NSW Smart and Skilled Funded Training

Concession Fees and Exemptions Under NSW Smart and Skilled

• Commonwealth Benefit or Allowance Concessions under Smart and Skilled

  If you are receiving a Commonwealth Benefit of allowance, you and your dependents may be entitled to a concession i.e. a lower enrolment fee.

  Certificate II Concession Fee = $160

  Certificate III and Certificate IV Concession Fee = $240

  Concessions do not apply to Diploma or Advanced Diploma qualifications

  The following list shows the type of welfare payments that are eligible for a concession. 

  Welfare recipients are those who receive the following Commonwealth Benefits and allowances:

  • Age Pension
  • Austudy
  • Carer Payment (See note below)
  • Disability Support Pension
  • Farm Household Allowance
  • Family Tax Benefit Part A (Maximum rate)
  • Newstart Allowance 
  • Parenting Payment (Single)
  • Special Benefit
  • Sickness Allowance
  • Veterans' Children Education Scheme
  • Veterans' Affairs Pensions
  • Widow B Pension
  • Widow Allowance
  • Wife Pension
  • Youth Allowance

   

  Please note:

  A NSW Apprentice on a Newstart Allowance is not eligible for a concession fee.

  A NSW New Entrant Trainee on a Newstart Allowance is not eligible for a concession fee.

  The Carer Payment is a specific benefit paid by the Commonwealth; this category does not include the Carer Allowance or Carer Adjustment Payment

  Source: Source: S&S FAP v 2.3 Oct 2019 – App 4

• Fee Exemptions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students in NSW

  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students are exempt from fees for any Smart and Skilled courses as long as they reside in NSW or in specific regional areas along the NSW border and meet the other Smart and Skilled eligibility requirements.

• Students with a Disability under Smart and Skilled

  Eligible students who are on a Disability Support pension are exempt from fees for any Smart and Skilled courses.

  Proof of exemption required is  a current Department of Human Services (Centrelink) Income Statement or a copy of a current Disability Support Pensioner Concession Card that has been witnessed by a JP or at the Post Office.

   

  The dependants of Disability Support pension recipients are also eligible under Smart and Skilled for fee exemption for any Smart and Skilled courses. If you are a dependent, you are also required to provide evidence from Centrelink to confirm your status.

  Other evidence options for disability exemptions include or a letter from a doctor, government agency or specialist outlining the training support needs due to the disability. The College would need to confirm these documents meet the requirements, so it is preferred that a Disability Support Pension Card is provided.

  Source: S&S FAP v2.3 Oct 2019 

• Social Housing or Out-of-Home Care Status

  Concession eligible students aged between 15 and 30 may have their fees waived as a "Fee Free Scholarship".

  To be eligible, you need to live in social housing or on the NSW Housing Register (waiting list).

  Social housing includes:

  • Public housing
  • Community housing
  • Aboriginal housing, and
  • Crisis accommodation / supported accommodation
  • FAC’s funded private rental assistance (private rental subsidy, rental bond loans and tenancy guarantees)

  You may also be eligible if you are currently in out-of-home care or have been in out-of-home care previously.

  Relevant evidence may be a Rental Statement; Lease; letter from your housing agency or emergency housing facility. In circumstances where this is not possible you will be required to submit a Statutory Declaration that will be provided to you to get completed and witnessed. The College would need to confirm these documents meet the requirements.

  After you apply to enrol the College will ask you to send through the required evidence of eligibility for a concession enrolment and your ID documents to confirm your age. We will then lodge the Fee Free Scholarship application to the Department.

  If approved we will cancel your concession fees payable and refund any fees that may have already been paid.

  You are eligible for: One Fee-Free Scholarship per financial year (from 1 July 2015); A maximum of two Fee-Free Scholarships over four financial years (ending 30 June 2019)

  Source: S&S FAP v2.3 Oct 2019 – App 5

• Smart and Skilled Fee-Free Scholarships

  Recipients of concessions may be eligible for a Smart and Skilled Fee-Free Scholarship. The scholarship is a government subsidy that helps students complete their training under Smart and Skilled without paying a students fee. All qualifications on the NSW Skills List from Certificate I to Certificate IV level are covered.

  Access the brochures below to read more on Fee-Free Scholarships and to find out more information on eligibility requirements.

  For concession-eligible students.

  For young people in  out-of-home care.

  For people who are experiencing or have experienced domestic and family violence.

   

• Smart and Skilled Fee-Free Traineeships

  Under the NSW Smart and Skilled, Trainees may be eligible for the Fee Free Traineeship Waiver Initiative from 1 Jan 2020 to 31 Dec 2023.

   NSW trainees, including school based trainees, whose traineeship qualification is funded under Smart and Skilled and who commence subsidised training on or after 1 January 2020 are eligible.  This includes: 

  1.  Trainees who commence subsidised training for the first time on or after 1 January 2020.

  2.  Trainees whose traineeship is cancelled and subsequently recommence a traineeship in the same vocation with a different employer, and recommence subsidised training on or after 1 January 2020.

  3.  Trainees whose traineeship is cancelled and subsequently commence a new traineeship in a new vocation with the same/different employer, and commence in subsidised training on or after 1 January 2020

  4.  A trainee who has completed a traineeship and is undertaking a subsequent traineeship and is commencing the subsidised training in the subsequent traineeship on or after 1 Jan 2020.

  Specific trainee exclusions from eligibility

  A NSW Trainee who commenced subsidised training prior to 1 January 2020 and subsequently, on or after 1 January 2020 recommences their subsidised training:

  A) with the same provider, and is employed by the same employer and in the same vocation, or

  B) changes provider and remains party to a training contract with the same employer and in the same vocation

  Is not eligible for fee free training.