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Free TAFE: who can get a place
If you are eligible, Free TAFE pays the tuition fees for a certificate, diploma or short course in a field where workers are needed. Who counts as eligible is decided by each state and territory, so the answer depends on where you live.
General information, as at October 2026. Each state’s own page, linked in the table below, sets the rules for that state.
One program, several names
The Australian Government’s pages now call the national program Free TAFE. It started in 2023 under the Fee-Free TAFE Skills Agreement, a deal between the Commonwealth and the states and territories that funds more than 500,000 places from 2023 to 2026.
The states don’t all use the same words. New South Wales calls its places NSW Fee Free. TAFE Queensland still says Fee-Free TAFE. Western Australia offers Fee Free and Low Fee training. Victoria’s government runs a program it calls Free TAFE, with its own rules. So if a page uses one of these names, read that page’s own rules rather than another state’s.
Who the places are meant for
The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations says Free TAFE places are prioritised for
“target cohorts including First Nations Australians, young people (aged 17 to 24), people out of work or receiving income support, unpaid carers, women facing economic insecurity, women undertaking study in non-traditional fields, people with disability and certain categories of visa holders.”
Priority is not the same as a rule that only those groups may apply. Your Career, the government’s careers site, encourages Australian citizens and selected visa holders to apply, and sends readers to their own state for eligibility. The Northern Territory’s page puts it plainly: anyone can apply, and the priority groups are encouraged.
What it pays for
For an eligible student, the tuition fees are covered by the Australian Government and the state or territory. Your Career adds that other fees can still apply. They vary between providers and between states, and may include amenity fees, student services fees, and books or materials.
Victoria’s page splits the cost of a TAFE course into three parts, and says Free TAFE means you don’t pay the tuition fees:
- Tuition feesCovered by Free TAFE
- Student feesMay still apply
- Course materialsMay still apply
Victoria’s page also says many TAFEs offer student loans, payment plans or scholarships for the costs Free TAFE doesn’t cover, and that each TAFE’s website has the details. In the Northern Territory, a small administration and resource fee may apply to some courses.
State by state, as at October 2026
Each row below comes only from that state or territory’s own page, or the page Your Career links for it. Where a page gives its rules in full, they are summarised in the page’s own order; where it does not, the row says so.
| Where | Name on the page | What the page says about who can enrol | The page |
|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | NSW Fee Free | You must meet the Smart and Skilled criteria: be 15 or older, have left school, live or work in NSW, and be an Australian citizen, permanent resident, humanitarian visa holder or New Zealand citizen. Places are limited and not guaranteed. | Skills NSW: NSW Fee Free training |
| Victoria | Free TAFE | Australian citizens, permanent residents and New Zealand citizens training in Victoria. Asylum seekers might be eligible under the Asylum Seeker VET Program. Usually one Free TAFE course each, with exceptions such as priority pathways. | Victorian Government: Free TAFE eligibility |
| Queensland | Fee-Free TAFE | You must be an Australian or New Zealand citizen, an Australian permanent resident (humanitarian entrants included), or a temporary resident with the visa and work rights needed and on the way to permanent residency; live in Queensland; be 15 or older and finished with school; not be enrolled in another qualification; and not have already completed a Fee-Free TAFE qualification, since only one is allowed from 2023 to 2026. | TAFE Queensland: Fee-Free TAFE |
| Western Australia | Fee Free and Low Fee training | Some eligibility criteria apply, set out in the page’s FAQs. Existing worker traineeships are not part of the fee free arrangements. | Jobs and Skills WA: Fee Free and Low Fee training |
| South Australia | Fee Free TAFE | Course listings show which courses have Fee Free places, and the page links its own eligibility criteria and FAQs. | TAFE SA: Fee Free TAFE courses |
| Tasmania | TasTAFE | Your Career links TasTAFE’s home page for Tasmania; check its course pages for the rules. | TasTAFE |
| Australian Capital Territory | Fee-Free TAFE | Your Career links the Canberra Institute of Technology’s Fee-Free TAFE page for the ACT; check that page for the rules. | CIT: Fee-Free TAFE |
| Northern Territory | Free training courses | Open to Territorians who meet the eligibility criteria, with free places through Charles Darwin University and the Batchelor Institute. Anyone can apply; the priority groups are encouraged. | NT Government: Free training courses |
What you can study, and when
The department lists the national priority areas as
- “care (including aged care, childcare, health care and disability care)”
- “technology and digital”
- “hospitality and tourism”
- “construction”
- “agriculture”
- “sovereign capability (for example manufacturing and defence)”
- “VET workforce.”
The states’ own lists can be wider: the Northern Territory’s also takes in sales and personal service, NT creative industries, business and food processing. Courses start at different times of year depending on local training capacity, and once you start, your course stays fee-free until you finish it.
From 2027
The government has made Free TAFE a permanent part of the vocational training system. It has committed more than $1.6 billion to 2034–35 for at least 100,000 places a year from 2027, under the Free TAFE Act 2025. Those places will go first to groups who usually face barriers to training, in fields of high demand.
Before you enrol
Three of the pages in the table give advice worth reading before you sign up.
- New South Wales suggests asking the provider how long it will take to confirm a fee free place, and what the qualification fee would be if no place is available.
- Victoria’s online eligibility check is a guide only; your TAFE confirms whether you are eligible.
- TAFE Queensland notes that being eligible for the funding does not replace a course’s own entry requirements.
If the course is nationally recognised training, you will also need a Unique Student Identifier. The guide to your USI explains what it is.