More than 150,000 Australians enrolled in a Fee Free TAFE course in the first half of 2024 and higher wages in the care economy have encouraged students to pursue careers in aged care and early childhood education.
The figures for Fee-Free TAFE enrolments for the period 1 January 2024 to 30 June 2024 were released today. Fee Free TAFE Tranche 2 commenced in January 2024 with a target of 300,000 places by the end of 2026. In the first six months of 2024, 153,332 enrolments were reported, which represents 50.9% of the more than 300,000 places committed to the end of 2026.
Between January 2023 and June 2024, there were 508,889 enrolments in Fee Free TAFE courses.
Since the program commenced on 1 January 2023 to 30 June this year, there were over:
- 131,300 enrolments in the care sector
- 48,900 in the technology and digital sector
- 34,900 in the construction sector
- 35,500 in the early childhood education and care sector
- 20,300 in the agriculture sector.
From 1 January 2023 to 30 June this year, there were over:
- 317,400 enrolments by women
- 170,400 by people aged 24 and under
- 124,300 by job seekers
- 110,900 by people who speak a language other than English at home
- 38,500 by people with disability
- 30,000 by First Nations people.
Students from regional and remote areas comprise almost 35% of total enrolments.
Fee-Free TAFE means a Queenslander training to be a nurse saves up to $15,200 in course fees, while a South Australian undertaking a Certificate IV in Information Technology doesn't need to pay $4,655 in course fees.
Someone in Northern Territory doing a Certificate IV in School Based Education Support saves up to $3,220.
The Australian Government is investing $500.5 million to states and territories for an additional 320,000 Fee-Free TAFE and VET places nationwide over the next three years.
Quotes attributable to the Minister for Skills and Training, Andrew Giles:
"Fee Free TAFE continues to be an enormous success helping Australians to get ahead while easing cost of living pressures. More than half a million Australians are gaining skills and the opportunity to work in meaningful jobs that give back to their community.
"We are reforming vocational education and training to make it fairer and easier to access. It's great to see so many we see more students from under-represented backgrounds getting the opportunities they deserve.
"We want all Australians to have access to our world-class tertiary education sectors.
"The previous Government was defined by nearly a decade of dysfunction and mismanagement, and nowhere was this more evident than in the VET sector."
