Family & Parenting
The Free TAFE Course List Stops at the State Border
Free TAFE is a state-funded place, not a national course list. The same course can be free in one state, full fee in the next, and absent from the funded list in a third.
Picture two people chasing the same qualification. On one side of a border, the tuition is covered and the out-of-pocket is a few hundred dollars in materials and student fees. On the other side, the same course is a full-fee enrolment, or it is not on this year’s list at all. Nothing about the course changed. The state line did.
That is why a national summary is useless. The program is national on paper. The places are administered by the states, and each one writes its own list. The list changes at the border because the government that writes it changes at the border.
The useful question is narrower: “Is this course, at this provider, funded for me, in my state, this year?” That question gets an answer.
What Free TAFE is
Start with the national frame. The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations describes Free TAFE as $1.5 billion for more than 500,000 Free TAFE and vocational education and training places across Australia from 2023 to 2026.
From 2027 the program becomes permanent. The Free TAFE Act 2025 commits more than $1.6 billion to 2034-35 and at least 100,000 Free TAFE and VET places a year from 2027.
The delivery is not national. Each state and territory runs its own version under its own name, with its own list of Free TAFE courses, eligibility rules and provider list. New South Wales runs NSW Fee Free. Queensland, South Australia, the ACT and the Northern Territory use Fee-Free TAFE. Western Australia runs fee free and low fee training, and Tasmania runs Fee Free TAFE at TasTAFE.
DEWR lists the priority areas the places are meant to serve: care, technology and digital, hospitality and tourism, construction, agriculture, sovereign capability and the VET workforce. It also names priority cohorts, including First Nations Australians, young people aged 17 to 24, people out of work or on income support, unpaid carers, women facing economic insecurity, women in non-traditional fields, people with disability and certain visa holders. A course outside those priorities is less likely to appear on a state list, which is one reason the lists differ.
The money is for tuition, not living costs. Transport, childcare and the cost of not working while you study sit outside the program.
One program. Eight sets of rules.
The eight lists
The state pages do not make this comparison. Every row was read from the state’s or provider’s own page on 8 November 2026. The list tells you what can be funded. It does not tell you what will be.
| State | Program and provider | Who can get it | What “free” leaves out | 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VIC | Free TAFE at Victorian TAFEs only | Citizens, permanent residents and NZ citizens training in Victoria; asylum seekers may qualify; usually one course, with priority pathways allowing more | Student fees and materials | 6 priority apprenticeships, first year of tuition covered; no 2027 list on the page checked |
| NSW | NSW Fee Free at TAFE NSW and Smart and Skilled providers | 15 or over, not at school, living or working in NSW; citizen, permanent resident, humanitarian visa holder or NZ citizen | Material costs are not listed; ask the provider | No list on the page checked |
| QLD | Fee-Free TAFE at TAFE Queensland and CQUniversity only | 15 or over, not at school, living in Queensland, not currently enrolled; one qualification limit | Uniforms and resources | Ends 31 December 2026 |
| SA | Fee-Free TAFE at TAFE SA and selected non-government providers | 16 or over, not at school, living or working in SA, new to the course | Resource and incidental fees | Current list live; places limited; no 2027 list on the page checked |
| WA | Fee free and low fee training at TAFE colleges and private providers | Some eligibility criteria apply; existing worker traineeships are excluded | Other fees apply | No list on the page checked |
| TAS | Fee Free TAFE at TasTAFE | Check the TasTAFE course page; 2026 places are limited | Check with TasTAFE | 2027 applications opened 3 November 2026; fee-free list pending |
| ACT | Fee-Free TAFE at CIT | 17 or over, not at school, living or working in the ACT, new to the course | Learning resources | All 2026 places allocated; 2027 list pending |
| NT | Fee-Free TAFE at CDU | 15 or over, living or working in the NT, not at secondary school, new to the course | Check with CDU | 2026 closed; 2027 courses coming soon |
Queensland’s current Fee-Free TAFE program ends on 31 December 2026. A 2027 start in Queensland is not covered by the page checked.
