Media Coverage of TAFE Cuts 22-26 June 2012
Prisoners spared TAFE cuts, the rest of us suffer
Peter Rolfe, June 24, 2012 12:00AM
EXCLUSIVE: TAFE courses for law-abiding citizens axed by the Baillieu Government will continue to be offered to criminals in jail.
The Government has confirmed its $100 million cuts to TAFE and vocational training budgets will not affect TAFE programs offered to inmates inside Victorian prisons.
TAFEs and vocational training facilities around Victoria are being forced to slash courses after savage funding cuts in the Government's May Budget.
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/school-kids-hit-by-tafe-cuts-20120623-20vjk.html
School kids hit by TAFE cuts
Farrah Tomazin, June 24, 2012
THOUSANDS of Victorian secondary students are at risk of missing out on vocational programs designed to prevent them from dropping out of school, as the impact of the state government's dramatic TAFE cuts widens.
TAFE bosses have warned principals that they will have to raise fees and reduce the number of courses they offer secondary students to cope with the $300 million cut to the tertiary sector, forcing schools to either scrap vocational subjects or shop around for cheaper options.
http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2012/06/22/3531413.htm
Regional fallout from TAFE cuts
By Matilda Marozzi, 22 June, 2012 2:51PM AEST
The State Government's recent funding cuts in the TAFE sector are having major impacts on regional TAFEs and universities. Hear from TAFE leaders and education experts from around the state discussing the broader effects the cuts will have.
Chisholm TAFE to change with funding cuts
25 Jun 12 @ 05:00am by CHRIS TATMAN
CHISHOLM TAFE will "look different and be different" following huge State Government budget cuts, says chief executive Maria Peters.
"Chisholm must change ... Chisholm will be leaner and more flexible," Ms Peters said.
TAFE campus to stay
Thursday 21 June
GIPPSTAFE executives are confident the Leongatha campus will remain open and viable.
But they can’t yet give a cast iron guarantee. This is because the full picture won’t be known until a re-jigging of courses is tested in the market place.
http://www.latrobe.vic.gov.au/WebFiles/Homepage/thumbnails/Funding%20invite%20GippsTAFE.pdf
GippsTAFE Funding Community Meeting
The Mayor Cr Ed Vermeulen and Councillors invite you to attend a meeting to understand the impacts a reduction in funding to GippsTAFE will have on education, skills and training within the Latrobe Valley now and into the future.
A panel will be present to facilitate the discussion and answer your questions.
When: Tuesday, 26 June 2012, 6.00pm
Where: Latrobe City Council Headquarters
http://m.casey.vic.gov.au/advocacy/article.asp?Item=24547
Reverse TAFE funding cuts
The City of Casey is calling on the State Government to reverse its decision to cut the training and salary budgets of Technical and Further Education (TAFE) colleges and is inviting residents to sign Council’s online petition.
These cuts will put up to 1,500 jobs at risk across Victoria and appear designed to put TAFE in direct competition with private providers which will lead to fee rises, course closures and the eventual privatisation of TAFE.
http://www.3sh.com.au/articles/localnews_sh
TAFE Cuts Hurt Learning Adults
22/06/2012 13:49
The fight against TAFE cuts in the region continues, with Adult Learning Australia warning the Baillieu Government their decision will have severe impacts on adult students in the Wimmera Mallee.
President Barry Golding says TAFEs also provide adults with basic literacy and numeracy skills and the cuts could have a severe impact on the local community.
Premier in trouble fails to sell message
by: John Ferguson, June 23, 2012 12:00AM
EVERY political party needs a whipping boy.
For years it was Ted Baillieu's chief-of-staff, Michael Kapel, a good-cop-bad-cop operator from central casting. Add former federal Liberal MP Petro Georgiou to the mix and you get the core backers who surrounded Baillieu in opposition and in the first year of government. Kapel hired and fired. He was 50 per cent charming, 50 per cent aggressive.
Kangan TAFE courses cut, fees to soar
BY EUGENE BENSON, 26 Jun, 2012 12:00 AM
FIVE courses will be slashed from the Moonee Ponds and Essendon Kangan Institute of TAFE campuses, while fees for the remaining courses could double in the wake of the drastic funding cuts announced by the state government.
