Portfolio — 15 July 2026

The Minister for Skills and Training, Mr Andrew Giles, announced a $1.95 million upgrade of Chisholm Institute's Dandenong campus, delivering specialist CNC and CMM manufacturing equipment to TAFE students in Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs [TA-260714-dewr-ba2f297df401]. The investment targets skills directly demanded by the advanced manufacturing and fabrication industries, and the upgraded facilities are expected to serve up to 800 Victorian students each year.

The Dandenong campus project sits within the Albanese Government's $50 million TAFE Technology Fund; of the $8.61 million allocated to Victorian projects under that fund, this is the sixth site to reach completion in the state [TA-260714-dewr-ba2f297df401]. The Minister framed the announcement in terms of matching vocational training supply to the structural demands of Australia's advanced manufacturing sector, positioning TAFE as the delivery vehicle for industry-ready skills.

The Member for Bruce, Mr Julian Hill, sharpened the longer-run rationale, citing projections that 80 per cent of jobs will require tertiary education by 2050 — a figure the release uses to anchor the case for sustained TAFE infrastructure investment [TA-260714-dewr-ba2f297df401]. The Victorian Minister for Skills and TAFE, Mr Colin Brooks, attended and drew a partisan contrast, asserting that only Labor governments have delivered this standard of training infrastructure.

The Member for Dandenong, Ms Gabrielle Williams, emphasised local access and wage outcomes for engineering graduates in the region. The announcement carries a dual policy signal: it advances the government's workforce-pipeline argument in the advanced manufacturing space while also serving as a local-delivery demonstration of the TAFE Technology Fund's Victorian rollout — both themes the minister has used consistently to build a Skills and Training portfolio narrative around TAFE as a strategic national asset.