Cook Labor Government powers up trades at Rockingham TAFE with $5 million electrical training facility
WA's Cook Labor Government commits $5 million for a new all-purpose electrical workshop at Rockingham TAFE, training up to 340 apprentices yearly as demand surges.
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The Cook Labor Government is powering up electrical training at South Metropolitan TAFE's Rockingham campus, committing $5 million to a brand-new state of the art training facility that will create capacity to support up to 340 electrical apprentices and pre-apprentices each year and open significant opportunities for southern suburbs residents to train closer to home. The all-purpose workshop will also be used for training in other trades such as forklift truck training, making it a versatile hub for skills development in a region strategically located adjacent to the Western Trade Coast precinct.
Electricians are in high demand across building and construction, defense, advanced manufacturing, and clean energy, with employers competing for a limited pool of workers in Western Australia. Workforce projections show WA will need 4,200 electricians just in the clean energy sector in the next five years, while electricians is one of the highest growth occupations forecast for the defense industry with a 37 per cent increase required by 2035. Currently there are more than 5,400 enrolments in the Certificate III in Electrotechnology Electrician, and thanks to the Cook Labor Government's investment in free and low fee training the course now costs $1,618, down from $3,247.
Skills and TAFE Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said the government knows that as major clean energy and defense projects come online over the next decade thousands more electricians will be needed. "When complete, our $5 million upgrade will create a new all-purpose workshop at South Metropolitan TAFE's Rockingham campus, that will be able to support up to 340 electrical apprentices and pre-apprentices each year," she said. "It will also create significant opportunities for students and apprentices in Rockingham and Secret Harbour to train and study closer to home." "The Cook Labor Government is putting WA first. This is part of our plan to make more things in WA by WA workers."
Rockingham MLA Magenta Marshall said the Cook Labor Government's investment in skills and training is helping Western Australians to be job-ready so they can benefit from the state's strong, diversified economy. "Our region is central to WA's growing defense industry and with this comes exciting new career pathways and quality jobs," she said. "Having this state-of-the-art facility at Rockingham TAFE means more local people can train close to home and will help build a stronger, more skilled workforce that will support defense industry and the opportunities that come with it."
The Cook Labor Government is delivering hundreds of millions of dollars to support free and low fee TAFE across Western Australia, with more than $216 million in the 2026-27 State Budget for TAFE, training and employer incentives to ensure Western Australia has a skilled and diversified workforce. This includes more than $145 million to support and promote fee free and low fee TAFE courses, with $124 million to continue current fee settings into 2027, including fee free and lower-fee TAFE courses, with a focus on priority industries including building, construction, and clean energy. The government has also allocated $19.6 million to support an additional 330 places in the Group Training Organization Wage Subsidy Program to encourage employers to hire apprentices and trainees in the building and construction sector, and $24.1 million to upgrade South Metropolitan TAFE's Munster campus with upgrades to support an estimated 840 annual enrolments in training in wind and alternative energy, battery technology, electrification, automation, and robotics.
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