TAFE NSW Albury plumbing student Jonathan Male has sharpened his skills in preparation to step into a skills battlefield of his industry peers in Melbourne next month.

The WorldSkills Australia 2023 National Championships will see more than 500 vocational students converge in Melbourne over three days with their eye on a coveted gold medal. 

“Jono”, a third-year apprentice, said his anticipation was building after months of mentorship by TAFE NSW teachers as he fine-tunes his skills on the job with local company, Paul Stein Plumbing.

“It’s a great honour to be chosen for the competition and I’m looking forward to doing as well as I can,” he said.

“I’m grateful to my boss and my TAFE NSW teachers, brothers Geoff and Cameron Burt.”

TAFE NSW Director Construction and Energy Skills Excellence Network (South), Chris Outten, said WorldSkills was the country’s largest vocational education and excellence competition.  

“The extremely skillful students taking part have earned the right to compete to represent Australia after upstaging some of the best local talent at the regional WorldSkills competition in Albury,” he said. 

“The ultimate goal for Jonathon will be to win a gold medal, which will earn him a place on the Australian Skillaroos team to compete with the world’s best at the 47th WorldSkills International Competition finals to be held in France in 2024. 

“WorldSkills competitions provide TAFE NSW students with amazing and potentially life-changing learning opportunities. 

“It creates an exciting, interactive and engaging environment for participants. They will learn important life-long skills that will not only help them succeed individually but will help deliver a highly skilled workforce.” 

The WorldSkills Australia 2023 National Championships will be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from 17-19 August.