Youth Access Initiative Guidebook

Young people on child protection orders, youth justice orders and residents of Victorian Education First Youth Foyers represent some of the most marginalised young people in our community, often presenting with complex needs and multiple barriers to entering education and training.

Central to breaking the link between disadvantage and poor educational/training outcomes, is ensuring that learners are supported to stay in education/training, access better opportunities and reach their full potential.

The Youth Access Initiative addresses the key aspects of improving awareness of access to and engagement with vocational education and training opportunities for these young people by providing greater access via tuition fee waivers.

The Youth Access Initiative works with Skills First funding which includes supports for disadvantaged learners to engage with and succeed in their education and training. The Youth Access Initiative contributes to this priority by further reducing the costs of subsidised training by providing a waiver on student tuition fees for eligible young people.

To be eligible for the Youth Access Initiative, you must be:

• eligible for Skills First government-subsidised training which includes being an Australian citizen, an Australian permanent resident or a New Zealand citizen (more information can be found at Check your eligibility for Skills First funding); and
• aged 24 years or under; and
• have been or are currently on a Child Protection Order or a Youth Justice Order (but are not currently in custody); or
• are a resident of an Education First Youth Foyer (for a list of relevant orders and foyer information refer to guidelines); or
• a young person who is or has been supported by the Refugee Minor Program; or
• a young person who has participated or is participating in the Children's Court Youth Diversion Service.

Skills First is the Victorian Government’s commitment to a high-quality training and TAFE system that leads learners to real jobs. Subject to meeting Skills First eligibility criteria, individuals can enrol in subsidised accredited vocational education and training (VET), in courses that meet the skills needs of Victoria, and maximise their prospects of valuable work. More information about Skills First can be found at Skills First.

A key priority for Skills First is to support disadvantaged learners to engage with and succeed in their education and training. The Youth Access Initiative contributes to this priority by further reducing the costs of subsidised training by providing a waiver on student tuition fees for eligible young people.

The Skills First online eligibility indicator provides a useful initial tool for checking whether someone might be eligible, and can be found at Check your eligibility for Skills First funding.

A wide range of subsidised vocational education and training is available under Skills First. Refer to the Victorian Skills Gateway for available courses.

The list of available courses is regularly reviewed and courses added as required by industry needs and to support jobs growth. This allows the training market to keep up with the changing needs of the economy.

Funded courses and skill sets can only be delivered under the Youth Access Initiative by Victorian TAFEs and select Learn Local organisations that are also registered training organisations.

Skills First training providers have been selected for their capacity to deliver quality government-subsidised training. Local providers can be found at:

• Find my local TAFE
• Search Learn Local organisations