FEATURE
Around the TAFEs – Part III
Australian TAFEs continue to play a vital educational role for the HVAC&R industry, particularly
as skills shortages continue to hamper the growth of many areas. In this, the last in our series
looking at TAFEs around the country, HVAC&R Nation visits the leading institutes of South
Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
lead to some form of material benefit in the future,
such as higher pay and promotion.”
Regency Campus students are focusing on all areas
of the industry, but typically have a strong focus
on greener standards.
Like other TAFEs around the country, the Regency
Campus promotes the trade to school leavers by
being particularly involved in WorldSkills and
Try-A-Trade programs at career expos.
Paay says while there is a slow realisation in the
public that refrigeration mechanics offer more
than the ability to just fix a fridge, and the school’s
activities have led to limited success in gaining
greater recognition of the industry as a career
choice, the level of recognition appears to remain
low at high school level.
Students in training at TAFE SA.
TAFE SA Adelaide North
The Regency Campus of TAFE SA Adelaide North is
home to TAFE SA’s School of Refrigeration and Air
Conditioning, and is the only TAFE in South Australia
delivering full certificate III, IV and advanced
diplomas in this field.
TAFE SA has recently upgraded its teaching
equipment in classrooms and training workshops,
incorporating large LCD TV screens, computers and
data points to enhance the learning experience. A
CO2 plant is also currently being commissioned in
one of its training workshops to provide students
with hands-on access to the type of cutting-edge
equipment they are likely to find out in the field.
According to Gerry Paay, educational manager for
electrical and refrigeration at the Regency Campus,
the school is receiving excellent support from a
number of industry organisations in order to make
such equipment available.
“It’s always difficult to obtain funding for everything
one would like to have, but with industry support
we continue to move forward,” Paay says. “While
much of our equipment may be aging, it is still
valuable in demonstrating the required principles,
but certainly we would like modern controls,
training units and upgrades to our chiller and AHU.”
A strength of the Regency Campus and the
refrigeration and air conditioning school in
particular is the enthusiasm of its teaching and
administration staff, who are passionate about
sharing industry knowledge and supporting the
school’s apprentices.
“We strongly believe that this industry needs people
who can not only educate but also inspire our upand-coming tradespeople to achieve their best in
the workplace,” Paay says.
“We will be one of three training institutes in Australia,
I believe, to have a working CO2 system,” he says.
While he admits that learning styles have changed
dramatically in recent years, which are now
matched by the school’s educational tools, it is the
expectations of today’s students that differ most
from students of the past.
He says the school is also planning to improve the
controls section up to “a modern standard” with
updated equipment and hands-on programming
of DDC equipment. Processes for recognition of
prior learning (RPL) for certificate IV and advanced
diplomas are also currently under review, with the
aim of streamlining the school’s RPL procedures.
“It is due to the pressure that comes today with
striving to be successful,” Paay says. “Ten years ago,
there was nowhere near the amount of pressure on
young people as there is today. Also, the majority
of students are no longer prepared to study for
years to gain a qualification – they want it as soon
as possible and generally only study that which will
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“Unfortunately little appears to be known by the
schools and their vocational coordinators about
the exciting career opportunities in our industry, so
we need to be active in the high school education
system to promote the refrigeration industry, not
just as a trade, but as a career,” Paay says.
“The industry needs to advertise and educate kids
about the huge potential our industry has to offer.”
With apprentice numbers continuing to grow, the
Regency Campus is building on its reputation of
quality teaching and education outcomes, with a
particular focus on the sustainable energy needs
of the industry, and working on ways to be more
competitive in the marketplace.
“Quality education and training remains at the
top of our agenda, and to do this we need to keep
our good educators, continually review and update
our delivery methodologies and work closely with
industry to maximise the training experience
of our students,” Paay says.
Charles Darwin
University, Darwin
Charles Darwin University is the only facility
in the Northern Territory to offer refrigeration
and air conditioning training, including certificate III
and IV courses offered at the university’s Casuarina
(Top End) and Alice Springs (Central) campuses.
Training, like life in general, is a little different
in the Top End.
According to Bob Sackley, team leader of
Electrotechnology at CDU Darwin, the availability
of apprentices becomes limited during the summer
months and affects the school’s training schedule.
FEATURE
Polytechnic West, Perth
Polytechnic West is the largest registered training
organisation (RTO) in Western Australia and is
among the largest providers of apprentice training
in the country, with some 10,000 apprentices and
trainees enrolled across eight campuses.
From a refrigeration and air conditioning
perspective, it is also the major provider of training
in WA, and the only apprentice trainer in the state.
Students in training at Charles Darwin University.
Charles Darwin University’s Bob Sackley.
“As you would expect at this time of year, most
people hibernate in air conditioned spaces,
and therefore refrigeration mechanics servicing
and installing air conditioning systems are fully
stretched,” Sackley says.
“While many organisations only train apprentices,
we offer both full-time and part-time programs
such as certificate II pre-apprenticeships in
refrigeration and air conditioning, certificate
II in split system installation, a certificate
III apprenticeship, certificate IV in HVAC
commissioning, an advanced diploma in R&AC
technology and a diploma in R&AC technology
mechanical services drafting, the development of
which was funded by DEEWR,” explains Graham
Boyle, M.AIRAH, portfolio manager for metals,
engineering, safety and asset maintenance at
Polytechnic West.
The Casuarina school also features a 30kW watercooled packaged unit with cooling tower attached,
as well as three units for air conditioning control
and component training. There are also various
ice machines, refrigerators and air conditioners
throughout the workshop.