Premier Ted Baillieu announced $300 million in subsidies would be withdrawn from TAFEs as part of the 2012-13 budget measures. The courses to close in Moonee Valley will be the diploma of leisure and health, diploma of practice management, certificate II in retail, certificate III in retail and certificate IV in printing and graphic arts.
Regions suffer a TAFE blow
Erica Cervini, June 26, 2012 - 12:00AM
WILL the rest of Australia follow Victoria’s example and cut funding to public TAFE colleges?
When interviewed on Jon Faine’s ABC radio program last Thursday, Premier Ted Baillieu said other states were looking at the changes made to Victoria’s vocational education and training system. ‘‘The rest of Australia is looking to us for getting it right,’’ he said.
Does getting it right mean cutting the heart out of public TAFEs? In the May budget, the Victorian government cut funding to 80 per cent of TAFE courses. TAFE institutes estimate that the cuts will rip $290 million a year out of TAFE budgets from next year.
http://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/news/local/news/education/100-bendigo-tafe-jobs-cut/2602072.aspx
100 Bendigo TAFE jobs cut
25 Jun, 2012 03:10 PM
ONE hundred Bendigo TAFE jobs have been axed and its Kyneton campus will close after state government cuts to TAFE funding.
Bendigo TAFE announced the job losses today.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-26/bendigo-tafe-slashes-jobs/4092626/?site=centralvic
Bendigo TAFE slashes jobs
Updated June 26, 2012 09:02:11
The Bendigo TAFE says it deeply regrets the job and course cuts it is making but says the moves are necessary.
Twenty-five staff will lose their jobs immediately and another 75 positions could be slashed by the end of the year.
http://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/news/local/news/education/bendigo-tafe-jobs-to-go/2602753.aspx
Bendigo TAFE jobs to go
BRETT WORTHINGTON
26 Jun, 2012 10:07 AM
THE loss of 100 staff from Bendigo Tafe has prompted chief executive Maria Simpson to call on the community to support her organisation to ensure its survival.
Ms Simpson yesterday announced 25 staff would be made redundant next month, with a further 75 to go by December. The redundancies include management, support and teaching staff.
Government’s TAFE cuts finally hit home
ROD CASE, EDITOR, 26 Jun, 2012 04:00 AM
The loss of 100 Bendigo TAFE staff will impact heavily on this community.
The end of 39 TAFE courses will narrow opportunities for young people in our region.
Kyneton will also feel the pressure, with its small campus to close.
http://www.thecourier.com.au/news/local/news/general/ballarat-protests-tafe-cuts/2602868.aspx
Ballarat protests TAFE cuts
BY TOM MCILROY, 26 Jun, 2012 12:00 AM
VICTORIA'S Higher Education Minister Peter Hall will discuss University of Ballarat TAFE cuts during a meeting with vice- chancellor David Battersby today.Protesters opposed to the cuts have said they will attempt to give Mr Hall a rowdy welcome as they rally staff, students and community members affected by the cuts for a community forum on July 8.
Jobs vanish with TAFE dollars
BY STEPHANIE ZEVENBERGEN, 26 Jun, 2012 12:00 AM
INTENDED youth, retail and health workers are among students attending 52 courses that have been identified by Kangan Institute of TAFE as 'unviable' because of the state government's $300 million funding cuts.
Thirty-three of the courses that will cease next year are offered at the Broadmeadows campus.
http://hume-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/mp-fears-for-hume-youth-after-tafe-cuts/
MP fears for Hume youth after TAFE cuts
26 Jun 12 @ 05:05am by Laura Jolly
CUTS to TAFE funding will have severe ramifications for young people in Melbourne's north, Calwell Federal Labor MP Maria Vamvakinou said last week.
Mrs Vamvakinou and Wills MP Kelvin Thomson met Kangan Institute chief executive Ray Griffiths this month to discuss the situation, which will see up to 52 courses offered by the institute cut.
Heartbreak for VCAL teacher as peers depart
26 Jun, 2012 12:00 AM
TASHARA Roberts is living in fear, waiting for the day she'll be told she is no longer needed at the Kangan Institute.
Ms Roberts, a VCAL teacher in Broadmeadows and former Kangan student, told the Weekly the past few weeks had been "heart-breaking" as she watched her peers being made redundant.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-26/uni-tipped-to-reveal-course-closures/4092522/?site=ballarat
Uni tipped to reveal course closures
Updated June 26, 2012 08:32:14
The Ballarat University is expected to announce the extent of redundancies and course closures at its TAFE campuses, including western Victoria, today.
