The State Government's Fee-Free TAFE initiative is going from strength to strength with a surge in enrolments last year helping grow the State's pipeline of construction, care and early childhood education workers.
New data shows 46,476 enrolments by students in Fee-Free TAFE qualifications and skill sets last year, with enrolments up among people with a disability (11 per cent), Aboriginal people (10 per cent), women (9 per cent), and 15-to 24-year-olds (5.4 per cent).
That growth has contributed to an overall increase in publicly funded enrolments, which grew from about 130,000 in 2016 to a new record high of about 165,000 in 2024.
Of the qualifications available through the initiative, the largest percentage growth in enrolments for 2024 was in building and construction, with a massive 263 per cent increase in Certificate IV in Building and Construction enrolments.
Care sector qualifications meanwhile made up the top three fee-free full qualification enrolments in 2024, with Certificate III in Individual Support topping the list with 5,225 enrolments.
The State Government is continuing to support Fee-Free TAFE, with a further 2,140 Fee-Free TAFE places in housing and construction in WA announced in November.
Through this partnership with the Commonwealth Government, seven more building and construction courses were added to the Fee-Free TAFE list for 2025, taking the number of fee-free construction courses in the sector to 17.
As part of its Made in WA plan, the State Government has also committed to invest a further $58 million in new Fee-Free TAFE courses and apprenticeship supports for WA's in-demand building and construction workforce.
Fee-free courses are continuing to prove popular, with early data already showing more than 25,000 enrolments by students this year.
For more information, head to: https://www.jobsandskills.wa.gov.au/skillsready - external site.