The NSW Government is calling on the best of the best in construction and aged care to partner with TAFE NSW on the development of two new training Centres of Excellence, as part of an Expression of Interest (EOI) process beginning today.

Planning is already underway for the $80 million Construction Centre of Excellence at TAFE NSW Kingswood and more than $2 million was committed to develop a business case for a Residential Aged Care Centre of Excellence.

Minister for Skills and Tertiary Education Geoff Lee said Centres of Excellence are a responsive training model built around the co-development and co-delivery of training using the latest industry-relevant equipment, techniques, and business practices.

“Centres of Excellence will deliver a pipeline of job-ready graduates, armed with the latest skills and industry-relevant knowledge needed to keep the NSW economy competitive,” Mr Lee said.

“These graduates will be entering the workforce with knowledge directly from industry.”

The TAFE NSW Construction Centre of Excellence, alongside industry partners, will design and deliver specialist training to equip the next generation of trades workers with advanced and cross-disciplinary construction skills fundamental to the future of the sector. This will form part of the Kingswood campus.

This EOI process is open to potential industry partners until 1 February 2021.

The TAFE NSW Residential Aged Care Centre of Excellence will be co-located with a purpose built industry partner facility. This innovative approach to training will help meet the urgent demand for an additional one million aged care workers by 2050.

This EOI is open to industry partners until 15 February 2021.

For more information about the Centres of Excellence EOI process, visit the eTendering construction webpage or the aged care webpage.