We are one of Western Australia’s most diverse training providers with major campuses in Bentley, Carlisle, Fremantle, Murdoch, Rockingham, Thornlie and Mandurah.
We offer more than 300 qualifications, from foundation courses to apprenticeships and traineeships, to diplomas and skill sets. We have over 30,000 students across our Perth campuses and more students in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and South America through partnerships offshore.
Our purpose
To provide students with skills to enable employment and career development.
We do this by:
- Providing students with high quality training services that prepare them for pathways to employment.
- Providing students with pathways to further education and training opportunities that can launch and extend their careers.
- Helping industry and our employers grow and create the workforce of the future.
- Strengthening our communities by enabling lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Our vision
By 2030, South Metropolitan TAFE will be Australia’s leader in transforming the workforce with innovative skilling solutions.
Our vision ensures we aspire to create futures for individuals:
- Through preparing them for jobs or supporting further learning to develop their careers,
- By creating future workforces for industry and employers - through helping them to employ skilled staff or upskill their existing workforce,
- and by creating strong futures for our communities.
See our Annual Reports, Disability Access and Inclusion Plan (DAIP), Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), and Strategic Plan on our Reports and Publications page.
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Current Governing Council Members
Libby Lyons is an experienced Non-Executive Director and Chair with more than 20 years’ board experience across government, regulated industries and the not-for-profit sector.
Former Chief Executive Officer of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (2015–2021) and Executive Manager Corporate Affairs, Western Power (pre-disaggregation). Brings deep expertise in governance, risk, stakeholder engagement, public policy, workforce strategy and skills development.
Recognised for strategic insight and sound judgement, with a strong track record supporting boards and organisations operating in complex, highly scrutinised environments, particularly during periods of structural transition and reform,
Board Experience
Chair, Science in Australia Gender Equity Ltd (2020–2024); Director, Chief Executive Women (2021–2024) and WA Chapter Chair; Member, National Aged Care Advisory Council (2021–2023); Chair, Aged Care Workforce Industry Council (2021–2023); Director, Menopause Australia (2024–present); Director, Women for Election (2025–present).
Executive Career
CEO, Workplace Gender Equality Agency (2015–2021). Senior corporate affairs and external relations executive across the energy, resources, utilities and telecommunications sectors, including leadership roles with major listed and government-owned organisations such as Telstra, BHP and Alcoa.
Expertise
Governance and risk oversight; energy and regulated infrastructure; government and regulatory engagement; workforce strategy and skills development; stakeholder management; organisational culture and performance.
Recognition
Honorary Doctorate (Doctor of Letters), Curtin University; Adjunct Professor, Australian Catholic University; WA Women’s Hall of Fame (2024).
Internationally recognised in gender policy, including Apolitical’s 100 Most Influential People (2018, 2019) and Women Economic Forum Woman of the Decade.
Brian was born and raised in Bowral, NSW, from where he joined the Royal Australian Navy, graduating from the Naval College with a Diploma of Applied Science. He also holds a Master of Business Administration.
Brian specialised in information Technology, responsible for managing warship communications and data exchange networks. He has lived and worked in Australia, Malaysia, and the United States, and was seconded to the US military in Florida with responsibility for designing US communications and collaborative networks. In 2011 he led a team of US engineers to Afghanistan fielding the new network linking the regional commands with combat outposts, for which he was awarded the United States Joint Service Commendation.
Brian has been Director General of Navy Communications and Information Warfare, highlighted by his establishment of the Australian Navy Cyber Directorate and Deputy Mission Commander for Pacific Partnership, a US Navy deployment providing medical and humanitarian assistance to regional communities. He returned as the Commanding Officer of the HMAS Stirling Navy base.
Brian has transitioned to the Naval Reserve and lives in Rockingham with his wife Robin, a native of Washington DC, and their three children.
