TAFE Outreach programs are closely aligned to the Federal Social Inclusion Agenda ensuring NSW education is accessible to people who face barriers to learning including geographical and social isolation, language and cultural factors, financial hardship, lack of educational confidence, being unaware of opportunities to learn, a disability or family commitments.

Community Regeneration in the North Coast

Warrgambi Ngamaambi A comprehensive social enterprise initiative designed to create benefit for the whole Nambucca Valley community.

Community in the Kitchen Two Youth Enterprises have been established. Yummy Catering which runs out of the YWCA, caters for local organisations and community groups, and Pulse Cafe operates in the Lismore business district.

Demonstration Garden for Sustainable Living aims to develop pariticpants knowledge and skills on sustainability and environmental practices, build team skills and realise pathways into further studies and or work.

Within the North Coast there are a significant number of communities that feature prominently in the Vinson Reports of 2004 and 2007. These communities are commonly characterised by a distinct lack of infrastructure with a marginalised and weakened third sector, little social connectivity, entrenched unemployment and an increasing incident of poor mental health among residents.

In response to these multiple and complex dimensions of disadvantage, the Outreach unit in the North Coast Institute of TAFE have initiated a Place Based model of community engagement that is congruent to the federal Social Inclusion Agenda which aims to provide opportunity and capability to learn, work, engage, aspire, increase social, civic and economic participation and have a voice together with greater responsibility.

TAFE Outreach proposes to showcase this model of practice with specific examples of individual projects that have all been developed in response to the circumstances of targeted communities. Each of these projects provide insight into the Outreach community of practice across our Institute and demonstrate a long term commitment to supporting sustainable and local solutions, targeted and timely educational delivery, increasing civic and economic participation through initiatives such as social enterprises and building a whole of government response through the establishment of strategic linkages and networks within and beyond individual communities.

Quotes on TAFE in Place programs


Outreach Course for youth at risk.

Our client was at a crisis point in her life….. The personal growth achieved
during this course was life changing…. She is now a confident young lady,
excited about learning opportunities and has in fact enrolled in a further TAFE
course… Our client now has paid employment with career opportunities and is
planning long term goals
Centacare Training and Placement Officer.

Outreach Hospitality Course run at Crescent Head Surf Club

Congratulations must go to the teachers of that course, the students attending
the course and of course whoever thought up the concept of teaching them there
instead of a classroom … I recently saw one of the students working in the
Bistro at the local Country Club and being local I knew the boy before then and
there is no way he would have got that job prior to taking the course
President/Secretary Crescent Head Chamber of Commerce.