Revealed: How many people are graduating with a free TAFE course?

It’s been lauded as a very successful government policy but now the number of people completing courses through the fee free TAFE scheme can be revealed.

EXCLUSIVE

Just 13 per cent of people who enrolled in the government’s fee-free TAFE courses have graduated with a qualification since January last year despite some of the most popular courses taking just six to 12 months to complete.

The trend, hidden in Minister Andrew Giles’s Question Time documents, indicates that students could be leaving the courses before completing them despite the federal and state governments investing $1.5bn into the program.

Between January 2023 and March 2024, just 13 per cent of enrolments resulted in completed qualifications, according to documents released under the Freedom of Information Act.

In the first six months of the scheme, there were 214,000 enrolments with a completion rate of 28 per cent.

TAFE NSW entry on Harris St, Ultimo. Picture: Dylan Robinson

Two of the most popular courses, early childhood and individual support, both take between six and 12 months to complete.

Certificate IV in training and assessment and certificate IV in cybersecurity were also among the top five most popular courses, with both taking between six to 12 months to complete.

The federal government is investing $907m of the overall funding with the states and territories footing the rest.

The Coalition has used the figures to undermine the government’s claims the program has been a roaring success based on enrolments alone.

Deputy Leader of the Opposition Sussan Ley. Picture: Martin Ollman

Minister for Skills and Training of Australia, Andrew Giles. Picture: Martin Ollman

They are calling on the government to publicly release the number of students who have cancelled their fee-free TAFE courses.

Mr Giles’s own document conceded “there is a relatively low number of completions”.

Opposition deputy leader Sussan Ley said the scheme has failed to make “any meaningful impact in alleviating” the skills shortage.

“We can now reveal what Labor has been hiding for months, Fee Free TAFE is not delivering the scale of skilled graduates we need to deal with the skills crisis,” she said.

“Every time the Prime Minister talks about Fee-Free TAFE he should be asked how many graduates has it delivered, and when will Australia know how many drop outs there have been.”

But Mr Giles said he was proud of the program that has seen more than 500,000 enrolments.

It’s understood that the enrolments are a mix of part time and full-time which can also impact completion rates and time frames.

“Since January 2023, there have been more than 508,000 enrolments in Fee-Free TAFE courses, this has greatly exceeded expectations,” he said.

“As I travel around the country I’ve met so many Australians who’ve benefited from Fee-Free TAFE, from nurses in Loganlea to boilermakers in Newcastle … I’m proud of them and proud of Fee-Free TAFE.

“It’s disappointing the Liberals attack hardworking Australians and measures that help with the cost-of-living pressures.”