The ACT has allocated every Fee-Free TAFE and Fee-Free Construction place at CIT for 2026. The page says the initiatives will move to Free TAFE in 2027 and will be updated when the details are confirmed. There is no 2027 list to read yet.
Tasmania opened applications for Semester 1 2027 on 3 November 2026, with the fee-free list still pending. The Northern Territory has closed 2026 and says 2027 courses are coming soon.
New South Wales, Western Australia and South Australia do not publish a 2027 course list on the pages checked. South Australia’s current list is live, with places limited. A current list is not a 2027 list.
Do not enrol against a list you have not seen. Check the state page in the week you apply.
Three differences that decide it
The eligibility gate. The age gate differs: 15 in some states, 16 in South Australia, 17 in the ACT. The rules ask whether you live or work in the state, and most ask whether you are still at school. Victoria adds a residency and citizenship gate, with a route for asylum seekers. The gate decides whether the course is open to you before the course list matters.
Where you live or work is the first question, and it is the same question long service leave rules ask. State lines decide both. Read the state you are in, not the one you grew up in.
The border case is the sharpest version. A person who lives in one state and studies in another is dealing with two sets of rules: the state that funds the place and the state that sets the fee. Ask the provider which state’s funding applies before you enrol.
The course limit. Queensland allows one qualification under Fee-Free TAFE, with an exception that lets a Certificate III in Early Childhood progress to a diploma. Victoria usually funds one course, but priority pathways allow more than one in the same priority area. South Australia allows more than one, provided you are new to each course. A second qualification is a state setting, not a national right.
The limit surprises people who already hold a qualification. A first eligible course may be funded; a second may not be. The provider matters too. Victoria funds Free TAFE at Victorian TAFEs only, and Queensland at TAFE Queensland and CQUniversity only. The same course at a private college may not be funded.
The places. The list is capped. New South Wales says places are limited and a fee-free place is not guaranteed. The ACT has allocated every 2026 place. Queensland warns that student numbers may be capped and the list may change.
The take-up figure shows why. The Victorian Auditor-General’s Office found that 86 per cent of government-subsidised students who started a course on the Free TAFE list in 2023 received Free TAFE funding. Put the other way, about one in seven of those students was subsidised through something other than Free TAFE. The list and the funding are two different things.
Being on the list does not guarantee a funded place.
The rules are not static. A state can change its list, its places or its course limits between one intake and the next. That is why the page date matters.
The bill behind “free”
The exclusions column is the part the word hides. Victoria separates tuition from student fees and materials. Queensland names uniforms and resources. South Australia names resource and incidental fees. The ACT names learning resources. New South Wales does not list material costs at all, which is a reason to ask rather than assume.
A published schedule makes the gap concrete. Victoria University’s 2026 TAFE tuition fees list the Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing and Disability), CHC33021, at 945 enrolled hours. Under Free TAFE, the tuition is $0. The rest is not.
| Victoria University, Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing and Disability), 2026 | Amount |
|---|---|
| Tuition under Free TAFE | $0.00 |
| Materials | $80.00 |
| Consumables | $12.50 |
| Student services and amenities fee | $261.00 |
| Out of pocket | $353.50 |
| Full-fee student fee for the same course | $11,812.50 |
The student services and amenities fee is $0.33 an hour, capped at $261. At 945 hours the uncapped figure would be $311.85, so the cap does the work. A concession rate of $0.14 an hour, capped at $112, takes the total to $204.50.
It is a separate charge, and it is the line that turns a $0 tuition quote into a bill. Ask any provider to show you that line before you enrol.
Against the full-fee student fee of $11,812.50, the out-of-pocket cost is $353.50. The saving is $11,459, and the student pays about 3 per cent of the full fee.
Two limits on the example. It is one provider’s published 2026 schedule, not the price at every TAFE, in every state or in 2027. And it covers only the costs on the schedule. A care course can carry others: a police check, an NDIS Worker Screening check, travel to placement, a uniform, a first aid certificate. Ask the provider for the full list in writing before you enrol.