Boyle says students also benefit from a close
relationship with the mechanical engineering
school, which provides support in high-end CAD,
maths, science and controls, and to this end an
associate degree in mechanical engineering is
being developed.
“For our major practical lessons, each student
builds a can cooler and a refrigerated esky,” explains
Sackley, adding that they all find suitable uses upon
completion.
Such is the reputation of Polytechnic West,
which was recently rebranded from TAFE WA
as part of a state government initiative, that it’s
diploma has been sought by interstate students
via an e-learning trial.
Basic, low-voltage circuit training is provided to
students via the NIDA training system, a computeraided system that allows students to advance at
their own pace and provides each student with a
set of practical fault-finding exercises to complete.
With student numbers on the increase at Charles
Darwin University, Sackley is confident that the
future of apprentice training in the Northern
Territory is very bright.
“We believe our refrigeration and air conditioning
training facility is the best in the world,” says Boyle.
“It was specifically designed for refrigeration and
air conditioning training and possesses innovations
such as the ability to boost the temperature of
our cool room area (six medium and six lowtemperature rooms) to give the equipment load
when the load is low.”
“This affects training, as the more experienced
students are not available, and their training is
carried out first thing in the new year.”
While Charles Darwin University concentrates
on the training of apprentices, it also offers splitsystem air conditioning classes for non-refrigeration
tradesmen who are working in the industry, and is
fortunate to have a variety of resources available for
student instruction.
This includes newly acquired, state-of-the-art
training modules, which have the capability of not
only demonstrating a system, but also introducing
faults to provide students with valuable, practical
experience.
“The three units we recently purchased were a
commercial refrigeration unit, an air conditioning
controls unit and a visual aid to demonstrate three
types of expansion systems,” explains Sackley,
adding that this last unit features clear tubing
to allow students to see and understand the
expansion process and where it takes place
within the system.
A student in training at Polytechnic West.
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FEATURE
“The development of the diploma of refrigeration
and air conditioning technology (mechanical
services drafting) was a prime example of where we
were able to respond to an industry need and gain
funding from the Commonwealth Government to
develop a new qualification where none previously
existed,” explains Boyle.
The organisation is working to deal with a looming
skills shortage in WA by fast-tracking tradespeople
through its training system in order to more quickly
get them in the labour force.
To accomplish this, it is emphasising on-the-job
training and assessment, as well as leveraging its
strong industry partnerships to make education
delivery flexible.
Boyle says alternatives to the apprenticeship
system that could work alongside traditional
training models would further assist.
A student in training at Polytechnic West.
It also features a separate, controlled temperature
room where condenser air is used to boost ambient
temperature around equipment that requires
testing at extreme temperatures. A plate heat
exchanger between the hot water (AC heating) and
chilled water system is also used so that the team
can load the chiller when it is needed to run in lowload conditions.
“We have utilised various means to air condition
our facility so that students can observe direct
expansion and chilled water cooling, VAV and
constant volume air distribution and control,
multi-zone control, air-cooled and water-cooled
condensing, gas-fired boiler for heating and variable
speed or vane control on the VAV supply fan.”
One of the workshops also uses a large, ducted
evaporative cooler, while panel, deep-bed, oil bath
and electrostatic filters are also observed.
programs from two computer labs, while students
are also provided access to internet research.
“We try to cluster our delivery and assessment so
that students are assessed on meaningful work
tasks wherever possible,” Boyle says. “We currently
have our Diploma of Mechanical Engineering
students designing and building a wind generator
as a major project and assessment.”
Interestingly, Boyle says there are many adult
apprentices and those taking on a second trade at
Polytechnic West.
Polytechnic West has a strong industry focus,
regularly meeting with the Refrigeration and Air
Conditioning Training Advisory Committee of
EE-Oz Training Standard, as well as keeping good
relationships with AMCAWA and AIRAH, which keep
it in touch with industry trends, as well as providing
input from an RTO perspective.
“In some ways this is hindered by the amount of
regulation we have in Australia,” Boyle says. “While
I agree we do turn out well-trained technicians
in Australia, we don’t train enough of them or we
don’t provide the salaries and conditions for them
to stay in the industry, otherwise we wouldn’t have
skills shortages.
“When we bring in skilled migrants to meet the
shortfall, they often run into a wall of bureaucracy
as they try to get their skills and qualifications
recognised to Australian equivalence so they can
deal with our regulators and work in their particular
skills occupation.”
As such, Polytechnic West is looking to develop
training partnerships in South-East Asia so that
future skilled migrants may find it easier to have
their qualifications recognised in Australia. n
“On the refrigeration side, we have a bar with four
beverage coolers, a super chiller and a post-mix;
an ammonia liquid recirculation plant with plate
freezer, blast freezer and cool room; and a new
operating supermarket installed in 2009 on R507
with a range of control equipment.”
Along with having an abundance of modern
equipment available, the school is also wellresourced, with 13 qualified refrigeration and
air conditioning lecturers, two of whom also hold
higher qualifications to teach in the diploma area.
Another two qualified staff are in management
roles.
“We have one casual lecturer and one part-time
lecturer, as well as a full-time senior refrigeration
and air conditioning technician who is qualified to
advanced diploma level, two casual technicians and
a tool stores person,” says Boyle, adding that a lot
of the training equipment is designed and built
in-house by staff.
As other TAFEs are finding, this generation of
apprentices requires different teaching methods
to those who’ve come before. Polytechnic West
operates both Simutech and Kotza simulation
10 n HVAC&R Nation n February 2011 n www.hvacrnation.com.au
Training equipment at Polytechnic West.