How to calculate your VET/TAFE fees depending on your type of place.

Find out more about fees for the following:

  • Government-subsidised places
  • full-fee paying places
  • international-student places.

Type of place in a VET/TAFE course

Through the Skills First training program, which makes vocational training more accessible, eligible students can apply for a government-subsidised place.

If successful, the government will contribute to the cost of your tuition fee.

Your fees will consist of the following:

Find out if you're eligible for a Skills First subsidised place.

You may be able to access a concession rate for your fees if you match the following criteria:

  • government-subsidised student
  • enrolled in a course at Certificate IV level or lower
  • concession-card holder.

Eligible concession cards:

  • Commonwealth Health Care Card (holder or named dependent)
  • Pensioner Concession Card (holder or named dependent)
  • Veteran Gold Card (holder)

If you meet these requirements, you will be charged the concession rate. This rate is equivalent to 20% of the VET tuition fee payable by non-concession students in a government-subsidised place for your course.

You cannot apply for a government concession if you are enrolling into a course as a full-fee or international student.

The concession rate is available for Student Services and Amenities Fees only where concession has been applied to tuition fees. Concession is not available on materials fees. 

Applying for a fee concession

To receive a concession on your tuition fees, you need to provide a copy of your current certified concession-card as outlined below:

  • Upload a copy of your certified valid concession card to your application.
  • If you don’t have a concession card at the time of application, you have up to 28 days after your course commences to provide a certified valid concession card to access the concession rate. If a card is not presented within 28 days after course commencement, the standard fee rate applies.
  • You must present your concession card each academic year and each time you are enrolling into additional units throughout the year.

Indigenous student concessions

Under the Indigenous Completions Initiative, Indigenous students pay only the concession rate equivalent to 20% of the VET tuition fee for government-subsidised training at any level, including at diploma level and above.

Indigenous students and full-time Indigenous apprentices may access ABSTUDY payments through the Australian Government. ABSTUDY helps Indigenous Australians who are studying with costs such as:

  • education
  • accommodation
  • living
  • fares to travel to your place of study each term or semester if you need to study away from home
  • prescription medicine.

Our Moondani Balluk Academic Unit provides help, advice and support to Indigenous Australians applying for a course.

Phone: +61 3 9919 2836
Email: [email protected]

If you are not eligible for a government-subsidised place, you will be charged the full-fee tuition rate for all enrolled hours.

This amount includes material fees and your Student Services & Amenities Fee (SSAF), and will be the total cost of the course.

As an international student, you are required to pay for each semester by the due date on your statement of account (invoice).

The fee per semester is stated on your course page - see all international TAFE courses.

If you need to repeat a unit, that unit will be charged per contact hour in addition to your semester rate.

How to calculate the cost of your course

To calculate your tuition fees, search for your course code in the VET/TAFE course tuition fee schedule, and calculate the total indicative fees using this formula:

Indicative enrolled hours x student tuition fee per enrolled hour = indicative student tuition fee for course

In this example, we've used Certificate II in Plumbing (Pre-apprenticeship) 22569VIC.

Example: A full-fee student enrolled in Certificate II in Plumbing (Pre-apprenticeship) 22569VIC.
492 enrolled hours x $16.50 student tuition fee per enrolled hour = $8,118 indicative student tuition fee for course.

This table shows examples for full-fee places, government-subsidised places, and the concession rate.

Type of place

Indicative enrolled hours

tuition fee 
per enrolled hour

Indicative tuition 
fee for course

 Material Fee Student services amenities fee Total cost

Full-fee paying

492

$16.50

$8,118

 NA NA $8,118

Subsidised (no concession)

492

$3.25

$1,599

 $394 $163 $2,156

Subsidised (concession)

492

$3.25 x 0.2 = $0.65

$319.80

 $394 $97.80 $811.60

Is this a Free TAFE course? Yes, you could have your tuition fees covered thanks to the Victorian Government's Free TAFE for Priority Courses initiative when you apply for this course and assessed eligible for a government funded place. Find out more about the Free TAFE initiative.

Find course fees that apply to you, and other fees related to your course.

Free TAFE

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