Fee-free TAFE has been promoted as one of the Albanese government’s key education policies to train more nurses and builders. But new course completion figures released last week have sparked debate among industry leaders about whether the policy is working.

New data suggests enrolments have slowed, and many students who started a fee-free course have not yet completed it.

Of the 814,000 student enrolments in fee-free TAFE courses since 2023, 258,000 have completed courses as of the latest March quarter.

It comes after the national body for vocational education and training reported a decline in government-funded vocational education enrolments last year, including across TAFE providers.

But the conclusion the fee-free policy has “failed” is probably too simple.

How does fee-free TAFE work again?

Free TAFE allows eligible students to study selected vocational education and training courses without paying tuition fees. Victoria introduced the policy in 2019, and in 2023, the federal government expanded the initiative nationally. The federal government spent A$1.5 billion to fund more than 500,000 free TAFE and vocational education and training places between 2023-2026.

The federal government argues fee-free TAFE can increase the supply of skilled workers in construction, health care, disability support and early childhood education.

In a report tabled in May, the Victorian........

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