Vocation acquires WA training providers

Melbourne company Vocation has acquired Perth-based Australian College of Applied Education and 50 per cent ownership of the Australian School of Management for $2.125m.

Vocation has the option to acquire the remaining 50 per cent of the Australian School of Management.

The education and training provider is acting on its strategy of diversification by using licences held by ACAE and ASM as an entry point into the international student and higher education markets.

ACAE and ASM will provide their resources to Vocation to allow the organisation to offer new and existing programs to students. 

Vocation chief executive Mark Hutchinson said: “The acquisitions provide Vocation with the necessary licences to accelerate our diversification strategy by extending education offerings to both domestic and international students”.

“This transaction is in line with our long-term goal to deliver better job outcomes and career development for students graduating from Vocation programs. 

“We look forward to taking the Vocation brand, and the quality it represents, to new markets and student cohorts.”

Both ACAE and ASM deliver vocational and higher education training, including English language programs, to 260 international students.

The ACAE business has an established 25 year history in Western Australia and has a contract for hospitality-related qualifications with the Department of Training and Workforce Development. 

It incorporates the School of Business and Management, the School of Tourism and Hotel Management and the School of Culinary Arts.

ASM has developed its courses after an 11-year association with Lismore-based Southern Cross University in New South Wales.