Federal Member for Gilmore Fiona Phillips has championed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s weekend announcement that, under the Albanese Government, fee-free TAFE would continue in Australia.

Mrs Phillips, who was a TAFE teacher for over a decade, says that her Labor Government will legislate to guarantee over 100,000 fee-free TAFE places a year from 2027.

Since the initiative launched in 2023, the Albanese Government has delivered 180,000 fee-free TAFE places this year alone and promises to provide 300,000 places over the next three years. Mrs Phillips emphasises the tangible impact of this program.

“Since fee-free TAFE started in January 2023 to 30 June 2024, we’ve seen more than 508,000 enrolments in courses in priority areas, including disability and aged care, digital and tech, construction and early childhood education and care,” says Mrs Phillips.

Mrs Phillips said fee-free TAFE was helping people from priority cohorts, with 170,000 young Australians, 124,000 job seekers and 30,000 First Nations Australians enrolling in the program.

“It’s also really great to see six in 10 places have been taken up by women, and one in three have been in regional and remote Australia, including Gilmore,” she says.

With housing shortages becoming an issue in our country, Mrs Phillips said fee-free TAFE was helping fill gaps in industries with high need.

“Since coming to government, I have witnessed how our fee-free TAFE is making a real difference locally - at Nowra, Moruya and Ulladulla TAFE campuses. Trade courses such as carpentry and electrical are booming in Gilmore,” says Mrs Phillips.

Mrs Phillips also took the opportunity to contrast the Albanese Government’s approach to TAFE with that of the previous Liberal government. 

“Under the Libs, the TAFE Nowra Campus was looking more like a morgue. Under the Libs, campuses were closed, courses were slashed, enrolments dropped and more than 5000 teachers were cut from TAFE. “So, it should come as no surprise that the Liberals labelled our fee-free TAFE ‘wasteful spending’,” says Mrs Phillips.