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[VIC] Free TAFE and Free TAFE Pathway Courses 2023 @ Victorian Government

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You can now take more than 1 free TAFE course

Any Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or New Zealand citizen is eligible to do one Free TAFE for priority course in Victoria.

Students can only access one Free TAFE course in their lifetime, except in the following circumstances:

  • Students who have completed a pathway course under Free TAFE can do another Free TAFE course in the same pathway
  • Students who have already accessed Free TAFE, including for a non-pathway course, can do another Free TAFE course if they hold a qualification that is part of a Free TAFE pathway and are continuing in the same pathway. It does not matter if their previous qualification was completed by government-subsidised or fee-for-service training.
  • Students whose only Free TAFE fee waiver was under JobTrainer can do another Free TAFE course, either in a pathway program, or in one additional non-pathway program.
    The list of Free TAFE pathway courses can be found below.

Please note, Free TAFE pathways do not include apprenticeship pathway courses.


As always VIC is education state, we have the most free courses and there are newly added courses regarding EV.

The most important change to this year is you can do more than 1 course under Free TAFE pathway courses.
Holmesglen is a good one with no nonsense fee like other TAFE which charges hundreds of dollar extra on material fees or amenities fee. They have updated their website with those new free TAFE Pathway courses
https://holmesglen.edu.au/Students/Fees/Free-TAFE-Pathway-Co…

This is 2 example scenarios:

Accounting and Bookkeeping:

  • Previously you can only do 1 Free TAFE course which is either for Cert 4 in Accounting and Bookkeeping OR Diploma of Accounting
  • Now you can do both courses under Free TAFE, if you have done Cert 4 under Free TAFE previously, you can now do your Diploma of Accounting

Non Pathway course:

  • If you have paid for Cert 4 in Accounting and Bookkeeping previously, now you can take free TAFE for Cert 3 in Commercial Cookery AND you can still take another free TAFE for Diploma of Accounting to complete your Accounting Pathway

Related Stores

Victorian Government
Victorian Government
Holmesglen Institute of TAFE
Holmesglen Institute of TAFE
TAFE Victoria
TAFE Victoria

closed Comments

  • +1

    Is it only for Victorian resident? The website is little ambiguous about it other than the residence check

    • +3

      There is equivilent programs in just about every state, should be easily able to find with a Google search

    • +1

      Free TAFE courses eligibility
      If you’re an Australian citizen or permanent resident; or a New Zealand citizen, you may be eligible to study a Free TAFE course in Victoria. You can access a Free TAFE course, if you are:

      Victorian Residency
      Physically present in the State of Victoria at all times at which you are undertaking the training and assessment.

      • So as far as I could physically present according to the course structure required, then it shouldn't be an issue… I think? Thanks

        • Just move to VIC to study 😉

        • +1

          or just do one of the free courses in your state.

        • Or the online ones

  • +5

    Good news, but let's remember that the entry-level accounting industry is full of people that have being qualified for free since the covid, be prepared to see one or two hundreds applicantsfor every single job

    • +3

      Can always count on a government scheme being a (profanity) up.

      Should have had limited places per industry to not flood the job market with more people than positions.

      I hope the students who worked hard land a job.

    • +6

      On the flip side, I teach mental health and community services etc at TAFE, most of it government funded. Even before covid there was a huge demand for workers which has only gone up.

      • +1

        I've been trying to access cert Iv mental health but can only do online as I work full time. I've found a total of two TAFEs who offer this and neither have responded to me.
        Very cool

    • +2

      entry-level accounting industry

      You'd be better off getting a qualification in the construction industry. Reason is because it is people don't like physical work, the people in it aren't actually that good academically or common sense wise. They are also way behind in terms of technology. There is builders who are on the cutting edge but they want big money.

      Accounting industry is full of low paid jobs. Unless you open your own public practice and can charge higher fees. Corporate accounting jobs are well paid but full of people with egos.

      • Do you like to do physical labour? I've actually tried it before and I prefer my low paying computer desk job.

        • +2

          Yeah dont envy those roof tilers in the middle of summer tbh.

          Office desk job for me too.

          • @xoom: The office AC barely got above 22c on that 38c day earlier in the week.

