$800,000 nursing upgrade delivered at TAFE NSW Newcastle

newy.com.au – Upgraded nursing training facilities have been delivered at TAFE NSW Newcastle’s Tighes Hill campus as part of an $800,000 project aimed at strengthening the local health workforce and helping meet future healthcare demand across the Newcastle region.

The works have delivered four new nursing wards, along with clean preparation, dirty preparation, storage and training bathroom spaces. The project forms part of a statewide Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council program to ensure TAFE NSW training facilities meet national accreditation standards, legal compliance requirements and student safety regulations.

The NSW Government said the upgrades would provide modern, fit-for-purpose learning environments to better prepare students for real-world clinical settings. It said the investment, alongside the new hospital set to open in 2027, would help ensure the region had a skilled, job-ready nursing workforce to support the hospital and broader local health services.

Member for Newcastle Tim Crakanthorp said: “After twelve years of neglect and chronic underfunding under the previous government, we are finally giving TAFE NSW the respect and resources it deserves.”

He said: “These four revamped nursing classrooms at Tighes Hill are a game-changer for local students and educators.”

“This investment not only supports TAFE but our health system and hospitals too, ensuring the next generation of nurses are educated in a modern, fit-for-purpose learning environment,” Mr Crakanthorp said.

Skills, TAFE and Tertiary Education Minister Steve Whan said the upgrades answered long-standing calls from the Newcastle community and would help address critical skills shortages. “This investment is about delivering skills that work – giving students access to modern, accredited training facilities that reflect the environments they’ll step into when they graduate,” he said.

The government said TAFE NSW had received two consecutive record budgets, guaranteed long-term funding and an increase in permanent teaching roles from about half to more than 86 per cent under the Minns Government.