The incredible line of questioning at the Fee-Free TAFE Federal Inquiry, which began in Adelaide today, clearly showed that a Federal Dutton Liberal Government would cut Fee-Free TAFE.

Liberal Senator Matt O’Sullivan spent the morning asking South Australian Education, Training and Skills Minister Blair Boyer why he thought a bill to protect Fee-Free TAFE was necessary, quickly followed by questions as to whether the State Government would pick up the cost of Fee-Free TAFE if the Federal Government no longer did.

In extraordinary scenes, the Coalition ignored all of the evidence put forward by the Malinauskas Labor Government about the success of Fee-Free TAFE, including the significant cost-of-living relief South Australians have benefitted from, by then questioning whether the initiative is worthwhile.

Fee-Free TAFE is breaking down barriers to education and training and making courses more accessible for:

• Low-income students – Over 3,920 low-income learners have saved over $9.08 million in student fees
• Female students – 55 per cent of students participating in Fee-Free TAFE are women
• Regional / rural communities – 3,520 regional students gain access to VET through Fee-Free TAFE
• First Nations students – 193 First Nations students have enrolled in a Fee-Free TAFE course

Courses offered through Fee-Free TAFE directly align with the need for skilled workers including health, technology, construction, major defence projects such as AUKUS and three-year-old preschool.

Popular areas of study include Information Technology, Individual Support (Aged Care), Early Childhood Education and Care, Human and Social Welfare, and Health Administration.

Latest data revealed the locations of Fee-Free TAFE course enrolments show that students right across the state are benefitting from the life-changing initiative, particularly those in lower socio-economic areas.

In metropolitan Adelaide, the postcode ‘5114’ received the highest number of Fee-Free TAFE enrolments with 372 over the past two years, and this includes Smithfield, Blakeview, Andrews Farm and Craigmore.

This was closely followed by the postcode ‘5108’ of Salisbury and Paralowie which has had 356 Fee Free TAFE enrolments. There has been a total of 2,905 Fee Free TAFE enrolments from Adelaide’s Northern suburbs.

Students from regional South Australia have also benefitted with more than 500 enrolments over the past two years in each of the Yorke and Mid North, Whyalla and Eyre Peninsula, Murraylands and Riverland, and Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu and KI.

Quotes

Attributable to Blair Boyer

The questioning at today’s inquiry was truly unbelievable as it became very clear that a future Federal Dutton Liberal Government would cut Fee-Free TAFE, leaving thousands of students unable to access training.

The measures that Federal Albanese Labor Government is taking to legislate Fee-Free TAFE, which is supported by our state, is absolutely vital if we are to see more of the many success stories we have already seen with Fee-Free TAFE right across South Australia.

Labor Senator Karen Grogan spoke in detail of the many conversations she had in the regions, speaking to people on the ground, about how crucial Fee-Free TAFE was in their ability to access a course to give them access to one of the record number of jobs available in South Australia right now.

The true test of the success of Fee-Free TAFE is how successful it is being accessed by people who couldn’t afford to attend TAFE at all if it was just subsidised or a full-fee paying course.

The fact that the number one postcode in South Australia for Fee-Free TAFE is 5114, shows this initiative is doing exactly what we want it to be doing.

This is about breaking down barriers to education and training – including financial barriers.

You can’t trust the Liberal party when it comes to supporting TAFE.