VET News

Why Such a Variation in VET Fees and Prices across Australia?

A new analysis undertaken by the National Skills Commission confirms the substantial variation in fees and subsidies for government funded vocational education and training (VET) qualifications across Australia.  

These findings have been gathered through the first national collection of information on VET qualification government subsidies, student fees and prices (the sum of the government subsidy and student fee) across Australia.  This collection was undertaken in 2020 with input from states and territories and assistance from Deloitte Access Economics.

Overall, the project identified the different amounts paid for VET  courses by students and governments across the country as well as different fee structures that result in a more substantial variation in the total amount paid to providers comparatively for delivering VET.  

Some potential implications of the varying funding and price arrangements observed as part of this collection are proposed below:

• The visibility of the fees government funded students pay varies across the country, but overall, is low.
• The price paid to a provider differs substantially across markets for the same qualification.
• There is different access to government funding for providers and students.

The chart below shows the variation in total price paid (at the provider level) for a group of popular qualifications.  

There are two driving forces behind the observed variation:

1.  Differences in state and territory pricing approaches and funding models; and
2. A variation in the cost of delivering training across Australia.

The National Skills Commission is developing a framework for pricing VET courses in an effort to develop efficient prices over the remainder of 2021 and into early 2022.

Click here to access further information on VET fees, subsidies and prices across Australia.

Date posted Jun 3, 2021