The state government’s decision to axe subsidies for 12 TasTAFE courses has sparked concerns about Tasmania’s ability to keep young workers, as figures reveal a decline in vocational training across all sectors.
19 staff will be affected by the cuts, which target courses with low enrolments, including arts, design and media qualifications.
“We need to ensure that TasTAFE are delivering the skills that we need for some of the key challenges of our economy,” Skills and Training Minister Felix Ellis said.
“That’s building more homes, caring for our loved ones, providing the food for families.”
Figures from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research show the number of workers in training fell 14.7% in the year to March.
Construction trade training dropped 18.9%, while electrotechnology and telecommunications fell 13%. Sales worker training plunged 40%.
Labor leader Josh Willie said the cuts could worsen Tasmania’s population pickle, pointing to 12 consecutive quarters of negative interstate migration.
“There is an emerging trend which is of deep concern to all Tasmanians and that is that our young people are looking to the mainland for better opportunities economically and socially,” he said.
“We’re losing good people who will contribute to our economy and our society here in Tasmania and increasingly young people are moving to the mainland and fewer and fewer are coming back.”
Analysis published on The UTAS Papers blog shows the number of Tasmanian permanent residents choosing to study interstate has jumped from 17.9% in 2013 to 28.5% in 2024.
Emma Wilson, CEO of the not-for-profit creative organisation Applebox Studio, said the Certificate IV in Screen and Media was only available through TasTAFE statewide.
“They’ve taken the cowardly way out,” she said of the state government’s decision. “They haven’t cut the courses, they’ve just cut the subsidies so that the courses are too expensive for anybody to be able to do.”
Labor MP Brian Mitchell said the creative sector employed at least 6,000 Tasmanians and contributed $70 million annually to the economy.
“We know that we’ve got a brain drain of young Tasmanians leaving the state and when you cut funds to TAFE, it only makes it worse,” he said.
“The answer to keeping kids on island and making sure there are strong futures in this state is not to cut the funding to TAFE courses that help keep them here.”
Ellis said the government had invested $118 million in TasTAFE infrastructure, including new facilities for health training, cyber security and renewable energy trades.
“There are still subsidies available for many of the courses that were mentioned on the list that TAFE will no longer be providing, but they’ll be done by other institutions … because often that’s where the learners are currently choosing to learn as it is,” he said.
Acting TasTAFE CEO Will McShane said the 12 qualifications were “not aligned to the skills plan or to the deed of purchase itself”.
He could not provide specific enrolment figures for the affected courses.
Students currently enrolled in the affected courses will be able to complete their qualifications before the subsidies are removed.
