JULIE COLLINS, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY: Well, it's terrific to be here at the Clarence campus of TasTAFE, and certainly our Free TAFE has been going very well here in Tasmania. It's terrific to have with me my colleague, the Assistant Minister Rebecca White, to talk about Free TAFE here in Tasmania. We know what a success it's been, but importantly, this is not just about numbers and statistics; it's about people, and hearing stories of young people or people who are re-entering the workforce after some time out of it, and the confidence that it gives them to be able to go to TAFE, to be able to go to Free TAFE, and to get that confidence so that they can go and seek employment. And that's really what this is about: it's about ensuring that Tasmanians have the skills they need to be able to go and work in the jobs that are creating in our local economies, things like construction, things like agriculture, things like the care economy, and just how important they are to the Tasmanian economy. But I'll hand over to Rebecca to say a few words about some of the numbers and how successful Free TAFE has been in Tasmania.
REBECCA WHITE, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGEING: Thanks, Julie. We know that education is the greatest investment we can make for our children and for our community. And Free TAFE has been transformative. It has helped, here in Tasmania, since January 2023, more than 11,000 people start a course, which has given them the skills and the confidence to then pursue their dream to go into a workplace and take up a job. We've had more than six thousand people complete their course since they started it, and that's been in things like construction, in agriculture, in the caring economy, areas where we know we've got huge demand.
And that is why Free TAFE has been such an important commitment from our government. We have invested $17 million with the Tasmanian Government since January 2023 to deliver Free TAFE courses right across the state, and we've seen amazing results as a response to that particular investment.
And Julie’s quite right. This is about the people whose lives will be changed because they’ve been able to come through the door, not worry about the cost being a barrier, and try something new. I think it's really difficult for a lot of young people to decide what they want to do when they leave school, and Free TAFE has meant that they can start a trade or start to gain a Certificate II qualification in an area like early childhood education and care, or in nursing, and find out if that's the thing for them. We want young people to be able enter the workplace with confidence and know that they've got the skills to back them.
We also want to give confidence to people who want to change careers. There are a lot of people who’ve started out in life, and for whatever reason, found themselves working in a role they don't love, and we want people to love the work that they do. And Free TAFE has given an opportunity for a lot of people without cost being a barrier to try something new, to gain new skills, and to go and follow their dreams, that's a good outcome for them, and it's a great outcome for our economy too because when we've got people working in jobs they love, they're more productive, they're happier, and that leads to much better outcomes for everybody.
Free TAFE is about recognising that vocational education is an excellent and exciting pathway for so many people, and we've been really thrilled to see the uptake in numbers here in Tassie.
JOURNALIST: Do you know how many people have then gone on to secure employment here? And I guess how important is it to keep Tasmanians here rather than go to the mainland to seek career opportunities?
WHITE: Free TAFE does provide an opportunity for people right around the state to get their foot in the door and get a start training in a career that they love. We've had more than 11,000 enrolments, and that's at campuses in every part of Tasmania. More than 6000 of those have now qualified, and they've been able to go out and find a job. Large numbers of those have been really successful in doing that because we're training people in areas where we know we've got huge demand.
We're training people in construction, in early childhood education and care, in agriculture, in nursing, and these are specifically identified as areas where we know we've got a workforce shortage. There's no end of jobs available for people who've come out of this Free TAFE program and have been keen to continue working in the spaces where they've now got qualifications.
JOURNALIST: Of the 11,000 people, have we seen also more of an uptake of maybe mature age students who are wanting a career change?
WHITE: I don't have data on that, but I can certainly find it for you.
JOURNALIST: And I guess would the government commit to any more funding over the years to keep this kind of afloat?
WHITE: Our government has been very committed to Free TAFE. The Albanese Labor government has made Free TAFE permanent in our federal budget handed down earlier this year, because we see the impact it's having for the individuals who've been able to benefit from it, but more broadly across our economy, where we've seen people be able to participate in the workplace again and contribute to their community. So, we're absolutely committed to securing an agreement with the Tasmanian Government that continues to provide Free TAFE chances and opportunities for courses right here in our state.
JOURNALIST: We know that TAFE has been hit hard with cuts particularly on a state level. Does this, I guess, provide more assurity [sic] moving forward for Tasmanians that they can study here?
WHITE: Well, the Albanese Labor government definitely recognises the value of TAFE. It is so important that we provide options for people when they're looking to gain qualifications. Not everybody wants to go to university. Not everybody can. And making sure they can go to TAFE and that cost isn't a barrier is really important for us. And we know it's really important for the people who rely upon it. So, we will do everything we can to support Tasmania’s TAFE system. As I said, we've committed to make Free TAFE permanent because we've seen the impact it's made, and we want that to continue.
JOURNALIST: Is the government doing a backflip on AI?
COLLINS: No, we've been very clear that data centres and AI should be on Australian terms, certainly for Australians, and we continue to have discussions with the industry, with business, and importantly with states and territories around a framework to make sure that any data centres for AI in Australia are on Australian terms.
JOURNALIST: And will you give better copyright protections for artists? And will you ban data centres being built in suburbs?
COLLINS: Well, obviously we continue to have discussions with the industry. What we want to do is have the strongest protections possible, particularly for Australian citizens, and to make sure the protections are appropriate. But we also want to continue talking to the states and territories in relation to the location of data centres. But that is a matter for the states and territories. What we're doing is providing strong framework to say that the data centres in Australia should be here on our terms, and we've been very clear in our discussions with states and territories around expectations.