As many Government members understand full well, TAFE is an important educational institution and should be the iron backbone of skills and training in our great State. TAFE has long provided the necessary workforce that New South Wales needs to keep up with industry demands and provided pathways of secure work for our citizens. These facts, like so many others, are overlooked by members opposite. The legacy of underfunding left behind by Liberal State and national governments has resulted in a shortfall of $196 million, threatening the sustainability of TAFE.
Under the Liberals and The Nationals, vocational education and training enrolments also saw a deep decline. It was inadequately funded and poorly structured. This led to many courses being discontinued, which then led to further gaps in essential training programs. Further, this financial strain and reduced student numbers led to closures of several TAFE institutions. Providers were bogged down by administrative inefficiencies and increased operational costs, turning it into a bureaucratic nightmare.
What is more concerning is that students from disadvantaged areas and rural New South Wales were hit hardest, with graduates struggling to find jobs in industries in which they studied. A primary cause of issues in the TAFE sector has been the Smart and Skilled program. Smart and Skilled was developed with little consultation and with industry representatives, educators and students left out of the conversation. As with so many other things, when those opposite touch something, it is deeply damaged and we on this side of the House are left to pick up the pieces—housing, education, health care, tolls, fair wages and TAFE.
The good news is this Government is committed to fixing TAFE after 12 long years of neglect. We are revitalising TAFE and vocational education in New South Wales, and this is backed by a significant $1.2 billion investment that aims to meet the needs of both students and the workforce in the twenty-first century. This investment is designed to address the critical skill shortages in our State and to make vocational education accessible. It is part of our broader strategy to rebuild TAFE and enhance the vocational education and training sector, with TAFE as the centrepiece.
At the forefront of our investment in TAFE, we are making many courses fee-free in over 18 industry sectors, with particular focus on areas where skilled workers are urgently needed, among them aged care, child care, construction and technology. We are working hand in hand with the Federal Government to deliver this initiative, and it has already seen major success with 182,000 people enrolling in these courses in 2023 alone, surpassing initial targets.
We are also heavily investing in upgrading TAFE facilities and building new campuses, including specific projects such as the TAFE Asset Renewal Program, with a total estimated cost of $319 million, and the Coffs Harbour Optimisation project. Critical to these capital works are significant investments to support TAFE NSW's digital transformation. This includes funding for projects like the digital access foundation, which aims to provide reliable internet wi-fi connectivity and digital devices to support student learning and business operations across TAFE campuses. To better equip our workforce, our students need to be learning in state‑of‑the‑art environments, and we are making sure that that is a reality.
This Government has also provided additional funding for training packages, which allocates funds to support the development and delivery of training packages at TAFE NSW. This ensures that our training programs remain current and responsive to industry needs. We are also increasing permanency for casual teachers by converting 500 casual teachers to permanent positions within TAFE NSW. This provides more stability for our educators and enhances the quality of their students' education. On top of all this, we are investing $252.2 million to employ an additional 1,300 apprentices and trainees in the local government sector across the State.
An important part of the Government's drive to reinvigorate TAFE is conducting a comprehensive review of the vocational education system and committing to keeping TAFE campuses in public hands. That is a key step in restoring confidence in TAFE and one that puts our students first and, by extension, our workforce. That is just the tip of the iceberg of what the Government is doing to revitalise the incredibly important TAFE sector. We are making education accessible, improving infrastructure, supporting apprenticeships and enhancing digital learning to equip our workforce with the skills needed to build a stronger and more resilient New South Wales.
