The federal government says it is committed to securing a new Free TAFE agreement with Tasmania, as the state government declines to rule out cuts to TasTAFE ahead of a cost review.
Assistant Federal Health Minister Rebecca White said Free TAFE had recorded more than 11,400 enrolments and 6,200 course completions in Tasmania since January 2023, with more than $17 million in federal investment.
Care sector courses accounted for 3,981 enrolments, followed by agriculture with 1,659, construction with 1,345 and early childhood education and care with 660.
According to the federal government, a student could save up to $2,465 on a Certificate III in Individual Support or up to $2,730 on a Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care.
“Free TAFE has been transformative,” White said at TasTAFE’s Clarence campus today.
“Not everybody wants to go to university. Not everybody can.”
The federal government legislated last year to make Free TAFE permanent from 2027.
White said it was “absolutely committed to securing an agreement with the Tasmanian government” to keep courses running in the state.
“We will do everything we can to support Tasmania’s TAFE system,” she said.
Federal Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said the program was about more than numbers.
“It’s about people and hearing stories of young people or people who are re-entering the workforce after some time out of it and the confidence that it gives them,” she said.
The federal government says more than 800 Tasmanian apprentices are also receiving its $10,000 incentive for new housing construction apprentices.
Tasmanian Labor told state parliament on Thursday that TasTAFE had already lost more than 50 jobs and dozens of courses and that the state government was paying KPMG nearly $100,000 for a cost review.
Asked to rule out further job and course cuts or fee increases, Skills and Jobs Minister Felix Ellis said he was “not, of course, going to preempt what the review will find”.
He said the review was “a standard piece of work” to understand TasTAFE’s cost drivers.
He pointed to timetabling changes that could let teachers deliver “more learning hours to our students” for the same time in front of classes.
“We want to make sure that we continue the investment that we’ve seen in TasTAFE, but making sure that we’re doing it wisely,” Ellis said.
“Every dollar that’s spent not delivering services in an organisation could be better spent delivering teaching and training.”
Ellis said the state government delivered “the lion’s share of funding for the training system”, but it was “good that the federal government also chip in”.
He pointed to a new $7 million student residence at TasTAFE’s Burnie campus, part of a $27 million clean energy centre of excellence there.
He also said national data showed Tasmania led the nation in apprenticeship completion rates.
