New Broadmeadows TAFE centre open

(Unsplash)

Michaela Meade

Plumbing training will be offered for the first time in Broadmeadows at the new Kangan TAFE Trades and Skills Centre.

The $6.8 million centre was officially opened this week, and will help create highly skilled trades workers to support the northern suburb’s growing community.

Training and Skills Minister Gayle Tierney launched the facility, which will accommodate 3500 students each year.

“The new Broadmeadows Trades and Skills Centre is an exciting milestone for Melbourne’s north – giving locals access to great training opportunities and also creating a pipeline of skilled workers for the growing community,” Ms Tierney said.

“The centre gives students a unique real-life experience – not just through the world-class equipment they will have the chance to use, but also the highly collaborative multi-discipline learning environment.”

The centre brings Kangan Institute’s trades students and 300 new plumbing students together, allowing them to complete certificate II, III and IV courses under one roof.

The facility features a ‘plumbing tower’, that simulates plumbing and sewer systems to give students of different disciplines the chance to apply their skills in a real-life situation, and a supersized sandpit for domestic and commercial drainage and pipework training.

There are also refurbished learning spaces, new workshop spaces and classrooms, pneumatics and hydraulics facilities and specialist gas equipment fitting training rooms.