Skip to main content
Menu Menu

SM TAFE wins gold for Rio Tinto partnership

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

South Metropolitan TAFE has won Gold in the ‘Partnership with Industry’ category at the World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics 2020 Awards of Excellence.

South Metropolitan TAFE, Rio Tinto and the State Government collaborated with the WA resources sector to develop and deploy the first nationally recognised vocational qualifications in automation.  The new certificate and micro-credential courses are designed to equip current and future workforces with the much needed formally recognised STEM skills for automation.  The courses provide new training pathways to support the development of the workforce. 

‘South Metropolitan TAFE is honoured to win this award. The workplace is rapidly changing, and it is very exciting to be at the forefront together with industry; and to be delivering Australia’s first accredited qualifications in automation’, said Terry Durant, Managing Director. 

“Our partnership with South Metropolitan TAFE has been vitally important in terms of providing workers in the resources sector, and others looking to join it, with new pathways to the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in an increasingly STEM-based world.  We are delighted to win this award is a recognition of the bridge this partnership has built between STEM and formal education in the workplace and is a demonstration of what can be delivered when industry, government and education work together,” said Scott Browne, Vice President of Human Resources from Rio Tinto.

The World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics is an international network of colleges and national and regional associations of colleges.  113 nominations were received for the awards from organisations around the world.