Fee-Free TAFE – success story collection

Mitchel Smith is one of a growing number of mature people taking on and completing an apprenticeship, thanks to his employer and CQUniversity TAFE. He says it’s never too late to give it a go, especially with the recent release of a new Queensland Government initiative.

Pinar came to Australia in 2008 and soon after became a single parent to two children.

She started volunteering and studying Diploma of Community Services to follow her passion for community work, ultimately awarded Bendigo TAFE’s 2022 Student of the Year and was a finalist for the 2023 Victorian Training Awards Vocational Student of the Year.

“If it wasn’t for Free TAFE, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to study,” Pinar said.

“In an outer remote town like Airlie Beach, there are not many options for studying and developing a professional career. CQUniversity along with the Fee-Free TAFE program gave me the opportunity to finally study this course online from home.”

Leah-Rose Hart, a proud Indigenous woman with connections to the Gundungurra and Darug peoples of Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, is currently far from her Darug, pursuing a path with deep purpose and significance. Leah-Rose is completing her Certificate IV in Youth Work (CHC40421) at TAFE Queensland’s Springfield campus to then help those youth in her community who are struggling.

Annette Wano is destined to make a difference to Mackay’s Torres Strait Islander community thanks to CQUniversity’s Nursing training and the Free TAFE initiative. 

The proud Meriam Samsep woman is currently immersed in the final stages of her Diploma of Nursing, a dream she said wouldn’t have been possible without the Queensland Government’s Free Nursing initiative.

After 30 years of experience in office administration, Leanne Simpson wanted a change and decided to pursue her childhood passion of working in health care.

Free TAFE gave Leanne the opportunity – and the means – to take a leap, starting with a qualification in aged care, which led to her current job in residential aged care.

“It’s changed me as a person. Free TAFE has given me the opportunity to push myself and to realise I got skills I didn’t think I had. The learning capability. Being able to learn again and know that I can do it,” Leanne said.

Her love for supporting others has continued to flourish, with the 59-year-old now enrolled in the Free TAFE Diploma of Nursing (HLT54121) at Kangan Institute to expand her career options.

Cimah Orion-Williamson once dreamed of being a park ranger, but now she’s pursuing a passion for helping people thanks to CQUniversity and the Fee-Free TAFE program. 

The Bundaberg woman decided to study a Diploma of Nursing at CQUniversity after trying to find employment in the parks and wildlife sector.

Jack Kirk is pursuing his interest in working with children by studying the Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care at TAFE SA.

“I enjoy being around children and I wanted to get back into studying, so I thought the Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care, which is a 12-month course, was a good starting point,” he says.

Jack, 21, says his decision to commit to full-time study in the vocational education and training sector was made easier by receiving a fee-free place as part of the State and Federal Government’s Fee Free TAFE initiative.

Nursing was a career path Kate Reid always wanted to pursue, but the timing was never right.

The introduction of Free TAFE, combined with the flexible, supportive learning environment at GOTAFE helped Kate make the decision to enrol in the Diploma of Nursing (HLT54121) in 2021.

After a career in the human resources and business management world, Kate knew she wanted to make a difference through Nursing.

Rebekah Gleeson-Cherry is fulfilling a dream of giving back to Barcaldine’s elderly generation after completing a Certificate III in Individual Support through Fee-Free TAFE at CQUniversity.

Dirk, a single dad with two teenage daughters, says Fee Free TAFE was the catalyst for his career change, providing him with the encouragement to “have another go” at formal study.

Fee Free TAFE is giving Sok Tsoutouras the chance to develop new skills and prepare for a career change without putting additional strain on the household budget.
An initiative of the state and federal governments, Fee Free TAFE removes the fees for students undertaking much-needed skills training and is helping to address skills shortages in key industry sectors.
A mother of two, Sok, 38, is pursuing her passion for cooking through a Certificate IV in Kitchen Management at TAFE SA’s Regency Campus.