More than 2000 additional fee-free Vocational Education and Training (VET) places will now be on offer for South Australians wanting training through private training providers – with health and social care courses receiving the largest number of training places.

The Government has allocated $8.8m to support private training providers to deliver fee-free training places in key sectors for priority groups.

It follows the Federal and State governments signing a landmark 12-month Skills Agreement late last year to address the skills shortage and deliver fee-free TAFE and more VET places for South Australians. The agreement will inject more than $65 million into the South Australian training and skills sector.

An important part of South Australia’s negotiation for the agreement was ensuring private training providers were also allocated a portion of the fee-free places in priority areas, which is not the case in some other states.

After a competitive application process, 38 private training providers will soon be delivering training across a range of courses in areas such as nursing, aged and disability care, health care and childcare, hospitality and tourism, construction, agriculture, defence and manufacturing and education.

The health and social care sector, which includes courses such as nursing, disability and counselling, is the largest proportion of fee-free places – 53 per cent – showcasing our commitment to this important sector and growing our future needs for the state as we rebuild our health sector.

In the case of a Diploma of Nursing, this scheme will save students up to $10,000 in course fees.

These 2,050 places are alongside fee free training already underway in TAFE SA.

Fee-free VET will better match training with skills shortages identified through the skills priority list, driving enrolments in key sectors.

A list of the training providers, locations and the 30 courses on offer will be available on the Skills Finder website in early March 2023.

So far, more than 6000 South Australians have taken advantage of fee free training and enrolled at TAFE SA.

There is strong interest in the Certificate IV in Information Technology, Certificate IV in Cyber Security, Diploma of Nursing, Certificate III in Individual Support and the Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care.