More than 2000 additional fee-free Vocational Education and Training (VET) places will now be on offer for South Australians wanting training through non-government Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) – with health and social care courses receiving the largest number of training places.

The State Government has allocated $8.8m to support non-government RTOs to deliver fee-free training places in key sectors for priority groups.

It follows the Federal and State governments signing a landmark 12-month Skills Agreement late last year to address the skills shortage and deliver fee-free TAFE and more VET places for South Australians.

The agreement will inject more than $65m into the South Australian training and skills sector.

An important part of South Australia’s negotiation for the agreement was ensuring non-government RTOs were also allocated a portion of the fee-free places in priority areas, which is not the case in some other states.

After a competitive application process, 38 private RTOs will soon be delivering training across a range of courses in areas such as nursing, aged and disability care, health care and childcare, hospitality and tourism, construction, agriculture, defence and manufacturing and education.

The health and social care sector, which includes courses such as nursing, disability and counselling, is the largest proportion of fee-free places with 53%.

In the case of a Diploma of Nursing, the scheme will save students up to $10,000 in course fees. Fee-free VET will better match training with skills shortages identified through the skills priority list, driving enrolments.

So far, more than 6000 South Australians have taken advantage of fee free training and enrolled at TAFE SA.