Caitlin Carter is one of CIT’s 600 students eligible for fee-free TAFE. Photo: James Coleman.
Caitlin Carter has been studying nursing at CIT Bruce for 2.5 years. Her final exams are just days away.
“But I’m not worried,” she says, sliding an IV drip into a dummy in CIT’s nursing simulation room.
“I feel prepared for these ones.”
Not everyone feels the same.
Across Australia’s TAFEs, only about 60 per cent of health and medicine students finish their courses. In the ACT, it’s closer to 80 per cent – but that still means hundreds are dropping out each year.
“Thinking about my colleagues who have dropped out in my time here, it has mostly been around finances,” Ms Carter says.
She considers herself “lucky” – she received a loan from her parents, a single-parent pension, and she’s one of 600 CIT students eligible for Free TAFE.
The national Free TAFE program, funded by the Commonwealth in partnership with states and territories, covers course fees for 500,000 places between 2023 and 2026. More than 725,000 Australians have enrolled so far, most of them women, First Nations students and regional residents.
Ms Carter says money isn’t the only reason people walk away. Some realise during placement that nursing “just isn’t for them”.
“I keep saying it’s a calling, and some people just don’t have that calling,” she says.
Caitlin Carter says some people pull out of the nursing course during their first placement. Photo: James Coleman.
Others simply struggle to pass the exams.
“We’re given multiple opportunities, but if you’re not picking up what’s been put down, you do have to start that subject again.”
This week, the ACT and Federal governments announced a new $14 million deal aimed squarely at lifting completion rates.
ACT Minister for Skills, Training and Industrial Relations Michael Pettersson says the problem is most pronounced early on.
“Here in the ACT, we have roughly 5000 apprentices at any given time,” he says.
“For those in their very first year, one third of apprentices cancel their training.”
Caitlin Carter with ACT Minister for Skills, Training and Industrial Relations Michael Pettersson, Federal Labor Member for Canberra Andrew Leigh and Federal Skills Minister Andrew Giles. Photo: James Coleman.
With Canberra growing and demand for skilled workers rising, he says getting more students to the finish line is critical.
Federal Skills Minister Andrew Giles says Free TAFE isn’t to blame for dropouts, because the courses it covers – like nursing, electrical work and plumbing – are ones students must finish to work in the field.
“We know that electrical is one that also has a consistently quite high completion rate,” he says.
“Undertaking a pre-apprenticeship Certificate II program is a really good indicator of completion. That’s one of the reasons why [these courses] are on the Free TAFE list.”
Under the new deal, each government is contributing $7 million to a package built around four elements.
A “completions grants program”, open to employers and community organisations, will support apprentices and students considered at risk of dropping out. Mr Pettersson says it’s not about income replacement, but practical help – “things like childcare support, support with transport, maybe assistance in getting those job-ready skills”.
A new “careers hub” is designed to offer further guidance to students and advice to employers, while a free text-based support service – modelled on a similar NSW program with “wonderful results” – will provide students with what is, in effect, a pocket tutor.
“Simply checking in with learners about how they are going … is really making a difference in their outcomes,” he says.
“We want to make sure we’ve got an ongoing conversation with all learners here in the ACT.”
Ms Carter and Mr Giles inspecting one of CIT’s simulation dummies. Photo: James Coleman.
The final component of the funding is devoted to investigating why students are dropping out, and what other strategies and opportunities could help.
For instance, data shows some apprentices drop out because they find work before finishing – “not necessarily a bad outcome”, Mr Pettersson says – while others hit academic roadblocks.
“A lot can happen in a person’s life,” Mr Giles says.
“It may well be that someone who’s really terrific at the manual part of their job … may struggle a bit with the maths or the physics aspects. How do we find the most effective way of supporting them in a de-stigmatised way?”
Ms Carter says more nursing tutors would prevent more dropouts. Photo: James Coleman.
In the nursing department, Ms Carter says that greater ready access to tutors would be most helpful.
“There was an exam I personally struggled with a couple of months ago, and I didn’t have a nurse to fall back on,” she says.
“Obviously, I use my lecturers as much as I can, but I’m one of hundreds of students they have here. If CIT had extra staff or a connection to some nursing tutoring program, I think that’s how we as nursing students would benefit.”
The Improved Completions initiative is part of Australia’s National Skills Agreement (NSA), and will be rolled out in the ACT next year.