            I dunno how tradies are gonna survive as the weather keeps getting wilder and less predictable.

            • @Telios: I guess they work at the crack of dawn then stop when the heat gets unbearable. Then continue on when the temps are lower.

          • @xoom:

            Yeah dont envy those roof tilers in the middle of summer tbh.

            Of course if your wife drives a Mercedes and have like 5 kids.

            I live in a working class suburb and the amount of BMW X5s, Merc SUVs, Teslas driven by people living in $500k / $600k houses is probably higher proportion that in white collar suburbs worth $1m.

            • @netjock: Yeah still no. Wife aint having no merc even if i could afford one. And 5 kids? Those cost an even bigger fortune than the merc.

        • +1

          An air conditioning guy quoted me $180 per hour + parts to regas an aircon. Imagine if you did that 10 hours a day. Pack up and take rest of the week off.

          • +2

            @netjock: It seems obvious you havent been exposed or done any trade work because the 180 per hour covers all these costs that you dont really see:
            -equipment & consumables costs
            -vehicle and transportation costs
            -admin costs
            -time spent planning for job, ie: providing free quotes, gathering materials, etc.
            -quiet days where there are no jobs planned/scheduled
            -insurance & liability covers
            -licences and ticket renewals.

            • @mrvaluepack:

              -quiet days where there are no jobs planned/scheduled

              He said he couldn't do it for 20 days. He must be going hard at it.

              I do budgets for a department consisting of 400 people with $300m+ annual budget I can tell you exactly how much the base salary on costs, work cover insurance, occupancy and all kinds of stuff you would never think of and if your overheads are bigger than a big company then you've got serious issues (it goes a long way to explain why tradies go bust so frequently, probably only second to problem gamblers)

        • +2

          Getting paid to be farmboy-fit is mint. But getting older, and having hands that look/work like a baseball mitt sucks.
          Desk jobs can be mental torture, feel like a battery hen.

          Balance.

          • @Ulysses31: If becoming a farmboy pays 250k, sure ill do the hard work. But if I get paid the same amount as hard labourers, then why should I put my body through the daily abuse.

            • @mrvaluepack: Huh? A tiny percentage of people are on 250k for a normal job. Pointless comparison.

      • +1

        We don't so much have a skills shortage as a shortage of people who are willing to do real jobs. Everyone expects to be paid $250,000 a year for sitting behind a desk, drinking coffee, surfing the net, reading magazines and going to meetings. No wonder countries like South Korea, China, and Germany thresh us in terms of technological development and industrial products.

        • +1

          At the highest level you are right.

          But it is the fact in this country we don't actually really value innovation. There is an ABC podcast about how UNSW pioneered solar panel technology. Australian government wouldn't give them any money because if it is so good the Americans would have caught on. The Chinese government picked off all the researchers (most of them were Chinese) and gave them money to setup factories in China. CSIRO still makes money from licensing of WiFi IP. It is crazy how many opportunities Australia has let go of.

  • +1

    I should be asking TAFE but does anyone know if there are tafe courses available for distance/online learning.

    • +1

      Having a look at one qualification - there is one provider that specifically lists Online as part of their name/location:

      TAFE Gippsland
      Online (BAIRNSDALE)

      EDIT:

      Also:

      Chisholm Institute
      Chisholm On-Line (DANDENONG)

      This is for the Cert IV Accounting and Bookkeeping, but I'm sure other's would offer it is the qualification allows it.

    • +1

      Yes, depending on the subject, they have digital tafe. I went through Cert 4 IT through digital tafe. In IT, you can attend online curriculum, which is what my friend did, or self paced, which is what I did.

    • +1

      Holmesglen is good option, many courses are available online and they also have night classes and Saturday class.

      For example Accounting courses and Cyber Security course.

      • I did a couple of free online courses through Holmesglen last year and about to start another. I recommend it

      • +4

        Really don't recommend the cyber security course at Holmesglen…. It was the biggest waste of time during lockdown. Maybe it's changed in the last year, but it was very poor and unorganised.

        • +2

          Wanna elaborate?

