Skills First Program

You must reside in Victoria whilst undertaking the qualification.

Please bring Proof of Residency to your enrolment appointment, including your driver’s licence or any other document which shows that you reside in Victoria.

You must meet citizenship/residency requirements and be in one of the following categories:

• Australian Citizen
• Permanent Resident
• New Zealand Citizen
• Asylum seeker/victim of human trafficking (must have ASRC/ARC referral).
• You must bring one of the following Proof of Citizenship/Residency items to your enrolment appointment (original documents or certified photocopies):
  • Green Medicare Card
  • Australian Birth Certificate
  • Current Australian Passport
  • Current New Zealand Passport
  • Naturalisation Certificate
  • Formal papers from DIAC confirming Permanent Residency

Please note: If you are aged under 20 years*, you must also bring one of the following Proof of Age documents to your enrolment appointment (only if the Proof of Citizenship/Residency above does not include your date of birth):

• Current Driver’s Licence
• Current Learner’s Permit
• Proof of Age card

*Age is your age as at 1st January in the year in which you are starting the course.

You must:

• Be upskilling to a higher level qualification
• Only commence two Skills First Program funded courses in a calendar year
• Only commence training in the same level qualification twice in a lifetime (recommencement in the same qualification at the same or different training provider do not apply)
• Not count accredited courses with the title ‘Course in……’ and courses on the Foundation Skills List

Please be aware that accessing your Skills First Program entitlement may impact your access to future government subsidised training

You must meet ‘upskilling’ requirements for certain cohorts:

• Under the Skills First Program, if you are aged 15-19 years you are automatically eligible for a government subsidised place, regardless of which course level you enrol in.
• If you are aged 20+ enrolling in any other qualification (i.e. Skills Creation, Skills Building, Skills Deepening and Traineeships), you are only eligible for a government subsidised place providing you are upskilling (i.e. you are enrolling in a course that is at a higher level than any prior Australian qualification you have fully completed).
• Please note: When assessing your highest prior qualifications completed, you must take following into account:
  Foundation courses may be excluded from consideration when assessing your prior highest completed qualification level.
• (i.e. Certificates in ESL or General Education for Adults, VCAL Intermediate & Foundation)
• VET courses completed as part of a VET in Schools Program (VETIS) during your secondary education may be excluded from consideration when assessing your highest completed qualification.
• Courses completed overseas, where no formal AQF equivalency has been determined, may be excluded from consideration when assessing a your highest completed qualification.
• When assessing your highest completed qualification, a Vocational Graduate Certificate or Vocational Graduate Diploma course is considered to be at a higher level than a Bachelor degree.