Today, we announce a new partnership between TasTAFE and Master Builders Tasmania that will boost construction training in Tasmania.

This partnership, supported by the government’s High Vis Army program, will expand capacity in the VET training system so that more Tasmanians can skill up and take advantage of the construction boom.

It will mean more well paid and high skilled jobs for Tasmanians while we build the new housing and infrastructure that will underpin our economic future.

This partnership builds on existing agreements between MBT and TasTAFE and will mean we can offer training courses that have not previously been offered in Tasmania.

The building and construction sector has shouldered the responsibility of rebuilding economies following the impacts of the pandemic. But we need more people to build the pipeline of work ahead of us.

TasTAFE and Master Builders Tasmania have already been working together to jointly deliver the Diploma of Building and Construction and the Certificate IV in Building and Construction.

Pictured at TasTAFE’s Water and Energy Trades Centre of Excellence at Clarence Campus for the MOU announcement today are: L-R:  Master Builders Tasmania CEO, Matthew Pollock, Minister for Skills, Training and Workforce Growth, Roger Jaensch, Master Builders Tasmania Board President, Tony Streefland, and TasTAFE CEO Grant Dreher.

Mr Dreher said TasTAFE was pleased to be formalising its existing strong partnership with Master Builders Tasmania through the MOU.

“We want to be an agile and responsive training provider that is meeting the training needs of industry not just now, but well into the future.

“We want to work with industry to look at the sorts of the skills that are needed to maximise Tasmania’s opportunities in building and construction and a range of other industries,” Mr Dreher said.

Mr Pollock, says long-term planning is needed to ensure we have the workforce to build the unprecedented pipeline of work ahead of us.

“Our relationship with TasTAFE has already proven itself to be working well and we look forward to expanding and developing it further under the high vis army,” he said.

“We look forward to enhancing the coordination between TasTAFE and Master Builders Group Training to support apprentices in the workplace and improve apprentice outcomes and completion rates.

“This is an opportunity for all Tasmanians. We need to build successful and rewarding careers in construction. We need to train an extra 6500 people between now and 2025 to deliver this pipeline of work. This partnership, the support and the high vis army program is here to do that.”