Western Institute is located in the western part of NSW, from the Blue Mountains, about two hours drive west of Sydney, to the state border with South Australia. This covers almost half of the agricultural and farming land of New South Wales. The Institute has almost 40,000 students.

View campus locations

Biggest city/town

Orange (population: 39,300) and Dubbo (population: 38,000)

What's it like to live there?

Western Institute covers a huge area of mining and farming land which includes the fertile wine-producing areas of Mudgee and Orange west to the mines at Broken Hill.

International students will discover a relaxed way of living in a safe, clean and friendly country environment and still enjoy cultural activities, community services and great learning facilities in the larger centres such as Bathurst, Dubbo and Orange.

Smaller towns in the western region offer an insight into a rural or outback life with different industries, and above all, friendly and welcoming communities. Summers tend to be hot and dry and winters have cold nights, frosty mornings and sunny days.

Student testimonial

Theodore (Teddy) Cunningham was an international student from Mexico who chose to study Outdoor Recreation at Western Institute's Lithgow College.

He had spent his time doing extensive research into possible study destinations in USA, Canada, New Zealand and Great Britain but chose TAFE NSW.

While studying at Lithgow, Teddy worked with Australia's leading outdoor education company and also worked as a raft guide at Penrith White Water Stadium on weekends.

He was also able to obtain a number of other qualifications related to his interest in outdoor recreation and adventure.

After successfully completing the Certificate 4 in Outdoor Recreation at Lithgow, Teddy was nominated by his teachers for an Outstanding Graduating Student Award. He then enrolled in the Diploma of Outdoor Recreation.

Teddy's goal is to establish his own outdoor adventure program for young people in Mexico which will be the first of its kind.

Campus locations and transport links

Campus	Address	Train	Bus	Parking
Bathurst Campus	Panorama Avenue, Bathurst NSW 2795	**
Dubbo Campus	Myall Street, Dubbo NSW 2830
Mudgee Campus	Cassilis Road, Mudgee NSW 2850
Orange Campus	March Street, Orange NSW 2800

**Country Link rail services are available to western NSW cities from Sydney and Brisbane.