Stedman Ellis is an experienced leader, director and adviser with more than 20 plus years’ experience in senior roles in commercial, government, industry association, research and cultural sectors. With an extensive career in Australia and internationally in the mining and energy sectors, he has more recently worked across renewables (particularly battery industries), research and creative industries.
He developed key partnerships with SM TAFE as the inaugural CEO of Australia’s Future Battery Industries Cooperative Research Centre and prior to that as COO for the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (now Australian Energy Producers). He previously held senior external affairs roles with BHP in Australia, Papua New Guinea, and the United States, and worked within government, including as a deputy director general within the WA public service.
Stedman is excited by the opportunities for the State’s training system to contribute to the transition to a sustainable energy system and to the growth of the creative economy for the benefit of all Western Australians. He is currently a non-executive director of FORM, an independent non-profit cultural organisation with offices in Perth and the Pilbara, and projects across the State. Prior board appointments included the Australian Gas Industry Trust, the Minerals Research Institute of WA, and the Central Institute of Technology (now North Metropolitan TAFE) governing council.
Stedman holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of WA and a graduate diploma from the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Dawn is an accomplished executive and governance professional with a career spanning the Corporate, NGO, Education, Manufacturing, and Community sectors. As Managing Director of Enfranchise Pty Ltd, she specialises in Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC), partnering with organisations to coach & embed Governance, Risk & Compliance through operational excellence & strengthening workplace culture, driving sustainable growth in both people and performance.
Her qualifications include a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Law & Business, professional membership with the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI), Fellow Membership with the Governance Institute of Australia (GIA), and credentials as an Exemplar Global Qualified Lead Auditor and DISC Accredited Practitioner. These credentials underpin her practical expertise in compliance, leadership, and organisational development.
Dawn is a Board Director of The Spear Foundation: Providing governance oversight and contributing to community-led programs that empower Aboriginal youth, Elders, and families.
Thomas Griebel is the General Manager of the Faculty of Business and Law at Curtin University. With over 20 years of experience in Management Accounting and senior leadership positions in Finance, Thomas is a Fellow of CPA Australia (FCPA) and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD).
Before joining Curtin in 2015, Thomas held leadership positions in the pharmaceutical industry across Germany, the UK, France, and Belgium. He has a strong interest in innovation, continuous improvement, and organisational governance. He previously served on the WA Divisional Council of CPA Australia and was Divisional President in 2022.
Thomas is passionate about creating accessible and inclusive education pathways to ensure Western Australia is equipped with the skills and talent needed for the future. He is committed to strengthening collaboration across the tertiary education sector.
Yvonne Parnell is an accomplished non-executive director with extensive strategic and regulatory experience gained through a wide range of board governance and committee roles in public health, medical research and the not-for-profit sector.
From 2008 to 2022 Yvonne served as a CEO in the community services sector delivering valued services to people with developmental disability and their families. Prior roles include State Manager positions with national retailers Dymocks and the OPSM Group. Earlier in her career Yvonne spent a decade with global professional services firm, Arthur Andersen.
Yvonne brings to TAFE robust skills and a strong track record in strategic planning, governance & risk, organizational transformation, sustainability and capacity building, financial and commercial management, leadership, and workforce culture. She is deeply committed to achieving transformative outcomes through consumer, community and stakeholder engagement.
Yvonne is a respected Member of the South Metropolitan Health Service Board with her 9year tenure concluding in 2025. Previously she served on the North Metropolitan Health Service Governing Council from 2012 to 2015. Yvonne currently contributes her expertise on the Boards of Carers WA, Alzheimer’s Research Australia, and the Rottnest Foundation.
She holds a Graduate Diploma from the Australian Institute of Company Directors
Michelle Sidebottom’s professional experience has seen her design, develop, and implement local to major State-wide business and workforce developmental projects with the private sector, non-profits, registered training organisations, peak industry associations, and local, State and Federal Government agencies. She is the Director of Breakaway Tourism Pty Ltd, Breakaway Parks Pty Ltd, and Avocet Island Pty Ltd, and is a graduate of Harvard University’s ‘Harvard Kennedy School – Leading Economic Growth Executive Program’.
