Page 4751 - Week 13 - Thursday, 28 November 2019
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MR BARR: I thank Ms Cody for the question. Through the CIT campus modernisation program we are seeking to make CIT a modern, innovative and dynamic institution that can respond to the changing needs of the community and the business sector, easily adapt to changing teaching techniques and new technologies and provide for new courses to be taught.
The new campus in the Woden town centre will be a hub for significant collaboration with industry, business and students, driving a culture of innovation centred in the town centre and collocated with industry alongside the new campus. CIT Woden will have a focus on cyber technology qualifications and service skills. CIT Woden will continue to offer skills for creative industries, hospitality, business and tourism. Over 6,500 students are expected to study at the campus every year.
This commitment forms part of a renewed Woden town centre demonstrating the government’s commitment to supporting public vocational education and training through our nation-leading public training provider, the CIT. The new campus will provide students with the skills they need for the jobs they want. This investment also demonstrates ACT Labor’s guarantee that the CIT will always remain in public hands and that we will continue to invest in tertiary education in Canberra.
MS CODY: Chief Minister, what other investments is the government making in vocational education and training?
MR BARR: Along with the new campus in Woden, the government continues to support vocational education and training and, indeed, our university sector, right across the city. The CIT campus in Tuggeranong—which this year has offered a range of training, including asbestos awareness, white card, foundation skills, general education, business, early childhood education, care, accounting, hospitality, digital media and technology courses—continues to be at the forefront of our thinking in the modernisation strategy.
The government has also promoted training and employment through the expansion of the SPARK training and employment initiative, including the delivery of five training programs in 2019, which will expand to 10 in 2020, all of which will be conducted on the south side of the city. The successful adult community education grants program has also provided funding for projects to deliver foundational skills.
The ACT government recognises the transformative effects that access to vocational education and training can bring. We have invested in CIT Fyshwick in the most recent budget, with expanded facilities. We have recently opened new healthcare facilities at CIT Bruce. We are working with UNSW Canberra, the University of Canberra and the Australian National University on expansion programs. With each of those institutions, there is a very bright future for tertiary education in the ACT. It is our single biggest export industry; it is one of the largest employers in the territory; and it is the major contributing factor to why Canberrans are the best educated people in Australia and therefore amongst the best educated people in the world.
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