Aspiring hospitality and tourism workers will now have access to better training opportunities after a dedicated multi-million dollar facility was unveiled at South Metropolitan TAFE’s Mandurah campus.
Premier Roger Cook joined Training Minister Simone McGurk and Mandurah MLA David Templeman to check out the new facility on Friday as part of the State Government’s investment to upgrade TAFE infrastructures across Western Australia.
The $16.9 million dollar centre will aim to further train skilled workers for the bustling hospitality and tourism industries in the Peel region.
New facilities on offer include a live-works restaurant with production kitchen and dining room, two full sized industry standard training kitchens, a cookery and barista demonstration classroom, an information technology classroom and student hub.
The building also has industry standard hair and beauty training facilities, with dedicated training spaces for beauty therapy and massage, as well as a new hair salon open to the public.
Mr Cook said the new facility was a “one-stop shop” for specialist training in the region and would no doubt become a popular space for the community as well.
“Tourism and hospitality are crucial industries for the Peel region, bringing in visitors and providing jobs for local people,” he said.
“This is a fantastic new training centre for Mandurah that has all the contemporary facilities required to help people become job-ready workers who can step straight into the local workforce.”
Construction of the building was carried out by WA commercial builder EMCO Building, while Hunt Architects designed the centre.
Artwork on the facade was designed by local Noongar artists Maitland Hill and Kerry Stack, who worked in collaboration with glass artist Rick Vermey to create a large digital collage.
Titled Djena Bidi Koora Koora Mila – Pathways from Past to Future, the artwork celebrates the human, animal and plant life of the rivers, estuaries, inlet and ocean in the greater Peel region.
Mr Templeman said the new facility was “something to be proud of”.
“The delivery of such a quality facility in the Peel region will provide fantastic development opportunities for locals, particularly young people looking to further their training but wanting to stay close to home,” he said.
“Mandurah and the Peel region continue to experience population growth while also servicing many people from the South West and the new facilities at the Mandurah TAFE campus will support visitors and students alike.”
South Metropolitan TAFE’s Mandurah campus is located in the Peel Education and Training precinct, neighbouring Murdoch University and John Tonkin College.