THE state's new Minister for Skills and Training Steven Herbert met with Bendigo TAFE executives on Thursday to discuss potential uses for an advance payment, promised during the election campaign.
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Bendigo TAFE will share in a $20 million payment brought forward from the next state budget.
The government will announce within a month how much of the money each institute will receive.
Mr Herbert said the government wanted to get additional money flowing into TAFEs straight away.
"I'm here to talk with Bendigo Kangan TAFE as one of those TAFEs about how they can use the money to improve their delivery and improve their financial sustainability," he said.
"We will be working with TAFE to provide addtional resources but also to work through how we can provide additional courses and additional opportunities for people in Bendigo."
The government announced a $320 million "TAFE rescue fund" last year, of which $20 million is being offered as an advance.
Funding for the new agricultural studies centre in Bendigo will also come out of the funding package.
Each TAFE identified as in need of the $20 million in additional funds has been asked to provide an expression of interest regarding financial viability, the need for additional courses and maintaining campuses.
The government also announced a moratorium on staff redundancies until it could put in place its policy commitments.
Mr Herbert said redundancies were a fact of life, but they needed to be avoided if possible.
"The issue of redundancies is a complex one. Every organisation occasionally has to change their staff profiles," he said.
"The first act of a new government wasn't to allow for mass redundancies.
"With 3000 teachers already gone from our system and from 80 staff that have gone from here at Bendigo, it's time to take a breath and have a good look at what's going on here and how we can employ more people and get more staff."
Other potential uses for the $320 million funding package include hiring more people to help apprentices with their maths and science skills, and hiring additional staff to further liaise with local industry.
Mr Herbert said the government had to push ahead with the merger of Bendigo and Kangan institutes.
"I'm not about rewriting history. I'm not about pulling apart major changes in the middle of those changes," he said.
"I will take a very strong interest in Bendigo to make sure the merger with Kangan is all about providing extra services to the Bendigo community, extra training opportunities, extra expertise for Bendigo industry, and not just about financial bailouts."