New Bundy advanced manufacturing skills hub fresh off the production line

• The $1 million Advanced Manufacturing Skills Centre at the TAFE Queensland Bundaberg campus has reached practical completion.
• Funded by Miles Government’s $100 million ‘Equipping TAFE for our Future’.
• New skills hub will provide students with access to modern infrastructure and equipment such as 3D printing machines and an improved digital lab, supporting the development of high-end manufacturing skills in the Wide Bay region.

The new Miles Labor Government is powering ahead with the biggest investment in Bundaberg TAFE in years with a key facility reaching practical completion and readying to welcome local students for the careers of the future.

The Advanced Manufacturing Skills Centre will improve specialised training in advanced manufacturing – capitalising on emerging automation and augmentation technologies.

The centre incorporates a refreshed manufacturing workshop, improved digital lab and general learning area, and will be oriented to support technological innovation within the agriculture sector, particularly food manufacturing.

With Wide Bay projected to experience the fastest increase in employment in Queensland and play host to a manufacturing workforce of more than 9,400 people by 2025-26, there’s never been a more important time to deliver modern classrooms for local students.

Quotes attributable to Member for Bundaberg Tom Smith:

“Our million-dollar Advanced Manufacturing Skills Centre will absolutely be a game changer for the thousands of locals in the Bundaberg region who want to get into that industry.

“This means that young people have a future that they can make sure that they stay in Bundaberg, get the skills that they need and have the jobs there for the future.

“It also means that they'll be able to stay in our community and raise their own families, keeping the money intown.

“This is what the new Miles Labor government is all about–making sure that we have the job creation, but also the skills development, that we know we need as our industries grow right across the Bundaberg region.

“We know the risks come October, the LNP oppose TAFE–there's a candidate running around out there saying that privatization's a way forward–because they do not believe in public ownership and are all about the cut, the sack, and the sell.

“We know that there's a future for people in Bundaberg and we know that our TAFE is a critical component of that, so we need to ensure that we continue to invest in TAFE, because TAFE invests in our young people.”

Quotes attributable to Minister for Employment and Small Business and Minister for Training and Skills Development Lance McCallum:

“Labor has been proud to bring back train manufacturing and other advanced manufacturing to Wide Bay after the LNP threw it in the local industry in the shredder and sent jobs overseas.”

“The new Miles Labor government is so proud to be providing state-of-the-art new facilities for Bundy and Wide Bay locals right here at Bundy TAFE, and today we reach practical completion for our new one-million-dollar Advanced Manufacturing Skills Centre.

“This new centre means that Bundy locals–and those in the Wide Bay–that want to get the skills that they need to get into the really good jobs that are coming through our Big Build, can do so right in their local community.

“The filament for these 3D printers is not only a basic building block for production, but it's a building block for students who want to get the skills for advanced manufacturing jobs right here in Bundaberg and right throughout the Wide Bay.”

Quotes attributable to TAFE Queensland Educational Operations Manager (Bundaberg Campus) Nathan Pole.

“Today is a very exciting day today, we’ve got the brand-new classrooms and the brand-new facilities with a whole heap of machinery that fits into the advanced manufacturing area.

“The hub has been created in conjunction with the schools and will be used to train students for the jobs of the future with a whole range of certifications.

“It feels a bit like Christmas down here as we unwrap some of the new 3D printers that’ll help train the students for the manufacturing industry that we have in our Bundaberg area!

This is a huge growth sector and an area where we really need those skills to be imparted on the students, both young and old, because the projections are for 9,500 workers in manufacturing across our region in the coming years.

Explainer/fast fact and or further information:

• The Queensland Government’s $100 million Equipping TAFE for our Future (ETFOF) program supports skills development in priority industries such as advanced manufacturing, cyber security, renewable energy, resources, agriculture and aquaculture.
• The opening of the new state-of-the-art facility from Semester 2, 2024 will enhance delivery of accredited and non-accredited training at the Bundaberg TAFE campus, including:
  • Certificate II in Autonomous Technology,
  • Certificate II in Electrotechnology (Career Start, the most popular course at the Bundaberg campus in 2024, with more than 193 enrolments), and;
  • Certificate III in Engineering, specialising in CNC machining and additive manufacturing.

Media contact:

Minister McCallum – 0472 645 871