On 3 May 2011, the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations, Senator Chris Evans, recently opened a new $11 million skills centre in Western Sydney.

Supported by a grant of $9.9 million through the Education Investment Fund (EIF), the centre will enable plumbing, carpentry, bricklaying, electrical and scaffolding students to work collaboratively on construction projects as part of their training.

The Macarthur Building Industry Skills Centre at TAFE NSW South Western Sydney Institute uses an integrated, whole-of-project based approach to skills development, which allows students from several trades to work cooperatively in real-world scenarios.

This new skills centre will transform the learning environment for thousands of students and is helping increase the number of qualified workers, who are able to access high-paid, high-skilled jobs in our economy.

The centre is one of the 61 projects worth $4.15 billion supported by the Australian Government through the EIF.

Read more in the media release.

More information on the EIF initiative.