Free TAFE extended in the ACT: More chances for free ECEC study

The Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care is just one of many courses which will be offered to learners in the Australian Capital Territory under a newly announced Fee-Free TAFE agreement which will run for three years from 2024. 

Federal Minister for Skills and Training Brendan O’Connor and ACT Minister for Skills Chris Steel made the announcement yesterday, saying previous rounds of the program have been “a huge success.”

This extension will allow the Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) to deliver another 3600 places over three years from 2024 onwards in courses such as: 

• Diploma of Building and Construction (Building)
• Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care
• Diploma of Travel and Tourism
• Certificate IV in Cyber Security
• Certificate IV in Work Health and Safety
• Certificate III in Business
• Certificate III in Individual Support (Aging)
• Certificate II in Electronics
• Health Starter
• Introduction to Cyber Security Awareness

There will be a focus on priority learners and areas of skills demand, including early childhood education and care (ECEC). 

As well as helping to ease Australia’s skill shortage, Fee-Free TAFE delivers cost-of-living relief for students who may otherwise not have been able to pursue a vocational qualification, and has been announced in line with the historic National Skills Agreement – the first in a decade – and a key promise out of the National Jobs and Skills Summit.

CIT met its targets in the first year of delivering Fee-Free TAFE, reaching its allocated 2,530 enrolments for 2023. More than 1000 of CIT’s Fee-Free TAFE student enrolments have been in the care sector, in skilled areas of demand such as ECEC, aged care, disability care and community services.

“CIT has shown we can successfully deliver the national Fee-Free TAFE program, making education and training more accessible to Canberrans and continuing to drive the ACT’s workforce forward, especially in industry areas of need and to priority learner cohorts,” CIT Interim CEO Christine Robertson said.

“Vocational education and training can change people’s lives, and Fee-Free TAFE is providing opportunity, especially to priority learners.”

Expressions of interest for Fee-Free TAFE in 2024 can be accessed through the CIT website now, with enrolments opening on 13 November 2023.

More information on CIT courses eligible for Fee-Free TAFE enrolment in Semester 1, 2024, is available at the CIT Fee-Free TAFE webpage.