Free Education Opportunities Expand Across in Canberra

ACT Government: Canberrans now have more access than ever to free education and training, with a range of government-supported programs designed to help locals start careers, upskill, or return to work.

Highlights include free preschool for three-year-olds—saving families an average of $1,329 per child—and fully funded TAFE courses in high-demand areas such as health, construction, and digital skills.

Women re-entering the workforce can apply for up to $1,000 in grants, while multicultural residents can join a 12-week work experience program that includes a formal qualification.

Libraries ACT also offers free digital learning tools for all ages.

Details of program announced by ACT Government:

Free three-year-old preschool

Canberra families can access free preschool for children who are three years old. Canberra families can use preschool for free. They get up to 300 hours each year.

This equates to about six hours per week, generating an average saving of $1329 per child for eligible families.

For information on which Childhood Education and Care services across Canberra offer the free three-year-old preschool program visit act.gov.au/education.

Free TAFE

Free TAFE is jointly funded by the ACT and Australian Governments.

Free TAFE offers free training courses through CIT for people who want to learn, retrain or upskill.

The courses on offer address skills shortages across essential in-demand sectors such as:

• hospitality and tourism
• children’s education and care
• construction
• aged care, health and disability care
• technical and digital.

Find out more at cit.edu.au.

ACT Women’s Return to Work Grants program

This grants program supports women who have been out of the workforce for more than six months to re-enter the workforce.

A grant of up to $1,000 is available to eligible woman who meet the criteria.

The grants can be used for:

• courses
• resources for study
• work clothing.

Grant recipients also get a one-on-one mentoring session that offers:

• links to education and training opportunities
• employment support.

Find out more at act.gov.au.

Work Experience and Support program

The Work Experience and Support program helps multicultural Canberrans who are unemployed.

This program provides recipients a chance to:

• build your skills and knowledge
• experience an Australian workplace
• improve your job seeking confidence and competitiveness
• build a network of contacts in the ACT public service.

The program runs full-time over 12 weeks. Successful participants will get a Certificate II in Workplace Skills from CIT.

There are two application rounds per year. Find out more at act.gov.au.

Adult and Community Education Job Trainer grants program

The Job Trainer program assists Canberrans facing challenges in learning, training, and employment.

It aims to help them develop essential skills needed to participate effectively in the labour market and contribute to Canberra’s economic growth.

The programs are for participants aged 17 years or older and not enrolled in or attending a school, college or other program leading to the completion of Year 12.

To find out more visit act.gov.au.

For more information on grants and scholarships visit act.gov.au/money-and-tax/grants-funding-and-incentives.

Libraries ACT’s digital resources

Libraries ACT has a huge inventory of digital learning and educational materials for people of all ages.

From learning to read, vocabulary or story time in languages other than English. Libraries ACT offers a huge range of learning resources.

Canberrans can access:

• a huge range of kid’s resources
• newspapers, magazines and comics
• arts and crafts instructional videos
• English and foreign language resources.

Find out more by visiting your local library or online at library.act.gov.au.

Source: https://www.act.gov.au/our-canberra/home