The Limestone Coast’s brand new $38.5 million Technical College has welcomed its first students.
The Mount Gambier facility will prepare students for careers in trades, health, education and primary industries, including the region’s economically important forestry industry.
The Limestone Coast Technical College is the last of five new tech colleges to open in South Australia, with campuses in Tonsley and The Heights also coming on line this year and Findon and Port Augusta opening in 2024 and 2025 respectively.
Open to students in Years 10 to 12, the colleges combine SACE with VET (Vocational Education and Training), with students taught in purpose-built facilities that mimic real-world workplaces – from high-tech workshops and construction zones to health clinics and early childhood classrooms.
Each of the specialty training areas at the Limestone Coast Technical College has been co-designed with industry to directly meet demand within the local region for employable skills, with graduates going into apprenticeships, employment or further study.
The college’s agri-tech stream, for example, will focus on emerging technology, including artificial intelligence and automation, and how to apply it in the agriculture, horticulture and viticulture industries. Students can also obtain a drone pilot’s license and entry-level skills to work in forestry or on farms.
The Limestone Coast Technical College also offers supervised short-stay accommodation.
This means students who live more than an hour’s drive from Mount Gambier can access the programs and stay overnight rather than relocating to Adelaide or another larger centre to access pathways training.
There are more than 230 students in Years 10 and 11 enrolled in the college for Term 1
, 2026, and it is expected enrolments will grow to 400 students in 2027.
Limestone Coast Technical College Principal Lynette Corletto said that it was important to find every young person the career pathway for them, and that "is not always with an ATAR".
"To be able to offer these opportunities through the technical college to get students job-ready and connected with employers is not just of huge benefit to them," Ms Corletto said.
"To be able to meet the skills demands locally, is a huge bonus for our entire regional community."
South Australian Forestry Products Association CEO Nathan Paine said technical colleges were "a critical pathway to providing skills the industry needs into the future".
"We’re engaging with the technical college in Mount Gambier about what we can do, how can we support what they’re doing, and how we can ensure that the courses that they’re providing really do lead to kids coming out with careers in the future and hopefully careers in the forest industries," Mr Paine said.
