About the Central Queensland TAFE Centre of Excellence
CQUniversity is seeking $49.8 million to build the Central Queensland TAFE Centre of Excellence, to support post-COVID economic recovery in the Rockhampton region and skill up the region’s future workforce. The project, which enjoys widespread community and industry support, will see CQUniversity unite its Rockhampton TAFE and higher education operations on the one Rockhampton North campus site.
CQUniversity’s current Rockhampton TAFE operations are located some 8 km away from the main campus. In combining TAFE and higher education activities within the one site, CQUniversity will not only realise new operational efficiencies and create new employment opportunities both during and after construction, it will deliver on its ultimate promise of being a true one-stop-shop for post-school education and training in Central Queensland.
In 2019, CQUniversity convened a community forum and completed a comprehensive options analysis of the project, supported by the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training. This analysis confirmed the renewal and consolidation of the City Campus facilities onto the Rockhampton North campus as the best option for the region.
CQUniversity’s Rockhampton TAFE facilities are aged and, in many cases, beyond repair. There is a compelling need to revitalise these facilities to contemporary standards to deliver the training and skills required for jobs in Queensland now, as well as to provide a flexible and functional environment to anticipate jobs for the future.
Revitalisation of the TAFE facilities is an investment in the future skills and productivity of the State’s workforce. As the only public provider of TAFE training in the Central Queensland region, CQUniversity graduates don't just get jobs – they create jobs.