Last week was a shocker for private VET trainers and those to come will be no better. Training in general did not fare well in the budget, which alarmed Australian Council for Private and Education Training head Rod Camm saying the government was sticking with a policy that had not enrolled a single student since the last budget. And he warned against Labor’s commitment to TAFE, including 100 000 fee-free places in public colleges, pointing to the debacle in South Australia, where state system courses registrations were cancelled by the national regulator. “In South Australia, we saw what can happen when governments start quarantining programs and funding to prop-up TAFEs,” he said.

Fair points but not ones anybody in government or opposition will acknowledge while private trainers continue to be collectively, and unfairly, blamed for the VET FEE HELP catastrophe.