Victoria's top apprentices and trainees have proudly donned the green and gold as they prepare to represent Australia at next week's 47th WorldSkills Competition in France.
Minister for Skills and TAFE Gayle Tierney today joined Federal Member for Gorton Brendan O'Connor who represented the Federal Minister for Skills and Training Andrew Giles, and the French Ambassador to Australia Pierre-André Imbert to farewell Team Australia - also called the Skillaroos - before they fly from Melbourne to Lyon for the global event.
WorldSkills is an international trades and skills competition staged every two years that gives young apprentices, trainees and vocational students the chance to showcase their talent across more than 50 disciplines.
Over four days this September, more than 1,400 competitors from over 70 countries will complete practical tasks set by industry and skills experts, who assess their knowledge and competence against a set of strict criteria.
The 32 Skillaroos team members - including 12 young Victorians - will compete in traditional skills such as carpentry, floristry and plumbing, and new skills in areas like 3D digital game art, graphic design technology and cloud computing.
Each competitor will be joined by an expert in their field who has overseen their training for the international event which is expected to attract 250,000 visitors from around the world.
RMIT engineering student Gervase Voss is one of the Victorian Skillaroos. He will be competing in Additive Manufacturing, which involves producing parts for machines using a 3D printer. Gervase won gold in this category at last year's national championships and will be supported in France by his expert Vettrivel Chinnadurai.
Training for many of the skills and trades being demonstrated by WorldSkills is available free from tuition fees in Victoria through the Free TAFE program, making training and career pathways even more accessible.
Free TAFE is removing barriers to training and creating pathways to new careers without the cost of tuition fees in more than 80 priority courses. Free TAFE has benefitted more than 175,000 students since it began in 2019, saving them more than $503 million in tuition fees.
Since 2014, the Allan Labor Government has invested more than $4.6 billion into training, skills and higher education, building a strong pipeline of skilled trades workers as the state's economy continues to evolve.
To find out more about WorldSkills and see the members of Team Australia visit www.worldskills.org.au.
As stated by Minister for Skills and TAFE Gayle Tierney
"I wish the Skillaroos the best of luck at the 47th WorldSkills Competition in Lyon - we'll be cheering for the green and gold."
"We're extremely proud of the 12 Victorians who will be demonstrating their talents and representing our state's world-class vocational training system in front of a global audience."
