We know that to get the best workforce, we need to have the best facilities for Tasmanian students to learn.

That's why we are consolidating TasTAFE's Northern offerings at the Alanvale Campus - to ensure we give our students the best possible chances at learning in a supportive and modern environment. Drysdale will remain in its current location in Paterson St.

During 2020, TasTAFE will move its course offerings from the ageing Launceston City Campus buildings in Paterson and Wellington Streets to Alanvale.

This is an exciting move that aims to centralise TasTAFE's northern offerings in one refurbished, modernised campus. The move will also see Alanvale Campus get $4 million-worth of upgrades and refurbishments.

TasTAFE has recently appointed local Launceston architects, Artas, to develop plans for the site redevelopment. These are still in the early stages of development, but some of the major features will include new fit-for-purpose health and aged care facilities, including new prac rooms for nursing and aged care training, an expanded library, a new student lounge, cafe and other student amenities, room upgrades and additional car parking.

Alanvale is already home to the vast majority of TasTAFE's training in the North, with around 5000 enrolments based on campus.

The site includes a state-of-the-art cabinetmaking and carpentry training facility, huge automotive workshops for training heavy and light vehicle apprentices, large metals workshops and electrotechnology training facilities.

The campus also features hairdressing salons where members of the public can get their hair cut by an apprentice as part of their training, music and sound production studios along with fashion, graphic design and digital media training facilities. It even boasts a small vineyard for viticulture training.

These contemporary facilities are vital in order to train the next generation of skilled employees.

In comparison, total enrolments at TasTAFE's Launceston City Campus buildings total around 800, and put simply the facilities are no longer fit-for-purpose. There is not enough space in the current CBD-based nursing and aged care training spaces to meet demand - that's why moving to Alanvale makes great sense.

The new health and aged care facilities at Alanvale will be built to the latest and best possible industry standards. There will be up-to-date equipment, and larger facilities will mean TasTAFE will be able to accept more enrolments into these courses in future.

TasTAFE nursing will also grow with the planned co-location at Inveresk with the University of Tasmania as part of their health precinct in 2024. This will all be in addition to training offered at Alanvale.

When it moves to Alanvale, TasTAFE will maintain a Client Services function at Inveresk, where its creative arts training is already co-located with the University. This will give people wanting more information about TasTAFE courses and services access to customer service and information closer to the CBD.

The move to Alanvale will provide cost savings for TasTAFE, as they will no longer need to bear the cost of running two campuses in the North. The money saved can then be reinvested into improving facilities and learning for students who are our top priority.

The Government is focused on ensuring students have the best possible facilities and equipment to support their learning, and we know that the move to Alanvale will achieve that.