Interview - ABC Far North Queensland Breakfast with Michael Clarke
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC FAR NORTH QUEENSLAND BREAKFAST WITH MICHAEL CLARKE
WEDNESDAY, JULY 17 2024
Topics: $35 million Care and Support TAFE Centre of Excellence for Cairns.
MICHAEL CLARKE, HOST: Well, some good news for the far north today with both the State and Federal Government announcing $35 million to establish a Care and Support TAFE Centre of Excellence at Queensland's TAFE Cairns campus. It's going to strengthen the capability and capacity for the aged care, disability support and mental healthcare sector according to both levels of government including the Federal Minister for Skills and Training, Brendan O'Connor, who's with us now.
Minister, thank you for your time this morning. What does this announcement mean when it comes to training in the far north?
BRENDAN O'CONNOR, MINISTER FOR SKILLS AND TRAINING: Thank you firstly, Michael, for having me on. Look, it's an investment in skills, providing skills in the care sector, which is critical for the businesses and for the public providers of care in the region. It's critical for the students because they're going to acquire the skills that are needed. The care sector is a huge part of our economy, but ultimately, too, it's about looking after people with disability, older Australians, it's about looking after them in a way that you'd expect any decent country would. And the only way you do that is have the skills and the understanding to do that. And what this is about, these Centres of Excellence, which I'm announcing across the country, is bringing together TAFE and universities and industry, or in this case, the care sector, to provide the skills so when people are in need of care in healthcare or support, they're going to get first quality care, and that's what this is about today. So, I'm very happy to be with the Federal Treasurer who'll be in Cairns today, Jim Chalmers, the Minister for Training and Skills in the Queensland Government, Lance McCallum, to announce this really important investment in this region. Good for jobs, good for people who are in receipt of care. Overall, it ticks every box.
CLARKE: Minister, I sometimes get a bit confused when we use phrases like 'Centre of Excellence.' Does this mean we're going to see extra classes or extra places at TAFE or how does this operate?
O'CONNOR: We have two tertiary sectors in this country, right? We have universities and we have vocational education and training. What's happening to our economy and what's happening to our labour market is increasingly, there's a need for the combination of both. This delineation between uni and TAFE in many areas is starting to end. So, you need collaboration, you need knowledge, you need technical skills, and often in a job and many future jobs, you need this collaboration of the two sectors working together. So, whilst people might enter into a TAFE or enrol in university, what's happening often, whether it's in the trades, whether it's in engineering, whether it's in manufacturing, or whether it's in the care economy or the care sector, you're needing to have these combinations. That's why under this Centre of Excellence, we're bringing the unis together with the TAFEs to provide the combined skills and knowledge needed for a modern economy. It’s happening around the world and that's what's happening in Australia.
CLARKE: But I guess, getting back to my question, are we seeing extra places or more opportunities for people to study at TAFE because of this announcement today?
O'CONNOR: Well combined with this announcement, we have been investing in Fee-Free TAFE. That's removing the cost barriers that are there for people to enrol. People are finding it hard, right? People are struggling with the cost of living. We've removed fees. There's 400,000 Australians, including obviously, people in Cairns and people in this region, that are enrolling in TAFE with the fees removed, for two reasons. One, we want to help people with cost of living pressures. And two, we need people to acquire skills in areas of demand in the economy. Whether that's manufacturing, whether that's tourism, whether that's the care sector. That's what we're doing. So, yes, there is two things happening at once here. There's more places in the VET sector for people to enrol in courses, and we're also bringing together the two tertiary sectors so we can provide the skills and knowledge needed for a first class care sector.
CLARKE: Does this underline the need that is happening in regional centres like Far North Queensland, also like North Queensland as well, to address this issue? We're seeing a lot of people getting older, a lot of people with health concerns. I know they're in our hospital systems at the moment, when they could be receiving care elsewhere. Does all of this underline this growing need?
O'CONNOR: Absolutely. Australia, like many first world countries, is an ageing population The upside is we're living longer, that's a good thing, but then we have to look after people as they age. And therefore the demands on the care sector are greater. And the only way we can fix that is to encourage people to come into the sector, look after older Australians. And you're right, as you well know, people travel here to retire here, right? Okay, they bring their resources, they bring their money, but they also need care. And the only way we can do that is skill people up. And the best way to do that is to have that combination of the two tertiary sectors, as I mentioned. Because if we can get people with the right skills and understanding, then the care for older Australians is going to be better. That's a relief to them. It's a relief to their kids -
CLARKE: And, Minister, we'll have to leave it there, I'm afraid, because we've got the news coming up. But it's good to talk to you this morning and get this announcement. So, all the best with your day.
O'CONNOR: Fantastic. Thanks very much, Michael.
CLARKE: Having a chat there with Brendan O'Connor, the Federal Minister for Skills and Training. $35 million being announced today to establish a Care and Support TAFE Centre of Excellence at the Cairns TAFE campus.