $200 million for projects to help universities.
In some cases this will be facilitated through partnerships with vocational education and training (VET) providers to adjust to the new directions in higher education announced in the Budget.
In addition the Government will also undertake a special $650 million Sustainability Round of the Education Investment Fund in 2009.
The funding for vocational education and training providers and higher education and research institutions is an opportunity to give immediate practical effect to sustainable design, energy and research.