Mrs PHILLIPS (Gilmore) (11:35): As a former TAFE teacher, the wife of a chippie and the mum of two apprentice tradies, I have always been a massive advocate for vocational education and training.

Public education runs through my veins, and TAFE holds a special place in my heart. That's why, during National Skills Week, I am so pleased to say more than 5,000 people in my electorate of Gilmore have taken up the Albanese Labor government's free TAFE program.

That's free training for the carpenters, electricians and tradies we desperately need to build new homes on the New South Wales South Coast. That's free training for the healthcare workers, social workers, aged-care workers and early childhood carers, ensuring our most vulnerable can get quality care when they need it.

We know that free TAFE is delivering the skills and training we need to grow the Australian economy and build a future made right here in Australia. Free TAFE is working to fill jobs in those crucial skill-shortage industries, and that is backed up by the numbers.

There have been more than 650,000 enrolments in the government's free TAFE program and more than 170,000 free TAFE courses completed by Australians. That's just fantastic. What a successful program that is helping grow our economy and, importantly, provide affordable education to young people and people who want to upskill or retrain in new areas!

I know how gaining a TAFE qualification can change lives for the better. I've seen firsthand, both as a teacher and as a mum, how TAFE has opened doorways for young people and people of all ages in regional areas like my electorate of Gilmore on the New South Wales South Coast.

Free TAFE is removing financial barriers to education and training for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Free TAFE is putting people in regional areas like Gilmore on a pathway to well-paid and secure employment.

Free TAFE means no-one is left behind. Whether our kids or grandkids want to become tradies, childcare workers, nurses, computer programmers or even cybersecurity experts, TAFE provides that opportunity. Permanent free TAFE is providing a pipeline of skilled workers that Australia needs now and into the future to provide more housing right across Australia and to make homes more affordable to rent and buy.

Free TAFE means more skilled people to build and install solar panels, to make buses and to construct roads.

In regional areas like Gilmore, so many kids want to finish school and gain an apprenticeship or train at their local TAFE campus. Many don't want to leave home or move to the city to find work or go to uni. They've grown up in small coastal towns, and often they want to work hard and follow in the footsteps of their parents, grandparents and siblings, whether that's working as a tradie, nurse or early educator.

As a TAFE teacher, I have taught people that had never worked outside of their home before, and it was TAFE that started them on a pathway into courses such as aged care and community services. TAFE graduates are caring for our young children and our parents and grandparents in aged care. They're doing important skilled jobs. We need them, and I thank them.

It's so fabulous that the TAFE Certificate II in Aeroskills is providing our young people a pathway to an exciting career as an avionics maintainer to support defence industry jobs in Shoalhaven. We're a proud Navy town, home to HMAS Albatross, the Fleet Air Arm and HMAS Creswell, so it's really important that we have defence related TAFE courses on offer to give local students an entry into the industry.

Defence and defence industry are our biggest employers, and this aeroskills course provides local students with an opportunity to fill in-demand roles such as aircraft maintenance engineers and aircraft line maintenance workers. The course, introduced at Nowra TAFE last year, is giving students an insight from industry-experienced teachers, through a mixture of theory and practical units, to ensure aircraft fly smoothly and safely.

Students are gaining practical experience and developing specialist skills to give them an advantage in the job market. This includes working on real aircraft components on a variety of aircraft and working safely and sustainably in the industry.

We already have industry-leading businesses employing and training young people in the Shoalhaven, and this is another opportunity for local students to take up exciting defence related careers without having to leave home.

I regularly visit my local TAFE campuses right across the electorate, to speak with students about how free TAFE is providing that bit of important financial relief for them and their families. I was thrilled to meet twins Najara and Harrisen, both motor mechanic apprentices who work for Batemans Bay Automotive Repairs.

The siblings are looking forward to one day taking the helm of their family business. TAFE is providing them with the variety of skills needed to do just that.

I was very impressed to meet Robert Beattie, who has supervised an incredible 45 apprentice carpenters at Beach House Stairs at Batemans Bay. During a visit to his workshop with the Minister for Skills and Training, we chatted to apprentices Nathan, Nicholas and Brendan about how TAFE is helping them build the skills needed to meet gaps in the workforce.

Seventeen-year-old Nathan comes from a family of tradies and said he is confident he will always have work. Our fee-free TAFE is helping regional kids like Nathan, Harrisen and Najara on a pathway to success.

Free TAFE is helping people from priority cohorts—young Australians, jobseekers and First Nations Australians—and it's really great to see six in 10 free TAFE places have been taken up by women, and one in three places have been in regional and remote parts of Australia such as Gilmore.

I have been on the ground talking with employers and apprentices, and I can tell you free TAFE is working, which is why we've made it permanent. Importantly, I've also met people who have been out of the workforce for a while, to care for a family member or raise their children, and who have turned to TAFE to gain the skills required to re-enter the workforce.

Because of this government's commitment to vocational education, TAFE is booming on the South Coast. I really want to commend our wonderful TAFE teachers, employers and, of course, the students and apprentices who are embracing these opportunities.

Free TAFE is an investment in our future and our people, ensuring all Australians, no matter their background, have the skills and capacity to contribute to a thriving economy. During National Skills Week, I encourage young people to recognise vocational education as a wonderful pathway to a good job and an exciting future.