More than 500 Tasmanians have taken up agriculture courses through free TAFE in the first three months of the year, as the federal government celebrates strong demand in one of the state’s key industries.
Federal Agriculture Minister Julie Collins announced the figures during a visit to Hillwood Berries on Wednesday, saying agriculture has become one of the strongest-performing categories since Fee-Free TAFE began in 2023.
“We’ve now had over 9,000 Tasmanians enrolled in free TAFE,” Collins said.
“Can I say, as the federal minister for agriculture, how pleased I am that we’re training Tasmanians, young and old, in horticulture and agriculture to be able to work in this important sector for Tasmania.”
The latest data brings total agriculture enrolments to 1,390 since the program started.
Hillwood Berries co-owner Simon Dornauf said the initiative was already paying off, pointing to agronomist Michaela, who finished her TAFE qualification and now manages the farm’s 27-hectare strawberry operation with two million plants.
“Having key agricultural staff or horticultural staff managing our crops has been a part of how we’ve managed to increase production over the 15 years that we’ve been here at Hillwood,” Dornauf said.
The farm employs 680 workers, some through the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme, plus 60 full-time staff, with several employees completing free TAFE courses such as chemical handling certification.
“If anything’s free, it opens up more capacity,” Dornauf said, estimating the program has saved the business $6,000-$10,000 in training costs.
Collins said students consistently report they wouldn’t have enrolled if courses weren’t free.
With Tasmania’s agricultural employment rate more than double the national average, she said investing in skills was crucial to the sector’s continued growth.
“Free TAFE is targeted towards those that need it most … to those people that need the skills, to job seekers [and] to people that want to contribute to the Tasmanian economy,” Collins said.
The federal government has legislated 100,000 free TAFE places each year nationwide as an ongoing commitment.
