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$57 million recovery package for WA TAFE and training sector

The Western Australian state government is giving a $57 million package for the training sector that will deliver 15 free short courses and slash TAFE fees by as much as 72 per cent for thousands of Western Australians as part of the WA Recovery Plan.

In an expansion of the Lower Fees, Local Skills initiative that rolled out before COVID-19, TAFE fees for a further 39 high priority courses will be slashed by as much as 72 per cent.

The expanded program now includes 73 courses in total and will ensure Western Australians, can access affordable training to help them get back into jobs, after TAFE fees increased by as much as 510 per cent under the previous Liberal National Government.

The heavily reduced fees have been targeted to align with the state’s immediate economic needs following COVID-19.

The program now also includes 27 Certificate courses that will be reduced from between 50 and 67 per cent for areas such as plumbing, agriculture, METRONET courses, construction, electrical trades, health services, fabrication, mental health and disability services.

Six diploma courses – including Diploma of Nursing, Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care and Diploma of Community Services, will have their fees reduced by 72 per cent.

A further six pre-apprenticeship courses will have fees cut by 67 per cent. The pre apprenticeships course, which include areas including automotive electrical technology, engineering, plumbing and, building and construction, will prepare students for apprenticeships in industries where there will be demand for skilled workers.

From the second semester, the maximum annual fee students will pay is capped at $400 for concession students and youth and $1,200 for non-concession students.

It is expected that adding a further 39 courses to the Lower Fees, Local Skills initiative will increase annual TAFE enrolments by more than 6,000 students and provide fee relief to more than 27,000 enrolments over the second half of 2020 and during 2021.

The package includes $25 million for ‘Free TAFE Short Courses’ that have been developed in consultation with industry to engage displaced workers, including women and young people, and meet immediate and emerging skill requirements as the economy recovers.

The free short courses will provide a launch-pad for students to up-skill for new jobs and provide pathways to full qualifications.

Heavily reduced fees have been targeted to align with the state’s immediate economic needs following COVID-19.

The initial list of 15 short courses will be available to around 13,500 Western Australians and includes courses in, hospitality, logistics, cyber security, agriculture, civil construction and small business. Many of the short courses have built-in foundation digital skills and literacy and numeracy training.

The free short courses can also be used as a credit towards a full qualification from the expanded Lower Fees, Local Skills initiative.

Enrolments open on Monday July 6, 2020. The TAFE fees announcement is in addition to the new Apprenticeship and Traineeship Re engagement Incentive that provides employers with a one-off payment of $6,000 for hiring an apprentice and $3,000 for hiring a trainee whose training contract was terminated on, or after, March 1, 2020.

“TAFE is a major part of Western Australia’s recovery from COVID-19.

“Our training-led plan will prepare Western Australians to get back into jobs to meet the economy’s immediate workforce needs following the impacts of the pandemic,” Premier Mark McGowan said.

“As we continue the recovery process, we will continue to focus on getting Western Australians back to work in areas that will drive economic activity across the state.”

“Training is vital to develop a skilled workforce to support the State’s economic recovery.

“With an additional 39 courses added to the Lower Fees, Local Skills initiative, now is the time to get into training with more than 70 courses available at significantly reduced prices.

“The initial 15 free short courses will enable people to upskill for current and emerging jobs in areas like hospitality, logistics, cyber security, agriculture, civil construction and small business,” Education and Training Minister Sue Ellery said.

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Ford Australia selects Merrifield as major distribution centre

A new Ford automotive parts distribution centre will open at Merrifield Business Park in 2021.

One of Australia’s largest automotive parts distribution centres will open at Merrifield Business Park in late 2021.

The new purpose-built parts distribution facility, to be constructed by Texco, will comprise a 50,580 sqm warehouse, 900 sqm office occupying a site of 87,691 sqm and features a 5-Star Green Energy rating, super awning and 14.6 metre clearance height to enable Ford to store parts for current and future generation cars.

Leading Australian developers MAB and GPC confirming Ford Australia has signed a 10-year prelease for a 51,480 sqm facility.

It will also offer Ford staff onsite parking facilities, a cafeteria and a walking track within the Merrifield Business Park, where it joins a growing network of businesses including Dulux, D’Orsogna and Steritech.

The new logistics facility represents the biggest investment in Ford Australia’s parts business in 60 years.

MAB General Manager Commercial and Industrial, Michael Martin, said Merrifield Business Park’s close proximity to key rail, road and airport infrastructure, along with the ability to efficiently service the eastern seaboard helped secure the deal.

“Merrifield Business Park is becoming a preferred location in the north for large warehousing, manufacturing, distribution and storage facilities, due to its scale and proximity to the Hume Freeway”, he said.

“The facility will consolidate Ford’s spare parts operations into one purpose-built facility and help them service their customers faster and more efficiently. We look forward to welcoming them in 2021.”

Kay Hart, president and CEO of Ford Australia and New Zealand, said adding Merrifield as a fifth site to Ford’s existing four-site footprint in Victoria was an important step in continually improving service for customers and dealers.

