TAFE Division EB update
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 131 No 1, 20 February 2026, page no 17.
2026 will be a busy year for the TAFE Division of the QTU, with educators in both TAFE Queensland and Central Queensland University (CQU) bargaining for new certified and enterprise agreements respectively.
QTU officers would like to thank members who participated in the consultation process to support the development of the log of claims.
So, what happens next?
In the coming weeks, QTU officers will write to the TAFE CEO and to CQU advising of our intention to commence bargaining. As part of this process, QTU will identify the key priority areas from the log of claims, as determined through member consultation.
At the initial bargaining meetings, dates will be set for the bargaining schedule, and specific topics for discussion will be allocated to each meeting.
As bargaining progresses, the QTU TAFE Council and Executive will be kept informed, and QTU officers will provide regular updates to the broader membership in line with good faith bargaining requirements.
What can QTU members do?
Throughout the next phase of the enterprise bargaining process, QTU members are encouraged to stay engaged in communication, campaigning, and conversations. Attending your local branch meetings, reading your Journal and QTU Newsflashes, and participation in local MP delegations and campaign activities are encouraged.
David Terauds
TAFE Organiser
Funding changes prompt TAFE enrolment drop
The aftershocks from the Queensland Department of Training’s hasty alterations to Fee Free TAFE funding in the second quarter of 2025 are now being amplified by further changes to the state vocational education funding models and eligibility, which came into effect on 1 July 2025. The result is a significant drop off in student enrolments in the first quarter of 2026.
In case you missed the policy changes, the longstanding Certificate 3 Guarantee, User Choice, and Higher-Level Skills programs are being phased out and replaced with three streamlined initiatives: Career Ready, Career Start, and Career Boost. Each program targets different learner cohorts, allegedly to better align subsidised training with industry needs and statewide workforce priorities. There are two pathways — general training and apprenticeships/traineeships — supplemented until June 2027 by the significantly increased scope of ongoing free apprenticeships for eligible young people.
The drop in enrolments particularly impacts the general training pathway.
Career Ready, encompassing VET in schools (VETiS), strengthens pathways for students through industry-linked programs, secondary school based apprenticeships, and priority level certificate training for specific priority cohorts. Career Start refocuses entry level training by providing limited access to subsidised Certificate III qualifications and apprenticeships, while Career Boost supports higher level vocational qualifications and advanced apprenticeships. Both Career Start and Career Boost impose constraints on eligibility and the number of subsidised training places available. This is particularly relevant for individuals with existing qualifications looking to retrain and or re-enter the workforce.
VET students are particularly price sensitive and tend to respond to higher costs negatively, regardless of quality of delivery. This may be why apprenticeships and traineeships seem to be generally meeting expected levels of enrolments. A trainee or apprentice is a worker who is paid to study as well as work, and in a cost-of-living crisis paid employment is a priority.
Fee Free TAFE courses are available in 2026 through the public providers, but with a reduced range of qualifications. There is concern for the viability of teaching teams where courses are no longer being offered on a fee-free funding basis and are instead impacted by new pricing policies that will potentially put study out of the reach of many. The on-again-off-again approach to funding is also detrimental to the institutions that are tasked with delivering policy outcomes, with consequent uncertainty for staff.
Across the regions, discussions are currently underway to find pathways forward that will protect the integrity of the public provider and preserve its capacity to deliver quality training and education.