Some of Australia’s most talented TAFE students are hard at work preparing for the WorldSkills International Championships in September; amongst them is SuniTAFE and Mildura Truck Centre's own heavy automotive apprentice Thomas Bevan. 

WorldSkills is an international movement that challenges young students to refine their skills and compete against others in their field. These competitions are held at regional, national, and international levels.

Thomas impressed judges at the 2023 National Championships in Melbourne, earning himself gold for the Heavy Vehicle Mechanics category and a place on the Skillaroo Training Squad.

He will spend the next six months proving himself for the chance to represent Australia and compete against the world’s best in Lyon, France.

As an apprentice at Mildura Truck Centre, Thomas’ on the job training is concerned predominantly with trucks and other heavy commercial vehicles.

However, the Heavy Vehicle Mechanics competition category also includes mobile plant equipment, such as excavators, backhoes, and wheel loaders.

To expand Thomas’ knowledge in this area, SuniTAFE and WorldSkills Australia have provided him with both on and off-campus resources, such as brand-specific training programs.

This training regime has been formulated by his local trainer and mentor, SuniTAFE Heavy Automotive Teacher Will Sharpe, who is leveraging his own expertise in this area to prepare Thomas for the competition with consultation from WorldSkills international expert Raman Badekar.

Together, they have organised training schedules, skill assessments, and mentorship opportunities to ensure that Thomas is fit to compete against the world’s best.

SuniTAFE Chief Executive Officer Brett Millington is proud to support Thomas in his pursuit of the global competition and recognises the team effort it will take to get him to France.

“It was great to welcome Raman to SuniTAFE last week and join him in the important task of having the right preparation for Heavy Automotive student Thomas Bevan to reach his goal of representing Australia in Lyon later this year,” Mr Millington said.

“We’re very proud of Thomas’ efforts to date and I love the commitment of the whole team behind him in helping him to achieve his goal.

“Our Vision at SuniTAFE is to inspire belief and growth through learning and Thomas is not only doing both, but inspiring others through his own actions.”

SuniTAFE will be following Thomas’ competition journey over the coming months; stay up to date via https://www.sunitafe.edu.au/news-events/sunitafe-news/.

To know more about WorldSkills Australia, visit https://www.worldskills.org.au/.