The out-of-pocket is small against the full fee and large against a week’s pay. An emergency fund is the right place for that kind of bill, because it arrives in the same weeks as everything else.
None of this makes the program a bad deal. For care, education support and trades, the pathway is real, and a funded place is worth real money. A free certificate with no employer demand is still a weak year. Choose the course for where it leads, then check the funding.
The January intake
January is when the intake starts and the places fill. The order of checks matters more than the date.
Start with the state page, not a provider’s marketing page. A provider can tell you what it offers. Only the state can tell you what is funded. The provider’s own page is the place to check the course code and the campus.
The course list comes next. Confirm the exact qualification code sits on the current list. Course names drift between providers, and a similar name is not the same course.
Eligibility is the third check. Age, residence, work, school status, prior qualifications, course limits. Each state runs its own gate, and the table above is the short version.
The money is where most people stop. Ask for the full fee schedule in writing: tuition, student fees, materials, consumables and anything else the course requires. A daily or hourly rate on a website is not a schedule.
Apply early. A capped place goes to the person who applied, not the person who meant to.
Confirm the place is funded before you pay. A confirmation of enrolment is not a confirmation of funding. The ACT has allocated all 2026 places. Queensland’s current program ends on 31 December 2026. A 2027 start needs a 2027 list, and several states have not published one.
School leavers weighing a university offer beside a TAFE place can start with how ATAR scaling works. The rank is one input. The course list is another, and it is the one that decides what you pay here.
Apprenticeships run on a separate track. Victoria’s 2027 offer covers the first year of tuition for six priority apprenticeships. That is not the same as a standard Free TAFE course place, and it is worth checking on its own.
Apply early, and do not pay until the funding is confirmed.
What to check before you enrol
Four checks, in this order.
- State. Confirm the state you live or work in, and read that state’s page, not a summary of it.
- Course. Confirm the exact qualification is on the current funded list, at a provider that can deliver it.
- Eligibility. Confirm the age, residence, work, school and course-limit rules that apply to you.
- Total cost. Confirm the full schedule in writing, including the costs tuition does not cover.
The names differ, and so do the rules. Fee-free in one state is not the same program as fee-free in another. Read the state’s definition, not the label.
Then the 2027 question. If you are starting next year, check whether your state has published a 2027 list. Queensland’s current program ends on 31 December 2026. The ACT has allocated its 2026 places and is waiting on the 2027 list. Tasmania and the Northern Territory have 2027 arrangements pending. New South Wales, Western Australia and South Australia had no 2027 list on the pages checked. None of that is a reason to give up on TAFE, only to check before you enrol.
Free TAFE is a state-funded place, not a national course list. The list, the gate and the tuition are decided by the state you live or work in, and the word “free” covers tuition only. Check the list, check the gate, then price what is left.
This is general information, not financial advice.
Sources: Free TAFE, Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (https://www.dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/free-tafe); About Free TAFE, Victorian Government (https://www.vic.gov.au/about-free-tafe); Free TAFE eligibility, Victorian Government (https://www.vic.gov.au/free-tafe-eligibility); NSW Fee Free training, Skills NSW (https://skills.education.nsw.gov.au/nsw-fee-free); Fee-Free TAFE, Queensland Government (https://www.qld.gov.au/education/training/funded/feefree); Fee Free TAFE eligibility, TAFE SA (https://www.tafesa.edu.au/apply-enrol/admissions-criteria/fee-free); Fee free and low fee training, Jobs and Skills WA (https://www.jobsandskills.wa.gov.au/fee-free-low-fee); TasTAFE (https://www.tastafe.tas.edu.au/); Fee-Free TAFE courses, Charles Darwin University (https://www.cdu.edu.au/study/fee-free-tafe); Fee-Free TAFE, Canberra Institute of Technology (https://cit.edu.au/study/fee-free-tafe); 2026 TAFE tuition fees, Victoria University (https://content.vu.edu.au/sites/default/files/documents/2026-03/2026-tafe-tuition-fees.pdf); Free TAFE audit, Victorian Auditor-General’s Office (https://www.audit.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2026-05/20260513_Free-TAFE.pdf)