Taminmin College, a rural comprehensive school on the outskirts of Darwin, delivers one of the finest vocational education and training (VET) programs in Australia.

It has first-class training facilities, including automotive, construction and engineering centres, a hospitality centre with a commercial kitchen, a 75 hectare mixed-produce farm, IT labs with model offices and a shop with a student-run coffee house.

The registered training organisation has a higher than average completion rate and an enviable record of getting students into work - and then those students doing well at work.

Taminmin was named Small Training Provider of the Year at the NT Training Awards.

The college employs an operations and quality assurance officer, Susan Burgess, to ensure all training complies with national standards.

“Quality VET training is about outcomes for students,” she said. “It’s about students being able to have a job.

“It’s about us improving what we do. Just because we have a good outcome this year doesn’t mean that we can’t do it better next year.

“It’s really important you can demonstrate that you meet the required industry standards.

“Quality assurance is about making sure that plans are in place, that everyone knows what they’re doing and when that needs to happen. It’s about the type of assessment evidence that’s gathered and meeting the requirements of the nationally recognised workplace standards.”

Taminmin has an effective transition-to-work program and uses its strong industry partnerships to secure work placement for students.

The college, which has more than 1,200 students and offers nationally-accredited courses across a wide range of industries, services Darwin, Palmerston and rural students.

It also provides training courses to Sanderson Middle School and Palmerston Youth Skills Centre, and services remote Aboriginal communities, such as Maningrida and Centralian College in Alice Springs.