Technical and further education
In Australia, Technical and Further Education or TAFE institutions are those which offer a wide range of post-secondary education and training, generally in vocational fields (such as hospitality, tourism, construction, woodwork, secretarial skills, etc), often at a level of difficulty below that of a corresponding or related university course.
TAFE colleges in Australia are owned, operated and financed by the various State and Territory Governments. This is in contrast to universities which are not-for-profit organisations funded by the Federal Government. Some universities, however, such as Charles Darwin University and RMIT University, have TAFE sections.
In most States, the system of TAFE colleges are divided up into several Institutes corresponding to various regions. Each Institute consists of several campuses. For instance, the Illawarra Institute of Technology covers the south-eastern portion of the State of New South Wales with campuses in Wollongong, Dapto, Shellharbour, Bomaderry, Queanbeyan and Moruya, among many others. During 2002 the New South Wales government amalgamated the Schools Education Department and TAFE to form Department of Education and Training (D.E.T.) which is not to be confused with the federal D.E.E.T.
There are twelve TAFE Institutes in New South Wales which include:
- Sydney Institute of Technology
- Western Institute of TAFE
- South Western Sydney Institute of TAFE
- North Sydney Institute
- Southern Sydney Institute of TAFE
- Western Sydney Institute
- Hunter Institute of TAFE
- North Coast Institute of TAFE
- New England Institute
- Illawarra Institute
- Riverina Institute
In Western Australia these include:
- Central TAFE
- Challenger TAFE
- Swan TAFE
- West Coast College of TAFE
External links
- TAFE NSW: http://www.tafe.nsw.edu.au
- Dep Edu & Training http://www.det.nsw.edu.au/
- TAFE WA: http://www.tafe.wa.gov.au/