A choice for TAFE
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 127 No 3, 14 April 2022, page no. 11
In the forthcoming federal election, we have a choice to make about the future of TAFE at the federal level.
The gap between what is being offered by the two major parties is vast. One offer has the potential to grow TAFE for the future of our nation, and in some states, save TAFE. The other will remove TAFE from post-school education and aims to privatise all training, leaving only profit-driven private RTOs (registered training organisations), to the detriment of all.
The choice is clear:
| Australian Labor Party | Liberal/National Party (LNP) |
| More than 400,000 new fully-funded TAFE places geared towards providing pathways into employment. | Direct funding to for-profit private RTOs |
| 70 per cent of all national funding to be guaranteed for TAFE. | Since the LNP have been in power federally, under Tony Abbott, Malcom Turnbull and Scott Morrison, more the $3 billion in funding has been removed from TAFE and training. |
| Support that enables TAFE to ensure students in all areas are well educated, well trained and supported. | Minimal training in minimal timeframes to ensure profits for private RTOs at the expense of students. |
| Continuing support for National TAFE Day | National TAFE Day has never been mentioned. |
TAFE needs a federal government that will fully support it, not try to dismantle it. Over the past ten years, we have seen large private RTOs such as Evoka, Careers Australia and All Trades heavily supported by both state and federal LNP governments, only to see them fail, take the money and leave hundreds of thousands of students in financial ruin and without a qualification.
Your choice is simple – support the party that supports TAFE!
By Scott Tibaldi, QTU Executive and TAFE Executive