Tropical North Queensland (TNQ) has a dynamic and vibrant education sector with two universities, six TAFE campuses, 35 secondary schools, and a number of private language and business schools. In 2020/21, more than 11,000 people were employed in education and training in TNQ, contributing $950m to the local economy¹. The region is shifting towards a knowledge-based economy, which has implications for educators and regional training facilities. To accommodate the shift, the sector has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure in recent years, and additional projects are flagged for investment.

With a strong student base now established, James Cook University (JCU) and CQUniversity (CQU) continue to play a vital role in capacity building and the knowledge economy in the region. Through collaborative partnerships and to address current gaps in education pathways, the two universities are working to build capacity across a range of industries and community initiatives.

Building on 30 years of commitment to Cairns, 20 Commonwealth Supported Places were awarded to JCU Medical in Cairns in the October 2022 Federal Budget, with another 80 to be allocated nationally via a competitive process, as per the March Federal Budget. It is now critical that the university receives the committed 20 initial CSPs and is considered further for 40 of the additional 80 CSPs.

Since commencing on-campus delivery in Cairns in 2016, CQU Cairns has experienced significant year on year growth². Given this, it has outgrown its current premises and requires new purpose-built facilities. As part of its 2019 Community Impact Plan, CQU has a shovel-ready project to build a permanent new CQU Cairns CBD campus. The university currently operates from four leased premises across Cairns. The new campus may allow some consolidation of sites.

CQU welcomed the Federal Government’s $50m commitment in the October 2022 Federal Budget towards construction and fit out of the site, and now await confirmation of a delivery timeline for the funding.

The Great Barrier Reef International Marine College (GBRIMC) continues to grow and expand its range of innovative marine training capabilities, offering domestic and international students specialised maritime education in areas such as safety and survival, security, fire, communications, and electronic chart display information systems. With the growth of Cairns as a strategic marine defence hub and a renewed focus on the Pacific as part of the Step-Up to the Pacific programme, in March 2021 TAFE Queensland and the GBRIMC were awarded the contract for the Department of Defence’s Pacific Maritime Training Services (PMTS), a key part of the Australian Defence Cooperation Program. Under this 5-year contract (with three 3-year extension options) TAFE Qld was awarded $36m to deliver vital maritime training to an estimated 320 Pacific Islands people annually, who will crew the 21 Guardian Patrol Boats gifted by the Federal Government to replace the existing pacific patrol boats that have been in-service since 1987. A GBRIMC Business Case has outlined that $15m is required to upgrade and expand the college to meet the requirements of the PMTS program.  Land is available adjacent to the existing premises and work continues on the business case.  Skills shortages in the marine sector have not abated and this expansion would provide much-needed additional trained personnel across a variety of professions as well as important skills upgrades and mandatory training for mariners across a variety of commercial and defence vessels.