Ms BADGER question to MINISTER for SKILLS and TRAINING, Mr ELLIS
On 13 March when asked about job losses in TasTAFE’s automotive sector, you told this place that staff would be offered voluntary redundancies or be redeployed. That is despite TAFE’s documents from February clearly saying that redeployment was not an option. We understand that half of the southern automotive staff have lost their jobs, including through forced redundancy. Whether you have been misleading or just asleep at the wheel, the devastating impact on staff and the industry is exactly the same. These job cuts are shameful and they raise huge concerns about the future of this critically important training program.
Is your decision to halve the workforce now the first step in permanently reducing and removing access to automotive training in southern Tasmania? What exactly are your plans for automotive training in southern Tasmania for 2026 and beyond?
ANSWER
Honourable Speaker, I thank the member for the question. The answer to your first question is no. We are committed to ensuring that there is automotive training here in the southern region and working through that. It has been a difficult circumstance with a burst water main that flooded the lower levels of the Campbell Street campus, including the automotive section. We are continuing to work with TasTAFE and industry on solutions for automotive training following the closure of that part of the Campbell Street facility. We need to work through it diligently so that we can continue to provide the services for apprentices and learners in the automotive sector in the south, both in the short term and the long term. We are working through it with learners, teachers and employees affected, as well as the industry, on a hybrid approach to training delivery for the return of learners in 2025. TasTAFE has been engaged with the automotive team with respect to both the delivery models and the resulting staffing impacts as we work through that process.
You mentioned redundancy. As I updated the House at the time, TasTAFE engaged with the automotive team on a process that was compliant with the enterprise bargaining agreement. Three voluntary redundancy offers were taken up by staff. Exploring possible redeployment opportunities within TasTAFE forms part of that process, with an assessment of their skills made against vacant position descriptions to see if redeployment is an option. TasTAFE has now finalised a redundancy for one teaching position and we are resizing as required. TasTAFE adheres to the requirements of the enterprise agreement. The resulting staffing levels for the automotive team is six teachers and I understand that TasTAFE advised the automotive team and the union that the process had concluded on Friday 28 March.
We are committed to working with all of our learners and our staff as we work through this process. For example, current training arrangements look like on‑site based training with workplaces, which aligns well, typically larger. We have been working closely with the Department for Education, Children and Young People (DECYP) on access to trade training centres in Huonville, Bridgewater and other opportunities that might present themselves. With theory-based components, there is appropriate online learning. There are also some learners who will be travelling to the north, just as currently we have many learners from the north and north-west that travel to the south for a range of different courses.
It is a difficult time. The unforeseen event of the burst water main flooding the lower levels of Campbell Street campus is a challenge we all need to work through. We want to support our teachers, learners and staff, and the industry so that we can get automotive training back on its feet in the south as soon as we can.
The SPEAKER – The minister’s time for answering the question has expired.
SUPPLEMENTARY QUESTION
Ms BADGER – A supplementary question, Speaker?
The SPEAKER – I will hear the supplementary.
Ms BADGER – To clarify what is happening from 2026 and beyond, TasTAFE said initially that the Campbell Street campus would be back up by part-way through 2026. Three weeks later they said there was a site at Rokeby. Which one is it, minister? You said you are also working with DECYP to work with the trade training centres, but DECYP has said that the apprentices cannot go there because they do not have a Working with Vulnerable People card. What are you doing to ensure they can actually get it, because it is not a requirement of the course?
The SPEAKER – The original question talked about 2026 plans, minister, so I will draw you to it for that reason.
Mr ELLIS – We are working through what those longer term solutions look like. Assessments of the damage at the building have been complex. Flooding in a high rise building is difficult to assess. We are still going through the assessment process for insurance purposes. I encourage members to not play politics with an unforeseen event that is difficult to work through. We are committed to delivering a solution for automotive training in the south and it is important that we design that right so we get the best outcome for learners.
