ASTBURY, Don

I must thank the following people for the excellent technical education I received at the Ballarat College of Advanced Education, (BCAE), the tertiary section of the School of Mines Ballarat and later at the University of Melbourne

My parents were fervent believers in the power of education to widen life choices. Robert Menzies spent Commonwealth money to expand the Australian tertiary college sector, including BCAE, during the 1960s, Gough Whitlam abolished tertiary education fees and introduced student living allowances during the 1970s and the Australian tax payer, usually not educated to tertiary level, paid the bills.

The lecturing staff included some excellent teachers of engineering and supporting disciplines.

I completed year 12 during 1970 at the School of Mines Ballarat campus in Lydiard Street. This curriculum was also the first year of a four-year diploma course in engineering. The system allowed me to fail a year, take a gap year and come back for a second try with only minor financial consequences. Tertiary students today can only dream of such treatment.

I completed my diploma of civil engineering in 1975, took another gap year in 1976 and commenced as a design engineer at the Ballarat Sewerage Authority in 1977. I completed a bachelor degree in civil engineering at Melbourne University in 1980. I worked as a civil design and project engineer in municipal, water supply and consulting roles until 2018. True to form, I could not resist more gap years, working for Richmond Fellowship, now Mind Australia, and later in physical and intellectual disability support services.

Don Astbury