This Is Why Australia Closed Every Technical School (And Now Has No Tradies)
On the 31st of December 1987, Collingwood Technical School closed its doors after 75 years of training carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and welders. The building is now an arts precinct. It wasn't an accident. Within five years of the 1985 Blackburn Report, 120 Victorian technical schools were closed, merged, or repurposed. The Dawkins Reforms of 1988 turned colleges into universities. Hawke's Clever Country speech in 1990 made the message official: trades were the past, degrees were the future. Today, Australia is short 195,000 tradespeople. Plumbers charge $150 an hour because they can. Construction stalls. Waiting lists stretch into months. The country that built itself on skilled trades cannot find a sparkie to come round. This is the story of how it happened — and who is responsible. ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 - The building that made men 1:30 - When Australia had a system that worked 3:00 - The Blackburn Report — 1985 4:30 - The Dawkins Hammer — 1988 6:15 - The Clever Country: 2 in 10 to 4 in 10 at university 7:30 - The quiet demolition: 350 Victorian schools closed under Kennett 8:45 - The generation that never arrived 10:00 - The bill arrives: 195,000 tradies short 11:15 - What we truly lost 📊 KEY FACTS: 120 Victorian technical schools closed within 5 years of the Blackburn Report Collingwood Technical School: opened 1912, closed 31 December 1987 Dawkins Reforms 1988: HECS introduced 1989, ending free tertiary education University participation went from 2 in 10 Australians to 4 in 10 Apprenticeship commencements collapsed: 330,000 (2010-11) to 155,000 (2018-19) 70,000 apprenticeships disappeared from the economy since 2013 9,000+ TAFE staff positions cut in VIC and NSW between 2012-2020 Australia now needs 195,000 additional tradespeople over the next decade 116,700 extra construction workers needed to meet the Housing Accord target by 2029 🔔 If your father, your brother, or you yourself walked through the gates of a technical school as a boy — subscribe to Old Australia. We tell the stories nobody else will. 💬 Which technical school did you attend? Drop the name and the year in the comments. Let's remember what was taken. #OldAustralia #AustralianTrades #TechnicalSchools #TAFE #Tradies
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