Eligibility for a government subsidised place (Vocational study)

Eligibility for a government subsidised place (Vocational study)

Check your eligibility for a government subsidised place in a vocational education program.

How to check if you are eligible

To be eligible for a government subsidised place, you must meet the Victorian State Government eligibility criteria.

Please read the full eligibility criteria section below for details.

Check your eligibility with the Victorian Skills Gateway Eligibility Indicator. Alternatively, you can refer to the eligibility criteria stated below.

When checking your eligibility, please note:

  • the Victorian Skills Gateway Eligibility Indicator will provide you with an indication of your eligibility only. If you are offered a government subsidised place at RMIT, a full assessment of your eligibility will be completed when you submit your online Evidence of student eligibility declaration
  • additional criteria may apply for apprentices and Foundation Skills students, and is specified below
  • trainees are required to meet the standard eligibility criteria
  • if you are offered a government subsidised place you must provide proof of eligibility before you enrol.

To be eligible for a government subsidised place, you must meet the Victorian State Government eligibility criteria, which includes location, citizenship and education history, as outlined below. The program you have applied for must also be offering government subsidised places.

Location and citizenship

You must be physically present in Victoria for all of your studies. This includes attending training/classes that are delivered face-to-face on campus, and also being physically present in Victoria when accessing and studying course materials delivered by distance or online.

You must also be either:

  • an Australian citizen, or
  • an Australian Permanent Resident (holder of a permanent visa), or
  • the holder of a Permanent Humanitarian visa (PHV), or
  • a New Zealand citizen

You will be required to provide evidence of your citizenship or residency status before you can enrol, so make sure you can obtain original documents (or certified copies) that prove your citizenship or residency status.

Education history

To be eligible you:

  • must not have started, or be due to start, more than two government subsidised Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) qualifications  in the same calendar year, and
  • must not have started, or be due to start, more than two government subsidised skill sets in the same calendar year, and
  • must not be currently enrolled in two or more government subsidised  programs (either AQF qualifications and/or skill sets)  at the same time, and
  • must not be currently enrolled in secondary school. This includes students enrolled in any government, non-government, independent, catholic or home school. School-based apprentices and trainees are exempt from this criteria.

An apprentice is defined as a person who has entered into a registered training contract to study a qualification defined as an apprenticeship in a relevant Victorian Approved Training Scheme.

An apprentice does not include a person who:

  • has entered into a training contract registered interstate
  • is undertaking a pre-apprenticeship, or
  • has a registered training contract in a qualification defined as a traineeship in a relevant Victorian Approved Training Scheme.

If you are an apprentice you will need to provide proof that you meet the location, citizenship, and education history criteria in order to be eligible for a government subsidised place. Also refer to the note below.

Note: If you are commencing an apprenticeship and have already started or are scheduled to start qualifications on the Victorian Government's list of Approved Pre-Apprenticeship and Pathway Qualifications, you may still be eligible to enrol in two other vocational education programs in a government subsidised place.

To be eligible for a government subsidised place in an approved Foundation Skills program, you must:

  • provide proof that you meet the location and citizenship criteria, and
  • meet the education history criteria.

You are not eligible for a government subsidised place in a Foundation Skills program if you:

Free TAFE for Priority Courses is a government initiative that covers tuition fees for priority courses/programs for commencing students who are eligible for a government subsidised place.

Students must first meet the Victorian State Government eligibility criteria which include location, citizenship and education history, as outlined above. If you are eligible, Free TAFE for Priority Courses will pay the tuition fees for your whole program.

You can only access one Free TAFE for Priority Course in your lifetime, even if you don't finish the course (exceptions apply).

Free TAFE Pathway Courses

Students who enrol in Free TAFE pathway courses, can access more than one Free TAFE place if they have previously completed a Free TAFE course that is part of the same Free TAFE pathway.

Students will still be required to pay for other fees, such as the Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF), graduation fees and material fees.

Please visit Free TAFE for Priority Courses for more information and a list of Free TAFE programs offered at RMIT.

Special initiatives for a government subsidised place

If you are referred to training under a special initiative, you may not need to meet particular criteria to be eligible for a Victorian government subsidised place.

To be eligible for training under the Asylum Seeker VET program, you must meet all eligibility criteria for a government subsidised place, except the citizenship/residency requirement.

Individuals must hold one of the following valid visa types:

  • Bridging Visa Class E (BVE) (subclass 050 & 051);
  • Temporary Protection Visa (TPV) – (subclass 785);
  • Safe Haven Enterprise Visa (SHEV) - (subclass 790); or 
  • Bridging Visa Class F (BVF) (subclass 060)
  • Humanitarian Stay (Temporary) visa – (subclass 449) 
  • Temporary Humanitarian Concern visa - (subclass 786)

Evidence of visa entitlement includes your Passport, Immicard, Visa Grant Notice or your current Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) entitlement statement.

Ineligible individuals

Victorian State Government legislation states that the following individuals are not eligible to apply for a government subsidised place in a vocational education program.

  • Anyone who does not meet the eligibility criteria (listed above) for a Victorian government subsidised place.
  • A prisoner held at a prison within the meaning of the Corrections Act 1986 (Vic.).
  • A person who is detained under the Mental Health Act 2014 (Vic) or the Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act 1997 (Vic.) or the Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic) at the Thomas Embling Hospital.
  • A person who is detained (other than on weekend detention) on community based orders made under the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic.) or the Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic) or who is held on remand in a youth justice facility.

These exclusions do not apply to individuals on community based orders made under the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic), or those who are held in Judy Lazarus Transition Centres and able to physically access training outside of a custodial setting without supervision.

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Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Luwaytini' by Mark Cleaver, Palawa.

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aboriginal flag
torres strait flag

Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business.

More information