TAFE NSW ANNUAL REPORT 2017-18 Notes on the data presented in this report The annual report uses TAFE NSW corporate data based on the Australian Vocational Education and Training Management Information and Statistical Standard business rules to ensure consistency with both national and New South Wales (NSW) reporting. VET enrolment data is collected by calendar year. The enrolment, completion and student outcomes data provided in the 2017–18 annual report are for the 2017 calendar year. Enrolments for the 2018 calendar year will not be available until 2019. The data covers all vocational education and training and higher education courses and qualifications delivered by TAFE NSW. These include courses and qualifications that are government funded, fee-for-service, delivered offshore and delivered on behalf of other Registered Training Organisations. Some previous annual report data may not be comparable, due to the use of different business rules in prior years. For example, the data presented in the 2015–16 annual report excluded TAFE NSW Higher Education data, whereas in the 2016–17 report, Higher Education data is included within TAFE NSW corporate data. Where data is not TAFE NSW corporate data (for example student job or study outcomes), it is identified as ‘TAFE NSW local administrative data’. 1 LETTER TO THE MINISTER The Hon. Adam John Marshall, MP Assistant Minister for Skills 52 Martin Place SYDNEY NSW 2000 Dear Minister On behalf of the Technical and Further Education Commission, I am pleased to submit the TAFE NSW 2017–18 Annual Report to you for presentation to Parliament in your capacity as Assistant Minister for Skills. The annual report and the accompanying financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Annual Reports (Statutory Bodies) Act 1984 and the Public Finance and Audit Act 1983. Following its tabling in Parliament, the annual report will be available to the public on the TAFE NSW website at www.tafensw.edu.au/about-tafensw/annual-report. Yours sincerely Dr Caralee McLiesh Acting Managing Director TAFE NSW 31 October 2018 2 MANAGING DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE I am pleased to report on the financial and operational performance of TAFE NSW in 2017–18. As Australia’s leading training provider, TAFE NSW has a lot to be proud of, including: • Nearly half a million enrolments each year, from commercial trainees to people experiencing disadvantage • More than 25,000 employer connections, from sole enterprises to ASX20 • Over 1,200 courses, from short ‘skill sets’ to certificates and degrees. Our people are proud, passionate and committed to achieving real outcomes for students, employers and their local communities. In 2017–18, we built our organisational capability to meet the changing demands of customers by: • Standing up nine industry-aligned SkillsPoints to collaborate with business and industry to design training consistent with industry need • Establishing the Digital Lab in Armidale to explore the application of emerging technologies in education and industry such as virtual reality, and determine how to incorporate into online and face-to-face teaching • Investing in facilities that are adaptable, industry-standard and digitally enabled; opening our first four Connected Learning Centres and commencing construction on another four • Launching the TAFE Academy at Kurri Kurri to develop, challenge and inspire our leaders and build internal capability • Working in a contestable market, we’ve launched TAFE Enterprise to aggressively target the national corporate training market and diversify operations into the business-to-business sector • Commencing operation of additional business units in the One TAFE model including Finance, Communication and Marketing, Strategy & Policy, Governance, Legal & Risk, Property & Logistics, Business Development, Regions, Education and Training Group, and TAFE Digital. Our nine industry-aligned SkillsPoints are now established, and reflect a complete overhaul of the way we develop, teach, and maintain course curriculum, embedding industry collaboration in course design. We have also made progress on our separation from the Department of Education, a significant machinery of Government change. We have extracted and migrated over 300 applications from the Department of Education to an upgraded environment on an industry-leading private cloud we established in September. In June 2018, TAFE NSW implemented Australia’s largest tertiary education sector Customer Relationship Management system along with a new knowledge base and course search function. These innovations are already redefining the customer experience. Back office efficiencies derived through the implementation of the One TAFE operating model are enabling reinvestment into frontline teaching and learning. We commenced a twelve month recruitment drive of 253 new frontline teachers and educators in March. I would like to acknowledge the remarkable organisation-wide effort this year as we continue our mission to bring One TAFE to life, designed to transform our organisation into a contemporary, commercial and sustainable business that delivers great outcomes for our students, employers and the TAFE NSW team. 3 While our reform task is only partly complete, the strong foundations we have built mean that TAFE NSW is well-placed to remain the number one provider in Australia, both now and in the years to come. Dr Caralee McLiesh Acting Managing Director TAFE NSW 31 October 2018 4 Contents LETTER TO THE MINISTER ................................................................................................ 3 MANAGING DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE ................................................................................. 4 Contents .......................................................................................................................... 6 ABOUT TAFE NSW ..................................................................................................... 7 Our Legislation ........................................................................................................................................... 7 Our Footprint ............................................................................................................................................. 7 Our Students ............................................................................................................................................ 10 Our Commitment to Industry ................................................................................................................... 10 Our Products ............................................................................................................................................ 10 OUR BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT .................................................................................. 11 A Vision for TAFE NSW ............................................................................................................................. 12 TAFE NSW Strategic Plan and ONE TAFE NSW ......................................................................................... 12 OUR PERFORMANCE ................................................................................................. 14 SERVING OUR STUDENTS AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES .................................................. 30 BECOMING CONTEMPORARY, COMMERCIAL AND SUSTAINABLE .................................. 40 DEVELOPING A PROUD AND PRODUCTIVE TEAM ......................................................... 53 FINANCIAL REPORT - STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS ....................................................... 70 AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS ............................................................................. 72 Technical and Further Education Commission ......................................................................................... 76 TAFE Commission (Senior Executives) Staff Agency ................................................................................. 128 Budget Outline for 2018–2019 ................................................................................................................. 147 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................. 149 5 ABOUT TAFE NSW Our Legislation TAFE NSW is the NSW Government's public provider of Vocational Education and Training (VET). The New South Wales Technical and Further Education Commission (trading as TAFE NSW), was established as a statutory agency by the Technical and Further Education Commission Act 1990 (NSW). Under this legislation, 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 re- training • 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. Our Footprint TAFE NSW delivers high-quality VET and higher education in metropolitan, regional and remote areas of NSW, interstate and overseas, including online by distance