Connectivity Centre links students to jobs at new Footscray Hospital

A new job centre will link apprentices and trade assistants to 2000 roles at the new Footscray Hospital now rising adjacent VU’s Footscray Park Campus.

Job-seekers can explore roles in areas such as construction and trades, signage and graphics, and landscaping at the new Connectivity Centre.

It is open 9am-5pm weekdays and is located in the heart of Footscray at 138 Nicholson Street.

The Connectivity Centre is a joint operation between:

• VU Polytechnic Skills and Jobs Centre, a centre for prospective students, workers wishing to reskill, the unemployed, and employers
• Plenary Health/Multiplex, the consortium awarded to design, construct, finance and maintain the hospital for 25 years, in partnership with the Victorian Government
• Apprenticeships Victoria, a partnership between the Victorian Government, major projects employers, and the TAFE training system.

Project to provide widespread opportunities

VU Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Vocational Education, Dianne Semmens said VU Polytechnic’s Skills and Jobs Centre would help source and match appropriate students and local workers for the build.

“This is a fabulous initiative that will provide job opportunities for our students and also support marginalised groups such as the long-term unemployed, youth, women, and First Nations people,” she said.

The Connectivity Centre will also support employers and industry by connecting them with workers.

In addition to creating jobs for apprentices and opportunities for skills training and employment, the new hospital will provide a unique opportunity to create a leading health and education precinct in Footscray, with links to Victoria University Polytechnic, as well as VU's College of Sport, Health and Engineering, and Institute for Health and Sport.

Largest health-infrastructure project, Victoria

The new $1.5 billion Footscray Hospital project is the biggest health infrastructure project in Victoria’s history. It will replace the existing ageing hospital on Gordon Street, and is scheduled to open by 2025.

The new hospital will cut wait times and reduce pressure on nearby hospitals, enabling care for nearly 15,000 more patients, and allowing for almost 20,000 more emergency presentations a year.