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Not everyone can do Skills First training. Your eligibility depends on lots of things, including:
To be eligible for Skills First training, you must be:
If you are an asylum seeker, you may be eligible under the Asylum seeker VET program.
If you are an overseas student, you are not eligible for Skills First training, but you may be able to get other government assistance. See the Australian Government Study Assist page for more information.
If you are under 20 years old you can do Skills First training at any level.
If you are 20 years or over, you can usually only do Skills First training at a higher level than any qualification you already have. For example, if you have a Certificate III, you can't do a subsidised Certificate II course. (Exemption for those under 25 years per JobTrainer below.)
You can also do Skills First training in skill sets. These are accredited short courses to help with quick and flexible training for skills shortages and workforce demands. When you do a skill set, your age and what level of qualification you already have doesn’t affect whether you are eligible.
There are also limits on how much Skills First training you can do. The limits are:
These limits encourage you to make informed decisions about your training and employment opportunities, and finish your training.
*This includes courses you start but don't finish.
Even if you aren’t eligible, you might be able to get an exemption that allows you do Skills First training.
There are also some Skills First courses where some of the eligibility criteria don’t apply or where you might be able to get your training for free or at a lower cost.
For more information contact a training provider or your local Skills and Jobs Centre.
When you apply for a Skills First course, we will check and confirm your eligibility. To do this, we will ask you for documents, including proof of your citizenship or residency and details about any study you've done. You can find out more about the documents we will need here.