Australia’s first accredited EV Charging Infrastructure Course is launched

Australia’s first accredited EV Charging Infrastructure Course is launched

The An Adept Workforce for the Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV) Boom Project is a $950K initiative funded by the Victorian State Government’s Workforce Training Innovation Fund (WTIF). Minister for Training and Skills Gayle Tierney recently launched the project, to be led by the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) and delivered by The Centre for U and Holmesglen TAFE. In officially launching the project, Minister Tierney stated “This is a great example of how our TAFE and training sector is providing opportunities for workers to retrain and upskill – while also preparing us for the workforce we need for our clean, green future.”

The project will build the capability and capacity of the training sector to provide quality Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure (EVCI) installation training that meets industry and consumer demand and supports the imminent ZEV boom. When opening the launch ETU – Victorian Branch, State Secretary, Troy Gray strongly supported the project, “We are committed to supporting the upskilling of the electrical workforce – and through this project, our industry can better meet the demands of the imminent electric vehicle boom.”

The EVCI course, the first of its kind in Australia will upskill 500 licensed electricians in its pilot phase. Currently under development, the course will be available through the Centre for U and Holmesglen TAFE. When asked about the course to be rolled out in 2023, Centre for U CEO Alex Newman summarised one of the projects key objectives in saying “The Centre for U is excited to pilot the electric vehicle charging infrastructure course to 500 electricians and meet the demands of the electric vehicle boom”

Despite a cold Melbourne morning the project launch event was well attended by project stakeholders and industry representatives who were excited to see all the media focus on the event. EV’s are very much in front of the minds of consumers and the media were keen to get a piece of the new Polestar and EVCI equipment on display.

The Centre for U team are grateful to WAVE participants Evangeline, Annalise, Courtney (CJ) and Vanessa who supported the launch and were fortunate to meet Minister Tierney, and Sheena Watt MP, and discuss the highlights of their successful progression to the electrical industry. 

The project team including Jacinta Bradford, Project Officer, are currently working with the accreditation steering committee to develop curriculum to submit to VRQA in September.

The Project Steering Committee consists of the following organisations:

• Electrical Trades Union
• Centre for U
• Holmesglen TAFE
• Energy Safe Victoria 
• Electric Vehicle Council
• NECA
• EV Choice
• Future Energy Skills
• Solar Victoria

Expressions of interest for licensed electricians to [email protected]