Key areas of her work include facility management of hospitality and tourism properties; project management; Aboriginal business and tourism development services; and consultancy in the sectors of tourism, hospitality, accommodation, recreation, business, and workforce development. Additional roles held include Deputy Chair of the Peel Development Commission, and Deputy Chair of Coolibah Care Inc.
Michelle has worked extensively across Australia, Japan and Malaysia and is a former Board Member of Visit Mandurah; Judge for the Australian and WA Tourism Awards, Australian Hotels Association (WA) Awards, and Clubs WA Awards for Excellence; Project Manager of FutureNow Creative & Leisure Industries Training Council; and an Industry Advisory Group member of various public and private Registered Training Organisations in Western Australia.
Kevin Taylor is a proud Nyoongar Yamatji man born in Perth on Whadjuk country and is the Academic Lead Indigenous Pathways for the School of Indigenous Studies at the University of Western Australia.
A Senior Lecturer with over a decade of experience in navigating Indigenous knowledge systems through curriculum, education resource development and delivery. Kevin completed a Certificate III in Electrotechnology whilst in high school and completed two years of a light vehicle mechanic apprenticeship before pursuing tertiary education through an Indigenous bridging course.
Kevin completed an MBA at Edinburgh Business School and is a PhD candidate currently co-designing with the health and aged care workforce a fit for purpose education package that supports culturally safe care in practice and improves the quality of life of older Indigenous Australians.
He is the treasurer of the Australian Association of Gerontology WA committee who supports the promotion of aged care services and industry. Kevin has gone on to coordinate Indigenous bridging programs much like he once accessed to enter university, but with three brothers who are professional industrial painters by trade, he also understands university is not for everyone, and more importantly, supporting access to opportunities for education pathways can change lives.
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Our history
The campuses that now form South Metropolitan TAFE have been involved in numerous name changes and merges with other colleges under the direction of the WA State Government for 125 years.
Prior to 1900, technical education in WA was sporadic and mostly supported through the Mechanics and Miners Institutes. However, technical education in Fremantle had its beginnings in 1898 when evening classes were conducted at Fremantle Boys School. These took place in the FTI building in Adelaide Terrace. Following soon after that the Fremantle Technical School saw its inaugural class of 1900 comprising 116 male students taking evening classes in the South Terrace building.
In Perth’s East however, Midland College of TAFE was first known as Midland Junction Technical School and established in 1904. An advertisement in The Swan Express dated 15 February 1929 promoted “Sound tuition is given in commercial, domestic, trade and art subjects” and encouraged parents to enrol students aiming towards apprenticeships in “mechanical drawing, mechanics and mathematics classes.”
The decades to 1996 saw the now-defunct Challenger Institute established after many years of name changes, operating at various times as South Metropolitan Technical College, South Metropolitan College of TAFE and Challenger TAFE, while Swan TAFE came into being in January of 2003 following a merger of Midland College of TAFE, South East Metropolitan College of TAFE and the Balga Campus of West Coast College of TAFE.
The formation in 2009 of a new West Australian training department resulted in the launch of a state government training blueprint, Training WA. Integral to this report was the call for public training organisations to become more autonomous, with the government giving TAFE colleges greater scope for flexibility and innovation. As a result of this change, the name Challenger Institute of Technology was formally adopted on 15 December 2009 while Swan TAFE became Polytechnic West.
In February 2016, a new reform of TAFE in WA resulted in further merges, seeing Challenger Institute of Technology and Polytechnic West campuses become one under the umbrella of South Metropolitan TAFE.
In January 2017, the final transition from that reform resulted in Balga and Midland campuses moving to the operations of North Metropolitan TAFE.
In its first year of operation, South Metropolitan TAFE was named as the "Best Large Training Provider" in the WA Training Awards.