TasTAFE Cabinet Making teachers are heading north to build the industry in the Northern Territory

A career in Cabinet Making is made-to-measure for TasTAFE Certificate III in Cabinet Making and Timber Technology apprentices in the Northern Territory.

Just over 10 years ago, the Department of Business NT awarded TasTAFE the contract to train Cabinet Making apprentices in the Northern Territory. A decade later, our Certificate III in Cabinet Making and Timber Technology program is still going strong in the NT, with a new team of TasTAFE teachers travelling north to train and assess learners.

Recently retired TasTAFE Cabinet Making teacher Stephen Kirkman was the first TasTAFE teacher to journey to the NT in 2015 – a commitment that continued through 26 trips over 10 years.

“It was the best period of my working life,” Stephen said when he retired in 2025. “We inherited a Cabinet Making qualification with very poor completion rates, but the rates are a lot better now under TasTAFE. We’ve really made a difference to the industry up there.”

Picking up where Stephen left off, TasTAFE Cabinet Making teacher Carly Bird is now travelling to Darwin, Katherine and Alice Springs 3 times per year to deliver training and assess learners in their workplaces.

In February 2026, Carly’s Cabinet Making teaching colleague Jai Maluga also made the journey, teaching learners CAD drawing at a Housing Industry Australia training facility in Darwin – a partnership also made possible through NT Government funding.

Both Jai and Carly bring a winning pedigree to the TasTAFE Cabinet Making program: Jai won the Cabinet Making bronze medal at the WorldSkills Australia National Championships in Brisbane in 2010, then mentored Carly when she won the gold medal at the same event in Perth in 2021. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Carly wasn’t able to represent Australia at the WorldSkills International Finals in 2022 – but her regular trips to the NT are now helping to satisfy her travel bug.

“I'd always wanted to go to the NT because my parents lived there before I was born,” Carly said, “– but I never had the chance until now. Not many teachers get to do this sort of thing, so I always look forward to it. It's a really cool part of my job.”

Carly said that her 32 Cabinet Making apprentices in the NT come from all walks of life.

“A lot of them start right out of school because they want to get into a trade and use their hands, as opposed to sitting behind a desk. Some have tried other trades, then decided to go into construction. There’s one who was a nurse, one who was a sparky…and they just want to try something new.”

“There are also a lot more women coming into Cabinet Making these days,” Carly continued. “When I did my apprenticeship, there was me and maybe 1 other girl. And now in the Northern Territory alone, we've got 4 female apprentices – so it's nice to see a bit of an upward trend.”

But regardless of their background or gender, Carly said that all her apprentices share some common attributes.

“Attention to detail is a big part of the job,” she said. “And definitely passion: you've got to want to work with your hands and get down-and-dirty into it!”

Sean Crane, TasTAFE Civil Construction, Mining and Resources Education Manager, said that part of the NT arrangement is that learners also travel to TasTAFE to complete training blocks – also funded through the NT Government.

“For things that that can't learn in the workplace, they come to us in Tasmania. When they land here in the middle of winter, it can be a bit of shock! But it's good because in both Hobart and Launceston, the learner accommodation is right there – literally 50m from the training facility,” Sean said.

In terms of the scope of work for apprentices in the NT, Sean said that a healthy construction sector is delivering plenty of opportunities.

“It's linked very strongly to the housing and the construction sector: when housing and construction are buoyant, so is Cabinet Making, and it gets very busy in the NT,” Sean said.

Carly Bird agreed that our NT apprentices are benefitting from an active building industry, gaining broad range of experience.

“There’s heaps going on up there right now – domestic and commercial and bigger projects too, because they have air force bases and things like that. So, there's a lot of construction to do with that, which is nice to see.” Carly said.

“Everyone I talk to up there is busy,” Carly continued, “– and we're definitely meeting the industry need. All the employers are happy with what we're doing and happy with the training outcomes.

“But obviously as industry evolves, we also have to evolve – so we've been working really hard this last 12 months to change-up how we're doing things and make our training even better.”

Interested in building a career in Cabinet Making? TasTAFE’s Certificate II in Construction Pathways will get you started, giving you the skills employers are looking for.

TasTAFE Certificate III in Cabinet Making and Timber Technology apprentices are getting the job done in the Northern Territory.