Skills First

Am I eligible for Skills First training?

To be eligible for Skills First training, you must be:

an Australian citizen, or
an Australian permanent resident, or
a New Zealand citizen

If you are an asylum seeker, you may be eligible under the Asylum seeker VET program.

How much Skills First training can I do?

In a calendar year, a student may only commence a maximum of two:

· Skills First subsidised Skill Sets; and

· Skills First subsidised programs that are AQF qualifications.

The following scenarios are not counted when determining if a student meets these limits:

enrolling in the learning support program;
transitioning from a superseded program to the current version of the same program;
recommencing training in the same program (at either the same or a different provider);
enrolling in an Apprenticeship (not Traineeship) after having participated in one of the programs identified as a ‘Pre-Apprenticeship and Pathway Program’ on the Funded Programs Report; or
participation in '22510VIC – Course in Identifying and Responding to Family Violence Risk’.

These limits encourage you to make informed decisions about your training and employment opportunities, and finish your training.

A student may only commence a maximum of two Skills First Subsidised programs at any one time.

For more information contact a training provider or your local Skills and Jobs Centre.

Eligibility for Foundation Skills programs

A student is not eligible for a Foundation Skills Program if they:

· hold an AQF qualification issued by an Australian VET or higher education provider that is at AQF level 5 (Diploma) or higher.

· are enrolled in the Commonwealth Government’s ‘Skills for Education and Employment’ program.

International Students

If you are an overseas student, you are not eligible for Skills First training, but you may be able to get other government assistance. See the Australian Government Study Assist page for more information.

Check your eligibility with us

When you apply for a Skills First course, we will check and confirm your eligibility. To do this, we will ask you for documents, including proof of your citizenship or residency and details about any study you've done. You can find out more about the documents we will need here.

Financial support for apprentices

As an Australian Apprentice, you may be eligible for financial and non-financial support from the Australian Government and your State or Territory Government.