Mary Faraone

Chief Executive, Holmesglen Institute

Holmesglen’s health precinct and work with the Royal Children’s Hospital are quietly reinventing traditional industry partnerships to achieve positive social impact.

Leading one of Victoria’s largest government-owned TAFEs is a privilege and a chance to effect change for our learners, employers, industry, government and communities. Industry partnerships, and their evolution, are proving powerful levers for good.

A health hub for the South East

In 2017, we formed a partnership with private healthcare provider Healthscope to jointly run Holmesglen Private Hospital at our Moorabbin campus. It’s the first TAFE-based hospital in Australia and won the Industry Collaboration Award at last year’s Victorian Training Awards.

The partnership has deepened our delivery across community and health science courses. It has also given Melbourne a 147-bed medical facility and a 24/7 emergency department in the South Eastern suburbs. Our Moorabbin health hub also features a VR simulation centre, which is a drawcard for trainee nurses. The Diploma of Nursing is among our most popular free TAFE courses, delivered from Moorabbin and our newly acquired Bourke Street campus.

As a vocational and education provider offering certificates, diplomas and degrees in a competitive market, our partnerships are always evolving through innovation. In recent times, we’ve been working with the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) to improve employment outcomes for learners with disabilities. People with disability still face significant barriers to work resulting in marginalisation, disadvantage and unemployment.

Innovating to make a real difference

In 2016, Jan Davis from our Health Science, Youth and Community Studies Faculty, instigated change. Through a UK fellowship, Jan researched supported internships with two British colleges and five industry sites. Jan drafted a business case to run a pilot program, training and supporting learners with disability into work. She built relationships with the Chief of Surgery at RCH and specialist employment agency, EPIC.

Jan also persuaded our executives and her faculty of the enormous social wellbeing benefits, and the privileged position Holmesglen was in to enable change. Today, our Certificate I in Work Education with integrated practical placement at RCH helps learners with mild intellectual disability or learning difficulty aged 16 to 19 prepare for work. Learners complete a certificate which includes three nine-week work placement rotations per year. Our first intake with RCH recently completed their certificates and undertook placements in the hospital’s HR, medical records, allied health, volunteer and family services, early learning centre, kitchen, mailroom and equipment departments. Our RCH links are vital to the course, so too the State Government’s $50,000 funding from the Jobs Victoria Innovation Fund. Our charitable arm, the Holmesglen Foundation, is also involved, receiving a $45,000 grant for future learners.

Success measured by lives changed

From our recent intake of ten learners, three received work offers at RCH, two are employed by Holmesglen and three work in hospitality and retail – a great result and a success rate comparable to programs abroad.

As Chief Executive, it’s incredibly rewarding to see the lives of our young learners and their families changing for the better. Holmesglen relies on a strong ecosystem of loyal small, medium and large businesses across sectors – and we’re always keen to discuss new ideas. Our industry connections span health, hospitality, information technology, civil and mechanical engineering, construction, transport, fashion and arts, and business. We’re confident and excited that our collaborations will continue to evolve for the benefit of our learners and Victorians.