Private providers to be put on funding par with TAFE
The Age | 4 February 2016
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The Commonwealth government would take over TAFE funding from the states under a radical plan to be presented to the states and territories at the next meeting of the Council of Australian Governments in March. Under the Turnbull government proposal, TAFE fees would be deregulated and TAFEs would receive the same levels of funding as private colleges in a bid to increase competition in the sector.
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States could provide some top-up funding for TAFE, but only enough to ensure “competitive neutrality” with private providers under the shake-up, which would transform the vocational education and training (VET) sector.
It’s proposed that the new system would start in January 2018.
The plan has already been slammed by the NSW and Victorian skills ministers – and without the agreement of these two states, the proposal will be going nowhere.
While NSW minister John Barilaro conceded a national system could have merit, he said that he 
couldn’t be confident looking at a national vet sector or skills sector until such time they can clean up VET FEE-HELP debacle.
Former Holmesglen Institute CEO Bruce Mackenzie, who recently completed a major review of TAFE for the Victorian government, said the ideas contained in the paper were “clumsy” and “outdated”.
Although the paper says a federal takeover would put downward pressure on fees, Mackenzie said students would face higher costs and be saddled with increased debt if the proposals were adopted.
“This is like a prehistoric monster risen from the dead,” he said.
Under the VET FEE-HELP scheme, private college fees have risen dramatically (up to 100%) over the past couple of years.
See
COAG VET reform proposal
Commonwealth to take over TAFE funding under new Turnbull Government proposal
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