Page 3357 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 21 August 2018
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
The redevelopment of the Reid campus is in line with CIT’s long-term plan to progressively upgrade its campuses to ensure students and staff enjoy quality experiences in modern, fit-for-purpose facilities. This approach will ensure CIT is not burdened with unnecessary costs of maintaining an asset base that it no longer requires. The renewal project will significantly reduce the footprint of the current Reid campus, which also has the potential to facilitate UNSW Canberra to establish a university campus in the city east education precinct.
The buildings of the Woden CIT campus have passed their useful life as a modern educational facility. CIT’s music program is the last CIT department to be relocated, moving to a newly refurbished section of the Reid campus in September 2018. Despite CIT no longer having a formal teaching presence at Woden, CIT students will continue to be trained at multiple workplaces throughout the Woden Valley, particularly at the Canberra Hospital.
As technology accelerates around us, CIT is a leader in offering training that benefits the ACT economy in growing niche markets such as cybersecurity. These future skills have been delivered successfully for over three years through vocational training. CIT will continue to have an industry first focus, working closely with the Australian Government Cyber Growth Network, AustCyber, to build models that provide students with up-to-the-minute skills.
CIT has also built thriving partnerships with Box Hill Institute, UNSW Canberra and the broader national network of TAFEs to ensure CIT’s offerings are among the best in the nation. CIT remains committed to working with industry to increase Australian apprenticeships and is the registered training provider for nearly half of all ACT apprentices and trainees. The ACT government is proud to commit to keeping CIT in public hands.
The ACT government has continued to undertake a range of reform activities to achieve a flexible, responsive and high quality VET sector. In this budget, the government has allocated $609 million over four years for training and skills development, supporting almost 7,000 apprentices and trainees across 100 training providers in the ACT. This includes 714 places for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and 1,910 places for students with a disability.
We can be proud that we have seen a five per cent increase from 2016 to 2017 in apprentices and trainees enrolled at CIT. This is against a concerning national trend, where apprenticeships and trainees have declined by nearly six per cent over the same period. As of July this year, there are 3,341 apprentices and trainees enrolled across a range of 78 qualifications at CIT. I am proud to say that CIT is raising ambitions to meet new expectations and is delivering new offerings to provide the skills crucial to industry success and an adaptive, modern workforce.
The higher education and training sector in the ACT is booming. Last year I informed the Assembly that a conservative estimate for the sector’s economic value-add was $3 billion per annum. We have commissioned an investigation as to its current value; preliminary findings show that indeed $3 billion was a conservative estimate, with the
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video