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Health education receives $1.2 million boost in Ballarat

Thursday, 23 February 2012

Physiotherapy and podiatry courses will be available in Ballarat for the first time thanks to a $1.2 million investment from the Victorian Coalition Government.

Minister for Higher Education and Skills Peter Hall today announced a $1.2 million investment to the University of Ballarat and the Australian Catholic University to train 400 local students in physiotherapy and podiatry.

The funding is part of the Victorian Government's $20 million Regional Partnership Facilitation Fund, designed to increase alliances between universities and Vocational Education and Training providers in rural and regional Victoria.

The Regional Partnerships Facilitation Fund was established as part of the Victorian Government's $1 billion Regional Growth Fund to address lower rates of participation and attainment in regional Victoria.

"This funding is great news for the Ballarat community as it will mean local students are able to access higher education courses delivered locally," Mr Hall said.

"The $1.2 million in funding will mean that the Australian Catholic University and the University of Ballarat will work directly with Ballarat Health Services and Newington Physiotherapy Clinic to deliver new higher education qualifications.

"The initiative will see students who study a Certificate IV in Allied Health Assistance at the University of Ballarat gain credit for new degree programs in physiotherapy and podiatry, which will be available from the Ballarat campus of the Australian Catholic University from 2014.

"I would like to commend Ballarat Health Services and Newington Physiotherapy Clinic for investing in their workforce and for providing their real-world expertise to the development of these exciting new health programs," Mr Hall said.

The funding follows Premier Ted Baillieu's, announcement late last year of $3 million in funding that will see the University of Ballarat lead a consortium of six regional TAFE institutes to train 180 TAFE teachers to deliver vocational and higher education programs.

The project will enable the University of Ballarat to deliver a Graduate Certificate of Education – Tertiary Teaching.

"Together these two announcements represent a significant investment by the Victorian Government into developing skills and future employment opportunities in the Ballarat region," Mr Hall said.

The Victorian Government also recently announced the first 37 schools to benefit from the Victorian Government's $5 million Local Solutions Year 12 Retention Fund aimed at encouraging rural and regional students to complete their schooling.

Victorian Government funding for skills training is expected to reach $1.3 billion this year.

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