The cuts are the result of the State Government's decision to slash $300 million from the sector over three years.
Jobs threat: TAFE cuts will hit Sunraysia businesses, says Holding
BY GRAEME O’NEILL, 26 Jun, 2012 04:00 AM
The Baillieu Government’s deep cuts to TAFE funding are a threat to the supply of specialised workers needed to sustain Sunraysia’s unique mix of industries.
Victorian Shadow Treasurer Tim Holding, who is in Mildura for a regional jobs and investment forum this morning, was commenting on the slowdown in Victoria’s economic growth.
State government denies blame for cuts
BRETT WORTHINGTON, 26 Jun, 2012 04:00 AM
THE state government has distanced itself from Bendigo Tafe redundancies despite coming under fire from the opposition and unions.
A spokesman for Higher Education and Skills Minister Peter Hall yesterday said staffing levels were independent of government.
http://www.bendigoweekly.com.au/news/tafe-cuts-begin
TAFE CUTS BEGIN
Bendigo Weekly 25 June 2012
UPDATE
THE newest of Bendigo TAFE'S two libraries will close and "most of the city campus will be vacated" under cuts to be announced today.
Staff have told the Weekly 39 courses are unviable, and 100 jobs will go.
Bendigo TAFE Media Release
Monday June 25 2012
Changes to staffing and courses at Bendigo TAFE were announced today after an exhaustive review of the impact of recent State Budget funding cuts.
Changes including a reduction in staff numbers, increasing teaching hours, closure of some courses and cuts to overheads are necessary to put Bendigo TAFE on a viable path for the future, according to Bendigo TAFE chief executive officer Maria Simpson.
NMIT's courses for horses races free of TAFE budget cuts
BY SUE HEWITT, 25 Jun, 2012 04:00 AM
IN the hills around Eden Park the thunder of thoroughbred racehorses is heralding the success of the Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE's equine program.
The proud steeds and the students at NMIT's Northern Lodge have been spared the impact of the Baillieu government's TAFE cuts and the horse centre may grow, with the institute vowing to consider replacing any equine programs cut by four other Victorian organisations.
http://tafe4all.org.au/836024_10002.html
TAFE rallies coming to Melbourne
Rachel Power, 25 June 2012
The TAFE4All regional roadshow throughout May and June saw thousands of teachers, students and supporters rally at TAFE institutes around the state.
Now we are gearing up to hit campuses across Melbourne in a bid to save TAFE following the Baillieu Government's savage budget cuts. Rallies will be held at metro TAFE institutes around the capital, culminating in a mass rally on Thursday, August 16, in Melbourne's CBD (venue TBC).
Government would do well to remember value of listening
24 Jun, 2012 11:59 PM
This newspaper has already deplored the funding cuts made to the TAFE system not primarily because of the jobs lost to the sector, which are bad enough, but because of the long-term social ramifications, dwindling opportunities and career avenues these represent for Ballarat’s young people.
Already the worst of this city – its crime, generational unemployment, vandalism and trapped idle youth – represents a problem disproportionate to the size of the city because opportunities dry up too readily.
Embattled Frankston MP breaks silence
25 Jun 12 @ 12:01am by Deborah Morris
GEOFF Shaw remains defiantly upbeat for a politician who is under scrutiny from the Ombudsman and his own party. …
The MP shrugged off the estimated $25 million cuts to Chisholm TAFE. There has been record TAFE funding, $1.2 billion," he said. "I don't know how the latest budget will affect the Frankston campus because (Chisholm CEO) Maria Peters hasn't got back to me.
https://twitter.com/PRIME7CentVic/status/217152631708196864/photo/1
Prime TV: An emotional Bendigo TAFE CEO Maria Simpson
An emotional #Bendigo TAFE CEO Maria Simpson announces the 100 job cuts due the Baillieu Government's cash cuts today. pic.twitter.com/NA9cR03o
Branch Contacts
Branch Office
Bdg 166, Old Metallurgy Bdg Parkville Campus
University of Melbourne
Phone: 03 8344 6828
unimelb@nteu.org.au
http://www.nteu.org.au/melb
Ted Clark
Branch President
ejtc@unimelb.edu.au
Corey Rabaut
Division Organiser
crabaut@nteu.org.au
Rebecca Muratore
Branch Industrial Organiser
rmuratore@nteu.org.au
