SKILLS FIRST FUNDING

Victorian Government Skills First Funding

Now is the ideal time to make a start on gaining new skills, or upgrading your existing skills, to help you get the job you want. The Victorian Government’s Skills First Funding is a program that provides eligible individuals with access to government-subsidized vocational education and training (VET) in Victoria. The program aims to provide high-quality, industry-relevant training that leads to employment outcomes and supports the state’s economic growth.

Under the Skills First Funding program, eligible students can receive government-subsidized training in a range of vocational education and training courses, including certificate and diploma level qualifications, as well as apprenticeships and traineeships.

Overall, the Skills First Funding program is an important initiative that helps to ensure that Victorians have access to high-quality vocational education and training that can lead to meaningful employment opportunities and contribute to the state’s economic growth.

Am I eligible?

You need to meet these requirements to be eligible for Skills First subsidised training:

Citizenship/ Residency

an Australian citizen or
a holder of a Permanent Visa or
a New Zealand citizen or
an Asylum Seeker: Eligibility criteria for the Asylum Seeker VET Program can be found on the program’s webpage or
hold any Humanitarian, Protection, or Refugee Visa in Australia, or
have applied for a Humanitarian, Protection or Refugee Visa and hold a Bridging Visa for this purpose, or
have made an application under s.417 or s.48b of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) which is yet to be determined and hold a Bridging Visa.

Physical location
You must be physically present in Victoria or in one of the designated border regions of New South Wales or South Australia, as per the list of postcodes below while participating in training and assessment:

New South Wales	South Australia
2546	5262
2548 – 2551	5263
2625 – 2633	5267 – 5272
2640 – 2648	5277 – 5279
2650 – 2651	5290 – 5291
2653	5302 – 5304
2655 – 2656	5311
2658 – 2660	5333
2700	5340
2707	5342
2710 – 2717	5343
2720	5344
2730 – 2739	5345

Course limits
The ‘2 Skill Sets in a year’ and ‘2 AQF qualifications in a year’ limits

In a calendar year, a student may only commence a maximum of two:
a) Skills First subsidised Skill Sets; and
b) Skills First subsidised programs that are AQF qualifications.

The ‘2 at a time’ limit
A student may only commence a maximum of two Skills First subsidised programs at any one time.
Participation in the ‘22510VIC – Course in Identifying and Responding to Family Violence Risk’ will not be counted when determining if a student meets this limit.

For more information on the Skills First program visit https://www.vic.gov.au/skills-first

Concessions (if eligible for the Victorian government subsidised training)
A student enrolling in Certificate IV level and below is eligible for concession who prior to the commencement of training, holds a current and valid:

Health Care Card issued by the Commonwealth;
Pensioner Concession Card; or
Veteran’s Gold Card; or
A dependant spouse or dependent child of a cardholder is also entitled to the Fee Concession.
Students enrolled under the Asylum Seeker VET Program, even without a concession card.

If you are a Victorian Government subsidised student, you may be entitled to a concession on your tuition fee if you meet additional eligibility criteria. If you are studying for a Diploma or above qualification you are not eligible to have a concession applied to your tuition fees.

Under the Indigenous Completions Initiative, Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander students don’t pay any tuition fee for government subsidised training at all qualification levels (including at Diploma and above).

SKILLS FIRST FUNDING

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