          • @samehada: Realised I forgot to reply, sorry.
            Sad to hear it hasn't improved. I think anywhere will be better than Holmesglen tbh. You might get lucky and have one or two teachers that know what they're doing/teaching. I think only 25% of the class made it to the end. It was extremely mind numbing, and I'm pretty sure the course is heavily funded by Cisco because 90% of the material is from Cisco. Prepare to learn a whole heap of info on antique cisco networking s##t you'll never need :D

        • +1

          It hasn't changed. I just graduated this month.
          It's terribly run.
          I hear Box Hill is much better.

  • There has been a lot of changes on new migrants having a waiting period for government assistance benefits. Does that apply for this free course scheme or can newly permanent residents get access to this as well?

    • I don’t see any restriction, if you meet the criteria.

      • Thank you. Service Australia website isn't always clear and I assumed Austudy and Tertiary Access Payment were something related to this free TAFE scheme.

    • +1

      Austudy payment and Free TAFE are 2 different things. You need to be on PR for I think 2 years to be eligible for Centrelink payment.

    • +6

      Everyone speaks about Communism like they know about it. Surprising how even USSR wasn't really Marx's Communist Utopia because people will always go morally corrupt (yes even those who fight in the name of the bible, yet one of the 10 commandments is thy shall not kill) to corruption.

      I am by no means a Dan fan (and I am not Christian) but I am not sure whether or no people using things like "Nazi / Communism / Socialist" actually knows what the word means because most of people using it hasn't lived under that kind of regime neither have they actually studied it, I mean the real course work not some broad brush critique of what it actually is. Some of it is just indoctrination. Labor families will say Liberals are bad and vice versa regardless whether it is actually a good policy.

    • +6

      Democratically elected dan? I was under the impression vic recently had an election. As far as I can tell this term became the common refrain of the herald-sun which begs the question, why are you on board with billionaire propaganda? Murdoch is one of the worst human beings alive who is openly contemptuous of democracy.

      • +1

        I was under the impression vic recently had an election.

        Both sides of politics carry on like this. Remember the protests after Abbott won? They wanted another election because they didn’t like the result of the first.

        who is openly contemptuous of democracy.

        Citation needed please.

  • +1

    One of the interesting courses I found is training and assessment. I don't think you need it historically as a coach, none of my trainers had it. But, it's a compliance oriented certificate, so I can imagine it being flexible and useful.

    Oh, another thing. There's a bunch of tafe certs that are free in nsw as well. From logistics, to diploma of music, to floristry, to constructions.

    https://www.tafensw.edu.au/fee-free-short-courses

    • +2

      Training and assessment is not specifically sports. Its the qualification to teach skills in informal business or community settings. Such as how to design a course for your fleet of drivers to check their vehicle once a week for maintenance issues or take your staff through the new point of sale system.

      • Yeah, sorry, I should've clarified that.

        I mean coach and training in the general sense. I think for sport coaches, you need a health science degree instead lol.

    • +2

      Yeah training and assessment is a valued qualification even in many white collar industries.

      • +1

        Yes it is, and I have one. Note there are prerequisites to entering this course (at least in TAFE NSW) and I assume other states are similar. This includes evidence of a nationally recognised qualification (or other type) in the area you want to teach in, plus your resume detailing your experience in the chosen field.

        Just because it’s free doesn’t imply they’ll allow every applicant into this course - and rightfully so as it’s tax payer funded.

  • +7

    I really like TAFE. They offer a lot of cool courses, people learning to cut hair, how to decorate homes and officespaces, graphic design, programming. TAFE is a cool place to be 😎

    • +4

      I went to TAFE. I agree.

      Fun little tidbit. A tafe college offering haird dressing as a course. You can get your hair cut there cheap.

      • +2

        Does the same apply for the RSA course?

        • +2

          Not sure. Was wondering about them tafe colleges offering automotive courses if they offer cheap maintenance or repairs.

          • @xoom: I would highly suggest that you give some of them a call if they'd offer cheap maintenance! Some TAFEs do offer as it gives the students a real life experience working on actual vehicles with different problems which requires different solutions. Same goes for cheap haircuts at hair dressing course. I studied at William Angliss and they have a cafe and a restaurant that offers cheap meals for cookery students to practice cooking and serving customers.

