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New figures show South Australians have saved more than $50 million in course fees since the introduction of Fee-Free TAFE.

This investment has enabled almost 22,500 students enrolled across TAFE SA and independent registered training organisations (RTOs) to undertake fee-free training in areas of skills need.

An extra 1,600 fee-free training places are now available for South Australians who want to train, retrain, or upskill in construction courses – a key area of industry demand.

Under the scheme, a student studying a Diploma of Building and Construction (Building) will save up to $10,633 – helping thousands of South Australians access training they may not have been able to otherwise.

TAFE SA has 1,200 places available, with a further 400 places at independent RTOs over the next two years.

Students can access places across 40 construction courses, including in bricklaying, carpentry, electrotechnology, concreting, plumbing, landscape construction and civil construction.

Apprenticeships are also able to be accessed fee-free for the first time.

A further 820 places are available to First Nations students at independent RTOs and Aboriginal Community Controlled RTOs, covering more than 50 courses and skills sets in agriculture, care, construction, hospitality and tech and digital.

In partnership with the Australian Government, $34.4 million is being invested in South Australia to support 16,000 fee-free vocational education places between 2024 and 2026.