Give funding for new technical colleges to the TAFE sector
27 September 2004
The Howard Government’s announcement that it will establish 24 new technical colleges is a direct attack on the salaries and employment conditions of staff in the existing public TAFE sector and an enormous waste of taxpayers’ money, NTEU Victorian Division Secretary Matthew McGowan said today.
“The Coalition’s intentions are clear – they will force staff onto Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs), or individual contracts, seeking to undermine the strong collective bargaining processes that exist in the current state-based public TAFE sector.”
“Make no mistake – staff in the new technical colleges will have no choice but to accept inferior salaries and working conditions to their colleagues in the existing TAFE sector, while millions of dollars are wasted through the unnecessary duplication.”
Mr McGowan said that there is already a strong public TAFE sector that is desperately underfunded, having been ignored by the Howard Government for several years. Federal government funding for public TAFE providers has fallen by 24%, or $262 million, since 1997.
“Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show an increasing unmet demand for TAFE places. In 2003, 42,800 students who sought places could not be accommodated.
“Why spend this money establishing new colleges and a whole new bureaucracy to support it, when delivering the $289 million earmarked for the initiative to the existing TAFE sector would restore previous funding levels?” Mr McGowan said.
For further information and comment:
Matthew McGowan 0417 054 110