Page 3196 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 20 August 2019
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We need to be providing better support to those who are on the front line of homelessness services. These people do incredible work. It would make their job much easier if they were supported more by this government.
Proposed expenditure agreed to.
Canberra Institute of Technology—Part 1.12
MRS JONES (Murrumbidgee) (4.28): I rise to speak, on behalf of Mr Wall, to the budget line item related to the Canberra Institute of Technology, as he is ill today. I am sure everyone in this place will be in total agreement that the Canberra Institute of Technology is an important part of the ACT’s educational landscape. Therefore it is very important that we keep it current and ensure that it is best placed to serve the needs of a changing workforce and economy.
During the appropriation debate last year, Mr Wall flagged the lack of a significant presence of the CIT in the south of Canberra as an issue for the thousands of students who have to travel across the city to access tertiary and vocational education. The previous attitude to a southern presence was made clear during the 2018 estimates hearings, when it was said that the Woden campus was deemed to be surplus to needs. The committee was informed that the campus accommodated only 125 students and eight staff. It is therefore interesting to see a shift in thinking by way of new plans regarding the relocation of the Reid campus potentially to Woden. In June this year, former minister and former member of this place Ms Fitzharris was quoted as saying:
Woden is in focus because we see the future of this region as an active and thriving centre of business and education, equipped with transport links and community facilities that will benefit Canberrans for years to come.
She said:
Positioning CIT with a major presence in the heart of Woden has the potential to enhance the town centre and create an energy around a new campus that will open up a range of opportunities for CIT staff and students, local businesses, industry and the broader community.
Mr Wall believes that this, as well as a Tuggeranong presence, would no doubt be a favourable outcome. However, it is worth asking what has changed. The backwards and forwards on the future of the CIT presence in Woden is not resulting in any set progress and not serving the students of the south very well either, at this point in time.
MR BARR (Kurrajong—Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Social Inclusion and Equality, Minister for Tertiary Education, Minister for Tourism and Special Events and Minister for Trade, Industry and Investment) (4.30): The CIT is, as members know, the leading government-funded vocational education and training provider. It has over 25,000 students across its government-funded commercial and adult education programs, including more than 3,500 apprenticeships and trainee places, and there were 856 international students studying at CIT in the 2018 calendar year.
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