Education

The region has an impressive education sector with everything from kindergartens to universities and a wide selection of childcare facilities. There are both private and public secondary and primary schools, with many religious denominations catered for.

Wodonga is home to a regional campus of La Trobe University, where more than 1100 students undertake undergraduate and postgraduate courses across a wide variety of disciplines including environmental management and ecology, psychological sciences, business, sport, tourism and hospitality, educational studies, social sciences, social work and social policy, and nursing and midwifery. The Wodonga Institute of TAFE and Goulburn Ovens TAFE both provide a broad range of diploma and certificate courses in practical vocations. Wangaratta is home to the first Technical Education Centre (TEC) in Victoria. The Wangaratta TEC is a joint initiative of the Victorian Government, Goulburn Ovens TAFE and Wangaratta High School.

The Albury-Wodonga Community College and the Centre for Continuing Education in Wangaratta both support lifelong learning opportunities in areas such as access learning, general education for adults, English as a second language, later-life learning, personal support, literacy, VCE and youth pathways.

The Flying Fruit Fly Circus of acrobatics is based in Wodonga and many former students of the school have gone on to a career in performing arts. It is the only circus school in Australia, with students able to enroll from years three to 10.

Jobs

The strategic location of the region has attracted many large and international companies that call North East Victoria home. These include Uncle Tobys, Woorlworths Distribution Centre, Carter Holt Harvey, BAE Systems, Bruck Textiles, Border Express, Mars Petcare, Murray Goulburn Dairy, Wilson Transformers, Greenfreight and many others. 

The top employment sectors are manufacturing, retail, tourism, health, professional services and agribusiness. Products from the region are in use across Australia and around the world. North East Victoria supplies gold medal winning produce and products including wine, beef, dairy and lamb, timber, various cereal crops and hops. Some of the more boutique agricultural products include olives, honeys, cheeses, mustards, jams, nuts and other gourmet food grown through the Great Alpine and King valleys.

The productivity of the country-based workforce is enhanced by La Trobe University in Wodonga and Beechworth, comprehensive TAFE educational facilities and the retail and health sector. This diversity is the key to the region’s jobs base. Most workers are in medium to small enterprises, whether in the private or public sector, with others working for the larger companies.

Alpine, Indigo and Towong shires offer hundreds of seasonal jobs in snow resorts and agricultural industries.