Thursday, 19 March 2026

 John BERGER (Southern Metropolitan) (18:50): (2435) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Skills and TAFE, Minister Tierney. We have just passed the seven-year anniversary of free TAFE, a proud record of this Labor government. Free TAFE was introduced by the Andrews Labor government to ensure Victorians could upskill and train in new fields without paying out of pocket. It meant a stream of skilled workers entering into new sectors that desperately needed more labour. In my constituency of Southern Metro there are various TAFE centres, such as Melbourne Polytechnic, Kangan Institute and Swinburne University, where Victorians can get real skills for real jobs. More than 225,300 students have benefited from free TAFE in Victoria as of last year, saving students thousands of dollars. The action I seek is that the minister informs me of how much students have collectively saved in my community of Southern Metro thanks to free TAFE.