Education Minister Sue Ellery inspects new ‘state-of-the-art’ equipment at South Regional TAFE’s Albany campus

Education Minister Sue Ellery visited South Regional TAFE’s Albany campus on Tuesday to inspect new equipment for a first-of-its-kind Australian course.

The Certificate II in Autonomous Workplace Operations was designed with industries in mind to help students enter the workforce with fundamental skills that could be transferable between a range of companies.

The course, the first in Australia to offer a nationally recognised qualification in automation, was piloted in Perth in 2019 and introduced to the Albany campus this year.

Students from Mt Barker Community College, Albany Senior High School and St Joseph’s College are already taking part in the course.

They attend campus one day a week in order to complete their certificate by the end of the year.

The course can also be delivered over a consolidated six-month period, with second semester applications now open.

Ms Ellery said industry leaders wanted to ensure students were learning on equipment that matched what they would use in the workforce.

“We worked early on with Rio Tinto to develop courses we can deliver in schools and in TAFE to ensure students have a core set of competencies that they can present to potential employers,” she said.

“The new automation equipment here at the Albany campus is going to help really set these young people up for whatever job they are looking for in the future.”

The new equipment, worth $438,000, includes a robotic track, drone system, laser cutters, 3D printer and an autonomous vehicle with smart controls.

It was funded through stage one of the State Government’s commitment to invest $25 million over four years in cutting edge equipment throughout WA’s TAFE network.

“We asked local colleges to identify what they wanted based on the courses they were running and this is what Albany identified,” Ms Ellery said.

“We want to make sure that we spread the capacity to fill those jobs across WA.

“Automated industries are not just about resources and mining, they’re also about agriculture and a whole range of industries.”