- Home
- About TAFE
- TAFE Queensland
- TAFE history
TAFE history
TAFE Queensland has come a long way since its humble beginnings in 1882. Starting with only a dozen students, 130 years later TAFE Queensland has trained over 7 million students.
Today, TAFE Queensland is the largest vocational education provider in Queensland, offering over 800 courses across its state-wide network of 70 campuses.
Learn more about TAFE Queensland's history and achievements below.
| 1800s | TAFE history |
|---|---|
| 1882 | At 7:30pm on September 4, a dozen students gather in the garret of the North Brisbane School of Arts for a class in mechanical drawing. Classes soon expand to include geology, bookkeeping, French, German and the history of the British Empire. |
| 1893 | South Brisbane Technical College is formally founded when the South Brisbane Municipality takes over the Mechanics Institute. |
Boys' carpentry class
| 1900s | TAFE history |
|---|---|
| 1900 | There are now five technical colleges in Brisbane - Brisbane, South Brisbane, West End, Zillmere and Sandgate - as well as the College of Pharmacy. Technical colleges or classes are also operating at 18 regional locations, large and small, including Townsville, Maryborough, Normanton, Hughenden and Rockhampton. |
| 1902 | The state government takes control of technical education through the Board of Technical Education. Nine members sit on the board representing interests in business, industry, teaching and the public service. Andrew Thynne MLC, former cabinet minister and part time teacher at the Brisbane Technical College, is the first chairman. |
| 1905 | District Inspector A. Mutch notes in his report on the Charters Towers College that "Technical education appears to be carried out here for the purpose of giving the worker the opportunity of increasing his efficiency so that he may thereby secure a higher wage". |
| 1910 | The Brisbane colleges are amalgamated into the central technical college. The college is based on the facilities of the Brisbane College with South Brisbane facilities operating as a campus of the college. Many small colleges are closing in regional areas but large colleges such as Mackay, Warwick and Charters Towers are flourishing. |
| 1925 | Technical education is divided into departments. They are Art, Building, Chemistry and Mining, Commerce, Engineering, Domestic Science and Art, Languages and Literature, Mathematics, Science, Sheep and Wool, Miscellaneous Trades, and Printing. |
| 1930 | Demand for trade training drops markedly as the Depression causes a major downturn in the number of apprenticeships on offer. Commercial training remains popular. As the Thirties progress and the economy picks up the colleges begin to offer new courses such as waitressing that are being sought by employers. |
| 1940 | Rockhampton, Ipswich and Central Technical Colleges begin training men and women as munitions workers and technicians for the Army and the Air Force under the Commonwealth Technical (War Time) Training Scheme. |
| 1945 | Brisbane Technical Correspondence School opens offering 38 courses in art, commerce, literature, mathematics, rural studies, trades and domestic science. Courses are targeted at serving and discharged members of the armed forces. |
Literary and debating society
| 1900s | TAFE history |
|---|---|
| 1951 | The Department of Education takes over the Ipswich Technical College, the last of the non government colleges. |
| 1963 | The Department of Education's Director General states that technical education needs to be expanded through Institutes of Technology that would offer tertiary level courses. |
| 1966 | The Central Technical College is broken up. Technical colleges are established at South Brisbane and Eagle Farm with others soon following at Yeronga and Kangaroo Point. |
| 1974 | The Kangan Report calls for TAFE to provide people with education to meet their freely chosen vocational needs. The report says TAFE's job is not just to supply skilled labour for industry and commerce. All technical colleges became known as Technical and Further Education Colleges. |
| 1977 | TAFE initiates programs specifically designed for indigenous students and a year later introduces programs in adult literacy and numeracy. |
| 1986 | TAFE begins using satellite communication to deliver courses using two way data transmission, two way voice transmission, facsimile and computer graphics. |
| 1987 | TAFE leaves the Education portfolio to become part of the newly created Department of Employment, Vocational Education and Training. |
| 1995 | TAFE splits into 16 institutes spread across the state. Each institute operates with a significant degree of autonomy. |
| 1996 | Launch of the "Videolinq" system. Delivering real time, interactive telecommunications and learning technology services across multiple sites. |
| 1999 | The state government puts forward a Vision for TAFE Queensland that highlights the role of the public provider of vocational education and training as a responsive, flexible organisation delivering a diverse range of programs in a competitive marketplace. |
Girls' dress making class
| 2000s | TAFE history |
|---|---|
| 2002 | TAFE Queensland plays an integral role in the government's "Education and Training Reforms for the Future" initiative that will provide students with seamless pathways from school to TAFE, university and work. |
| 2003 | The Centre for Innovation and Development was established to stimulate innovation and development and coordinate corporate services for TAFE Queensland. |
| 2004 | TAFE Queensland introduced a new Institute Student Administration System (ISAS) to improve service delivery. |
| 2005 | The Department releases the Green Paper that proposes significant opportunity for TAFE Queensland to address a skills shortage and aging workforce. |
| 2006 | From 1 July the new Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE and SkillsTech Australia (formerly known as Trade and Technician Skills Institute) commence operation as part of a major overhaul of TAFE operations under the Queensland Skills Plan. Further changes see the Brisbane North Institute of TAFE merge with the Open Learning Institute of TAFE and the Southbank Institute of TAFE renamed to Southbank Institute of Technology. |
| 2007 | TAFE introduced an innovative and collaborative Learning Management System (Resource Bank) that provides an online delivery system (my.TAFE) for institute educators. |
| 2008 | Southbank Institute of Technology became the first Statutory TAFE institute on 1 April, followed by Gold Coast Institute of TAFE on 1 July 2008. |
| 2010 |
TAFE develops a new course search engine and nine industry training portals are launched. TAFE Queensland mobile website - iphone.tafe.qld.gov.au is also launched and is the first mobile website by a training provider in Australia.
|
Engineering drafting room
| 2000s | TAFE history |
|---|---|
| 2011 |
TAFE Queensland launches its award winning TAFE MADE website www.tafemade.com.au - Celebrating TAFE graduates and teachers.
|
| 2012 |
John-Paul Langbroek becomes the new Minister of Education, Training and Employment, and Saxon Rice becomes the Assistant Minister of Technical and Further Education.
|
| 2012 |
TAFE Queensland celebrates 130 years of excellence in vocational education and still getting stronger.
|
| 2013 |
TAFE Queensland opens new diesel training facility at TAFE's Bundaberg campus.
|
| 2013 |
Minister John-Paul Langbroek officially opens the new TAFE Queensland Springfield campus.
|
| 2013 |
Tropical North Queensland TAFE, Manunda campus awarded 5 star certification for sustainability and health training precinct by Green Building Council of Australia.
|
This page was last updated at 13-May-2013