16 December 2025
Victorian employers are turning to TAFE in record numbers to skill their workforce, with new data revealing a major resurgence in the state’s public training provider.
The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) report, Employers’ use and views of the VET system 2025, released on Monday 15 December 2025, indicates that the proportion of employers using TAFE for nationally recognised training has risen significantly.
TAFEs prioritise nationally recognised qualifications that deliver trusted, job-ready skills. Among students studying at TAFE or dual-sector universities in Australia, 92% are studying nationally recognised programs.
In Victoria, employer engagement with TAFE for accredited training has increased by over fifty one percent, to 32.2 percent in 2025, up from 19.1 percent in 2023.
This resurgence highlights that as industries face critical skill needs, Victoria’s businesses are turning to public TAFE over the often shorter, transactional courses.
TAFE also continues to do the heavy lifting in developing the state’s long-term skills pipeline, with 59.1 per cent of employers identifying TAFE as their main provider for apprenticeships and traineeships.
Confidence in the quality of training remains high. The report shows employers consistently rate their satisfaction with TAFE training at over 70 per cent.
This data confirms TAFE is the engine for Victoria’s economic growth, productivity and innovation.
Quotes attributable to Alex White, CEO of the Victorian TAFE Association:
“When Victorian businesses need serious skills for serious jobs, they choose TAFE, and this shows trust from industry in TAFE has surged in the past few years.
“Victoria’s public TAFEs are training the majority of apprentices and trainees that build our homes, care for our sick, and power our clean energy future. The 59 per cent of employers relying on TAFE for apprenticeships proves that we are the backbone of industry workforce planning.
“Our public TAFEs are the best partner to help local small and medium businesses train the skilled workers our economy needs, whether it is in traditional trades or the digital economy.”