By Kayla Olaya
Hundreds of jobs could be on the line as part of a major restructure of TAFE NSW after a wide-ranging review found the reach and impact of the country’s largest training organisation was declining.
Staff were last week told up to 200 non-teaching roles were under review as part of proposed changes to TAFE NSW’s operating model.
TAFE NSW is set for an overhaul in which its current regional structure could be replaced.Credit: Louise Kennerley
Jobs across several departments including administration, IT facilities management and accounting are set to be affected by the restructure, which was recommended in an interim report from an independent review into the organisation.
The report also recommends TAFE NSW move away from being organised in six geographical regions to instead operate as five statewide educational faculties.
“TAFE NSW is committed to ensuring a smooth transition for all employees who will be moving into new teams and roles, and is focused on minimising disruption to students, employers, and industry throughout this process,” a spokeswoman for TAFE NSW said.
“Following consultation, employees will be provided with support to transition into roles within the new structure. We anticipate that we will finalise this process by early 2025.”
The organisation’s final structure, and any reduction in headcount, is not expected to be known until next year.
“It is too early to provide a definitive answer about headcount changes as TAFE NSW has just commenced consultation on the proposal,” the spokeswoman said. “We are, however, proposing to increase the number of head teachers.”
The Community and Public Sector Union, which represents TAFE non-teaching staff, declined to comment when asked about the impacts of the proposed cuts on their members.
The interim report, released in March, said the current regional structure resulted in six duplicate versions of the same teams with significantly different operating practices, approaches and effectiveness. It said a statewide model would better enable TAFE to engage with industry and maintain consistency in the quality of its courses.
The report found TAFE NSW was challenged “by undefined focus and eroding community confidence” and that its reach, prominence and impact were declining across the state. The organisation had also struggled to meet training delivery and cost reduction targets while being unable to deliver courses that people want to do, the report said.
TAFE NSW is the largest training provider in the country. It has more than 400,000 enrolments every year but the interim report found businesses were turning to other providers.
The overhaul comes after TAFE NSW in 2021 revealed 678 jobs were to be culled through a restructure. The state government spent $21.2 million on redundancies at the agency that year.
Skills and Tafe Minister Steve Whan said: “The NSW Labor government knows that to address the critical shortage of skilled workers, NSW needs a strong and sustainable vocational training system.
“This report underscores the pivotal role of TAFE NSW in helping meet the skills needs of the NSW economy.”
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