TAFE NSW Agency Information Guide

Under section 20 of the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (NSW) (GIPA Act), agencies must have an Agency Information Guide to make it easier for members of the public to find information that they seek.

Enabling legislation

TAFE NSW is the trading name of the New South Wales Technical and Further Education Commission. TAFE NSW was established as a statutory agency by the Technical and Further Education Commission Act 1990 (the TAFE Act).

The Minister for Skills and Tertiary Education (the minister) is responsible for TAFE NSW. Under the TAFE Act, TAFE NSW performs a number of functions, including:

• Providing technical and further education services to meet the skills needs of individuals and the workforce, in ways that recognise the changing nature of workplaces and the need for new skills and retraining.
• Consulting with industry and the community to ensure technical and further education services are relevant to industry, business, students and other groups.
• Providing educationally or vocationally disadvantaged groups with access to technical and further education and other specialised services.
• Providing students with the maximum opportunity to progress to further education and training by linking their studies to further TAFE NSW courses or those of other education and training providers.

Operating model

TAFE NSW is the NSW Government's public provider of Vocational Education and Training (VET) and competes with private and community training providers for contestable government training funds, delivering qualifications on the NSW Skills List and targeting delivery to meet the needs of students, industry and the NSW economy.

Under the current One TAFE operating model, from 1 January 2019 TAFE NSW transitioned from the previous Institute structure to a single Registered Training Organisation (RTO) called ‘TAFE NSW’ with RTO code 90003 and the CRICOS provider number 00591E.

Governance

The TAFE Commission Board (the TAFE NSW Board) is established under the TAFE Act as an advisory board. The Board makes recommendations to the Minister on policies, strategic planning, the efficiency and effectiveness of TAFE operations and management and TAFE NSW's commercial activities.

The functions of the TAFE NSW Board are set out in section 12 of the TAFE Act. The TAFE NSW Board reviews and makes recommendations to the Minister on:

• Policies related to the technical and further education services provided by TAFE NSW.
• The efficiency and effectiveness of the operation and management of the technical and further education services provided by TAFE NSW.
• The corporate plans prepared by TAFE NSW.
• The relationship between TAFE NSW and other education sectors, including schools, higher education and adult and community education.

The Minister appoints members of the TAFE NSW Board under section 11 of the TAFE Act. Appointed members hold office for a period (as specified in their respective instrument of appointment) of up to four years and are eligible for re-appointment.

The Managing Director of TAFE NSW has statutory responsibility for managing the affairs of the NSW TAFE Commission, subject to any direction from the Minister.

Engagement with industry

TAFE NSW works closely with industry consultative groups to design courses to ensure they are current, relevant and respond to emerging trends and technological advances. Nine TAFE NSW SkillsPoints Headquarters (HQs) have been established and are responsible for the creation and maintenance of learning products with an emphasis on innovation. The SkillsPoints create consistent training and resources that are tailored to industry needs and are focused on producing job ready graduates.

Employers’ needs are also the focus of enterprise solutions for customised training that are delivered by TAFE NSW. Customised training is designed for employers seeking to upskill their workforce at times and places that suit their business needs.

Advisory Councils

TAFE NSW has five Advisory Councils representing different regions in NSW. The Councils provide insights, relevant information and key observations from industry and community to inform the development of best practice VET delivery in New South Wales.

The composition of each Council reflects the major existing and potential client groups in the community and industries that it serves and might serve, and may include:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
• Community organisations.
• High school and tertiary educational institutions.
• Local government and regional development bodies.
• Industry and commerce.

Membership of the Councils is open to the public through an Expression of Interest process.

Student Services, feedback and complaints

If a student or other stakeholder has an issue or complaint, they can submit an online form through the TAFE NSW website, report it to any TAFE NSW employee, give face to face feedback at Student Services counters at every TAFE NSW college, contact the General Enquiries number, or submit an online enquiry.

Students are also surveyed at regular intervals about their learning experience and can choose to give other feedback or make a complaint at that time. Complaints are recorded and handled in keeping with the TAFE NSW Complaints Policy and Procedures which support principles of confidentiality, fairness and responsiveness.

Information held by TAFE NSW includes:

• Collections Management.
• Commercial Activities and Services.
• Community Relations.
• Food services.
• Governance.
• Government relations.
• Human resource management and Industrial relations.
• Information management.
• Publications. Research.
• Strategic management.
• Student administration.
• Support services.
• Teaching and learning (such as courses, product development).
• Internal administration (such as finance, fleet management).

The Personal Information and Privacy Protection Act 1998 (NSW) and the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW) allow individuals to obtain access to, and to apply for amendment of, their personal and health information which is held by NSW government agencies. For more on this legislation and useful fact sheets on applying for your information, please see the website of the Information and Privacy Commissioner NSW.

If you have any questions relating to information on this page, please call 131 601 or submit an online enquiry.