Victoria's Skillaroos fly the green and gold in France

Victoria’s top apprentices, trainees and vocational students recently represented Australia on the world stage and put their skills to the test at the 47th WorldSkills Competition.

Team Australia – also called the Skillaroos – travelled to Lyon, France to compete against more than 1,400 competitors from 70 countries, with hundreds of thousands of visitors attending the internationally renowned event.

After 4 days of intense competition, Australia placed 14th in the national rankings and won one bronze medal.

An impressive 14 of the 32 team members took home Medallions for Excellence including 4 of the 12 Victorian Skillaroos:

• Disha Anchan – Industry 4.0, RMIT
• Randy Gunawan – Industry 4.0, RMIT
• Sebastian Battista – Plumbing and Heating, TAFE Gippsland
• Nellie Holder – Graphic Design Technology, Swinburne.

WorldSkills is an international trades and skills competition staged every 2 years that gives young apprentices, trainees and vocational students the chance to showcase their talent across more than 50 disciplines.

Competitors complete practical tasks set by industry and skills experts, who assess their knowledge and competence against a set of strict criteria.

Each competitor is joined by an expert in their field who has overseen their rigorous training.

The Victorian team members have been supported throughout the past 2 years by the Victorian Government. Funding through the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions enabled TAFEs and students to participate in the 2023 WorldSkills Australia National Championships and the 2024 Global Skills Challenge. This was vital preparation before stepping onto the global stage.

At this year’s competition in France, the Skillaroos competed in traditional skills including carpentry, floristry and plumbing, and new skills in areas like 3D digital game art, graphic design technology and cloud computing.

Training for many of the skills and trades demonstrated by WorldSkills is available free from tuition fees in Victoria through the Free TAFE program, making training and career pathways even more accessible.

Free TAFE is removing barriers to training and creating pathways to new careers without the cost of tuition fees in more than 80 priority courses. Free TAFE has benefitted more than 175,000 students since it began in 2019, saving them more than $503 million in tuition fees.

To learn more about WorldSkills and see the members of Team Australia visit: WorldSkills Australia.