The Feds want to legislate funding for continuing fee-free TAFE places from 2027, rather appropriate the money in the budget.
Big call for a program that only started in January 2023 and has $1.5bn in all of government funding for half a million student places through to 2026. Even bigger call that private providers are excluded – for Labor, “TAFE” and “training” are synonyms.
But officials, perhaps not entirely surprisingly, have stats to show it is a splendid idea.
In a submission to the Senate inquiry into the bill to make it happen, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations reports:
- 568,000 enrolments so far
- 110,000 completions to end September ’24
- 87% of enrolments are at Certificate III or above
- course spread is, 150,000 in “care sector” courses, 54,000 in digital and tech, 40,000 in early childhood education and 39,000 in construction (yes, the official numbers don’t align)
- women account for 60% of students and 30% of total students are in regions
Critics question completions, particularly in areas such as construction, but officials respond that it is too soon to tell. (The estimable National Centre for Vocational Education Research reports attrition over four years.) Still, it is a bunch of money to lock into law for a scheme that may not work.
But a bigger question is whether FFT will set people up for first, or new careers. And if it does, is it a model that government will use to align skills supply to demand across the economy? Fee Free TAFE, plus a creative combination of now AQF-enshrined University Certificates can create qualifications for some occupations faster and more cheaply than degrees.
Over to Jobs and Skills Australia and to the imminent Australian Tertiary Education Commission, at least for those universities who do not want to be left out of the quick qualification market.
