Free TAFE loophole raises doubt for Labor’s figures, Coalition claims

Double-dipping students signing up for multiple free-TAFE courses could skew the number benefiting from Labor’s flagship policy, the Coalition claims.

Labor’s flagship free TAFE policy is open for rorting, the Coalition has claimed, after senior government officials revealed no safeguards exist to stop students double or triple-dipping free courses.

Deputy Opposition leader Sussan Ley says the revelation undermines Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s claims that 600,000 Australians have benefited from free TAFE, and other comments from Skills and Training Minister Andrew Giles that 110,000 free courses have been completed.

The Coalition now says it is impossible to guarantee how many individuals are using the $1.5bn policy, after Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) officials confirmed no mechanisms existed to count how many students were enrolling in multiple free courses across different jurisdictions.

Deputy Leader of the Opposition Sussan Ley during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

A TikTok video by “bridgetcmurphy”, tabled at Senate estimates last month, claims free TAFE courses are a way to create “cool road trips” and worth taking up “if you’re into travelling”, while she also said different TAFEs don’t “talk to each other”.

Ms Ley, the Coalition spokeswoman for skills and training, said it was “yet another concerning development in Labor’s badly-designed and poorly-targeted $1.5bn free TAFE program”.

“Anthony Albanese has been falsely claiming free TAFE has benefited 600,000 Australians when the Commonwealth has no way of tracking how many people have done two, three or four free TAFE courses – this program may have helped half the number the Prime Minister is claiming it has,” she said.

A TikTok video by 'bridgetcmurphy', tendered to Senate estimates last month, purports that free TAFE courses are a way to create “cool road trips” and worth taking up “if you're into travelling” and encourages people to take up multiple free courses, saying the TAFE's don't "talk to each other". Picture: TikTok,

A spokesman for Mr Giles accused the Coalition of attacking students.

“Rather than criticising Australians who are studying hard to get a good, secure job, the Liberals should develop some policies to support Australians get the skills they want and our country needs,” he said.

“The Liberals have put free TAFE on the chopping block. They voted against making it permanent and the Shadow Assistant Treasurer has said: ‘we’ve said that we won’t do free TAFE’.”

Minister Andrew Giles. Picture: NewsWire/Tamati Smith.

A Department of Employment and Workplace Relations spokesman said states and territories set eligibility criteria for students, and it was up to them if they wanted to limit the number of free courses a student can take.

The department also confirmed the Australian Government did not track individual students accessing the courses, but instead tracked “the total number of student enrolments”.

“Free TAFE is supporting learners who might not otherwise have studied to access training and find a pathway to employment,” he said.

He added students studying multiple courses “is not in and of itself a negative thing”.