Vocational education opportunities are set to be offered much closer to home for remote communities across Western Australia following a $5 million investment in two new mobile TAFE projects.
The federally funded mobile TAFE projects will service the Kimberley, Pilbara and Eastern Goldfields regions, bringing training directly to the next generation of workers in regional and remote communities.
The Western Australian Government will work in partnership with local organisations - including First Nations organisations - to deliver courses in communities via the mobile training units.
Mobile training units are custom-fitted vehicles or trailers which serve as classrooms or workshops on wheels.
The Kimberley project, to be delivered in partnership with Djaringo Training, will receive $2.79 million to establish two mobile, on-country training units which will deliver training to First Nations and other learners in 15 remote and very remote locations.
It means around 150 additional students each year can benefit from courses including Certificate III in Indigenous Environment Health and Certificate III in Civil Construction Plant Operations, the Government said.
Minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, said the initiative will create "more opportunities for people in remote First Nations communities to gain skills and find employment closer to home".
"These Mobile TAFE projects will help ensure more people in remote areas of WA can access the benefits of TAFE," Senator McCarthy said.
"These projects have been shaped in partnership with First Nations organisations and will help build the local workforce communities need for the future."
The second project, to be delivered in partnership with Carey Training, will receive $2.29 million to deliver two mobile training units to the Pilbara and Eastern Goldfields regions.
The self-sufficient units will deliver training to 14 remote and very remote locations in the Pilbara, and 16 outer regional, remote and very remote locations in the Eastern Goldfields, benefitting around 100 additional students each year.
Minister for Skills and Training Andrew Giles said: "Too often, where you live determines what training opportunities are available to you. Mobile TAFE is about changing that."
"We're taking training directly into remote communities so people can gain skills closer to home and build careers without having to leave their local community.
"When people can train locally, communities benefit from more skilled workers, local employers have improved access to the workforce they need, and more economic opportunities stay in the region."
The investment forms part of a $31 million package across the country to help bridge the gap between remote communities and TAFE and training, and build a local workforce.
WA Minister for Skills and TAFE, Amber-Jade Sanderson, said every Western Australian deserves access to training which will set them up for a meaningful career, regardless of where they live.
"Our State is experiencing a jobs boom, which is why we are investing heavily in training to ensure locals have the skills they need to take up these opportunities," Ms Sanderson said.
"This investment in Mobile TAFE will help to bring world-class vocational training to some of the most remote parts of WA."
The Government said the Council of Aboriginal Services Western Australia and the Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia were valued partners in developing the projects.
