Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you for the question, Senator Sheldon. The five-year National Skills Agreement announced today by the Prime Minister and Mr O'Connor, the Minister for Skills and Training, furthers our goal of putting TAFE at the heart of the VET sector. We are moving away from the decade of coalition rule where they stripped funding away from TAFEs. We're putting TAFE back at the heart of the VET system in this country. From 2024, the Albanese government will deliver a further 300,000 fee-free TAFE places nationally. In 2023 already over 214,000 Australians have enrolled in fee-free TAFE, smashing our target of 180,000 places six months earlier than anticipated and nearly 35,000 places more than expected. Importantly, these enrolments are in areas of high priority in terms of skills needs. Our fee-free TAFE policy is giving opportunities for Australians to get good, secure jobs and removing cost barriers to skills and training.