“Our focus is on giving our customers the best experience possible, and that means making sure we have an efficient parts supply system for both our dealers and Ford owners,” said Hart.

“With space and great transport infrastructure links, this new site will enable us to store and distribute the parts we need for the current and future generations of vehicles, including electrified vehicles. It will also give our team the space it needs to grow our business into the future.

“We know that it isn’t enough to offer great vehicles; we also need to offer exceptional customer service and to support our dealers to do that. That’s why this investment is so important to us.”

CBRE was the advisor and broker on the deal, led by Victorian Executive Managing Director Dean Hunt and Associate Director Daniel Eramo.

“The preparation prior to the launch of Ford’s lease requirement has ensured that the right building solution is being delivered to meet Ford’s needs,” Eramo said.

“The process we undertook identified Merrifield Business Park as the ultimate location, matched with competitive market terms.”

Melbourne-based industrial construction specialists Texco will design and construct the purposebuilt facility, working closely with MAB and Ford Australia to meet its logistics and workplace requirements.

“We’re excited to be building Ford Australia’s new parts distribution solution and will be working closely with them to deliver a facility that provides a more efficient storage and distribution outcome” Texco Co-founder and Director Tom Bull said.

One of the fastest growing communities in Victoria, Merrifield will eventually become the largest mixed-use masterplanned community in the state, with 4000 residents already calling it home.

Merrifield City will open its first retail stage including a Coles supermarket later this year, with a primary school, community centre and sports grounds to come in 2021.

Merrifield Business Park in Mickleham will be the largest business park in Victoria when completed. Bigger than the Melbourne CBD, it will span 415 hectares and create up to 25,000 jobs.

The estate offers sites up to 30 hectares with the ability to offer lots for sale or deliver pre-lease and turn-key solutions with purposebuilt facilities.

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New research hub to transform Australian offshore energy industry

University of Wollongong’s Dr Andrew ZammitMangion is a research hub team leader.

A new $5 million research hub at the University of Wollongong will contribute to a federal government initiative to integrate data science techniques with engineering and the physical sciences to transform Australia’s offshore energy industry.

The Transforming energy Infrastructure through Digital Engineering (TIDE) Research Hub, led by the University of Western Australia (UWA), has been awarded funding through the Australian Research Council Industrial Transformation Research Program.

The hub will launch in 2021 and will work over the next five years to unite insights from experimental and industry-generated data in order to improve the design and management of offshore energy infrastructure, a critical component of this nationally important industry.

The ARC funding will be supplemented by an additional $20 million in cash and in-kind contributions through co-investment from industry partners, UWA, UOW and a number of leading international universities.

Professor Phillip Watson at the University of Western Australia will lead the TIDE Research Hub.

“Offshore energy adds over $55 billion gross value to the economy annually and directly employs 100,000 people,” he said. “The new TIDE Research Hub will provide enduring benefits to all Australians.”

TIDE will bring together a team of leading Australian researchers alongside international and industry partners. It will draw experts from the core disciplines of oceanography, hyd rodynamics, geotechnics and data science. The chief investigators comprise 17 researchers from UWA and three from the National Institute for Applied Statistics Research Australia (NIASRA) at UOW.

At the core of the research hub lies an international data science team, with Dr Andrew ZammitMangion (UOW) and Dr Ed Cripps (UWA) as team leaders.

Dr Zammit-Mangion, together with Dr Matt Moores, and Dr David Gunawan from NIASRA in the Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences at UOW, form a major component of the research team.

The group at UOW will help integrate uncertainty quantification, statistical inference, and artificial intelligence, with science-based models, to allow for improved evidence-based decision-making in various applications related to offshore engineering.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to bring two leading data science teams together, one at UWA and the other at UOW, to work on a problem of such national importance,” Zammit-Mangion said.

“Data science is revolutionising the energy sector. This Hub will be the national centre for transforming the way we use data for decision making in offshore engineering through the fusion of domain expertise and statistical inference.”

International collaborators from the University of Texas, the University of Oxford, the Technology Centre for Offshore and Marine Singapore, the University of Southampton, HR Wallingford, Lancaster University and the Alan Turing Institute, will join the Australian team.

These researchers will work with an additional 17 investigators from industry partners, including three of Australia’s largest LNG producers – Woodside, Shell and INPEX – as well as Lloyd’s Register Group, Bureau Veritas, Fugro, Wood, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

Through this collaboration, the TIDE Research Hub will allow unprecedented access to industry field data as well as the collection of new observations, allowing deeper understanding of the real offshore environment.

As the Australian energy industry shifts to long-term operations, the TIDE Research Hub will be well placed to lead transformational research. TIDE will focus on lowering the cost of future production in order to assist Australian companies to cost-effectively maximise LNG export, safely manage assets while minimising environmental risk.

The skills and strategies developed by the TIDE Research Hub for the offshore energy industry will be readily transferable to other offshore industries, such as renewable energy and aquaculture.