The Victorian Auditor General’s Office has handed down a report into the financial state of Victoria’s TAFE and Higher Education providers.

State Minister for Higher Education and Skills, Peter Hall, said that the report showed that the state’s 14 stand-alone TAFEs remained in a strong financial position having generated a collective surplus of $58.5 million in 2012.

“Strong and viable TAFE providers are an essential part of the system and the future is bright for the TAFE in Victoria,” Mr Hall said.

“The report confirms that State Government funding remains the largest revenue component for TAFEs and direct government funding to our TAFEs has increased each year we’ve been in government.

“The Auditor-General’s report assessed 10 of the 14 TAFEs as a medium financial sustainability risk in 2012. This is primarily due to historic issues around self-financing and capital replacement in TAFEs,” Mr Hall said.

The Victorian Coalition Government was aware of this issue and is moving to fix it through giving TAFE institutes greater control of their assets by transferring property titles, allowing TAFE institutes to re-invest the proceeds from sales, and by working towards more flexible financial arrangements.