Saying I do to a lifelong career

For Basil Harvey, hosting his “spaghetti western” theme wedding reception on campus with the love of his life (and former TAFE Queensland teacher Jan) in the 80s was not only the beginning of his marriage, but also the start of a commitment to TAFE Queensland that has spanned 30 years.

After more than a decade as a civil engineering designer doing ground breaking work in digital road planning development programs, Basil took the opportunity to join his new wife at TAFE Queensland. She was a teacher and now too was Basil.

Three decades on both have moved on in their careers, with Basil taking on various leadership roles at several campuses before landing his current position as the director of an Educational Planning System project.

“For 20 per cent of TAFE Queensland’s 140 Years, I have been part of it,” Basil said.

“TAFE Queensland does some really good stuff – we have come ahead in leaps and bounds, and it has been so interesting to be part of that journey.”

Building his career through the introduction of computers, training packages and competency based training, and more recently the shift to online learning, Basil has had no end of opportunities to develop his knowledge and branch out into other areas of the organisation.

“The beauty of working for such a big organisation is that you don’t have to leave to create opportunities for change in your career because there are plenty of opportunities right here to keep reinventing yourself to keep your career growing.”

When asked what has kept him coming back every day for 30 years, Basil is quick to respond: “Since the beginning of my career with TAFE Queensland, I’ve made sure that we mix a fair amount of pleasure with the tough business of VET Education.”

From running the annual, and raucous Melbourne Cup day Calcutta, to playing with colleagues in the band ‘The Harmonic Balancers’ at campus events, Basil is always the first to encourage a bit of fun and socialising.

“I often think ‘how can I make this more enjoyable for everyone and I really value our social activities, and believe that if you have the chance to interact with people and get to know other people you will enjoy coming to work more.”

“Working at TAFE Queensland has been such a rewarding experience. We are helping Queenslanders get better jobs – what could be better than that?”

Thanks to employees like Basil who are brimming with the skills, knowledge and passion to progress our vision and uphold our values, TAFE Queensland is able to maintain the quality training that has made it the state’s most trusted training organisation across its 140-year history.