            • @ChairmanMeow: Exactly my train of thought. The students gotta learn their craft somehow. For would be mechanics, barristas, chefs and hair dressers.

    • Is this the start of the apple vs pc campaign?

      • Not quiet.

        At the end of the day wherever a student studied from matters little compared to what said student learnt from being there.

        Some would argue that if you didn't go to private school you already failed the early steps in life of your career but others would beg to differ as many who have succeeded were a product of public school education.

  • edit - replied to wrong comment

  • I've been on the fence considering which course to go for - Cert IV in Training and Assessment (TAE) or Cyber Security.
    Background was in social services but switched to adult training in digital skills just before COVID so I've got a similar qualification to the TAE from overseas.
    Am looking for an industry change from what I'm doing now (HR consulting) and am weighing my options and pondering if I should go back to training or move in to Cybersec since I'm IT inclined. Going back to social services would be my last option cos frankly I got burnout after being 10 years in the industry. Any thoughts?

    • I got burnout after being 10 years in the industry.

      Try cyber security. I mean you said yourself you're IT inclined. Go on. Challenge yourself.

    • +1

      I did the Cyber course last year. DM me if you like.

      • sent message

      • Interested in more details. Can I DM you as well?

      • Dmed :D

    • Do whatever fills your tank. I've been pretty badly burnt out and teaching community services was about the only thing that gave me joy and energy. If I was ever forced to be a programmer again I'd probably go insane.

      What floats YOUR boat?

  • I think the most important question is, do you get a free .edu email with these sign ups?

    • +2

      Hey now. We know where you are going with this.

    • yes, lol and free Office 365.

  • has anyone done the brewing course? Looking for feedback.

  • Does this count toward the number of years you’ll get hecs? Like with the UTAS deal? Would love to do a course in something practical to offset my hands-off bachelors and widen my horizons, but also thinking of doing further study in future.

  • Question: if I complete one of the IT TAFE course, can I easily find an IT job? Thanks

    • Apply. Whats the worst they can say other than no?

      • Thanks for your advice, will consider further study

        • My first IT job was because i was helping out a friend fix their pc. Simple stuff. Said friends cousin worked in HR for a company. She said to pass my resume over and thats how i got my foot in the networking door.

          These days who you know matters more than what you know. You can learn the rest when you are already working.

    • +1

      The better question here is do you have what it takes to persue the career? All jobs will give you trainings so its a matter of getting that knowledge and apply to an entry level position. Like xoom says, the worst that could happen, a no. There are "plenty of fish in the sea" my friend.

      • Thanks for your advice, will consider further study

    • Yup.

      IT has never been about qualifications though.

      • There does come a point where it helps and is needed for career progression.

  • +2

    Will SA do this soon? Waiting 😂

  • +1

    Plenty of FreeTAFE courses at Swinburne - no fees. Cert 111 in Horticulture at Wantirna a good one for those interested in gardening, nursery work, etc. Building and Construction and Allied Health also good options.

    • +1

      Swinburne is also a good option for no extra fees like material fee and amenities fees.

    • How many days per week are you doing with this course at Swinburne? Swinburne are pretty good with vocational courses. I've done my Plumbing course at Swinburne and I can learn much more things than from Holmesglen. Their Electrotechnology course is also quite good.

      • Depends on how long you want to do it. 3 day per week program finished by end of year - can also do less than full load.

        • What day of the week are you doing this course?

    • Swinburne available for SA residents? I'm interested in building & construction!

      Dammit seems in-class.

      Tafesa has it, 30 months tho. You may aswell go to uni.

      • Free TAFE VIC is only for Vic resident, you will need to move to VIC

        • SA offering too, but it's a long Diploma aka 30 months.

          20 hours a week in-class.

          Uni degree is 3 years, Diploma is 2.5 years. It makes no sense to me.

  • When's the Meme's Certificate coming out>

    • +1

      Social media influencer diploma.

  • .edu.au address included for free?

    • Yes … for the duration of course.

  • Any one have thoughts/reviews on Melbourne Polytechnic vs Box Hill institute? Looking to enrol into the training and assessment cert

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