Fee-Free TAFE: Labor's $1.5 Billion Dropout Factory

Fee-Free TAFE: Labor’s $1.5 Billion Dropout Factory

MHV NEWS May 5 8:42 PM 2 min read

Let’s talk about a government program that’s failing so hard, it could only be considered a “success” in Canberra: Fee-Free TAFE.

You’ve heard the pitch. Anthony Albanese and his Labor government want you to believe they’re solving Australia’s skills crisis by making TAFE courses free. No cost. Just sign up and—poof!—you’re a skilled tradesperson. But in the real world, especially in places like the Hunter, that’s not what’s happening.

Here’s what they don’t want you to know.

Since early 2023, more than 568,000 students have enrolled in these so-called “fee-free” courses across the country. But just 110,000 have completed them. That’s a completion rate of about 19%. In any other sector, that’s called failure. In politics, it’s called a press release.

And yes, TAFE still gets paid for every enrolment, not for who finishes. That means training providers get their taxpayer cash whether students stay or leave on day one. It’s a business model that rewards volume over value, and Labor knows it.

Now zoom in on the Hunter.

Here, institutions like TAFE NSW Newcastle at Tighes Hill are supposed to be powering the next generation of skilled workers. That’s the spin. But on the ground? Employers still can’t find reliable apprentices. Jobseekers are enrolling and vanishing. And construction firms, aged care centres, and electricians are asking: Where are the workers?

The answer: stuck in a bloated, federally funded system that prioritizes optics over outcomes.

And it’s not cheap. This “free” program is costing you—the taxpayer—$1.5 billion. That’s not an investment in skills. That’s a massive, national PR stunt.

In the Hunter, where industries like mining, construction, and healthcare desperately need qualified workers, we don’t need more bureaucratic fanfare. We need real tradespeople. Real outcomes. Real skills.

But Labor doesn’t care. As long as the enrolment numbers look good on ABC News, they can pretend they’re doing something. Meanwhile, we’re footing the bill for a program where four out of five students never graduate.

Let me say this clearly: Fee-Free TAFE isn’t about solving the skills crisis. It’s about headlines, union handshakes, and propping up a system that gets paid regardless of performance.

In the real world, we expect results. In Labor’s world, failure is just another funding round.