The Australian and NSW governments are jointly investing more than $60 million over five years to establish the Hunter Net Zero Manufacturing Centre of Excellence at TAFE NSW’s Tighes Hill campus in Newcastle.
The funding will accelerate the development of a Higher Apprenticeship model focused on the advanced skills required for net zero manufacturing. The upgraded centre will play a pivotal role in building up new skills for workers across the Hunter, investing in their future.
The centre will provide access to jobs in the Hunter-Central Coast Renewable Energy Zone, and deliver the skilled workforce required to support the renewable energy sector.
The Centre of Excellence will:
- Grow the workforce to support the renewable energy industry through technology-integrated learning, increasing access to training in regional and remote areas of northern NSW via mobile training units
- Establish a National Renewable Energy Microskills Marketplace, enabling TAFEs across Australia to share and access renewable industry-related digital non-accredited courses
- Implement a higher apprenticeship model, integrating vocational education and training (VET) and higher education by combining critical trade skills like electrotechnology, welding, and fabrication, with higher-level units in emerging areas such as digital technologies.
The centre will also build on partnerships between TAFE NSW, universities, and local industry to pilot qualification models that deliver parity of status between VET and higher education.
Increasing the number of apprentices – particularly in trades such as electrotechnology, engineering, manufacturing, and mechatronics – is vital to ensure NSW and Australia have the skills to transition mining, energy, and manufacturing industries to a clean energy economy.
This will help it meet the demand for net zero training to support decarbonising mining and manufacturing sectors as Australia transitions to net zero by 2050.
The centre will also support both government’s commitment to rebuilding our local manufacturing capacity, including delivering the skilled workforce required to build and maintain the NSW Tangara fleet locally.