2023 Schedule of prices, fees and subsidies

Smart and Skilled is a reform of the NSW vocational education and training system. It's helping people get the skills they need to find a job and advance their careers.

Smart and Skilled provides eligible students with:

• an entitlement to government-subsidised training up to and including Certificate III
• government funding for higher-level courses (Certificate IV and above) in targeted priority areas.

Fees listed are for the full qualification. The training provider may spread the fee payable across the duration of the course. All providers will charge the same total student fee.

The total price of a qualification is the amount paid to the training provider. This price is made up of a government subsidy and a student fee.

Providers continue to receive loadings to meet the higher cost of training for disadvantaged students (needs loading for Aboriginal students [15 per cent], students with a disability [15 per cent], long term unemployed [10 per cent]) and students in regional and remote areas (location loading).

A Smart and Skilled provider can claim a maximum of one location loading and one needs loading per student per commencement. 

Prices and fees for RPL

Prices will be adjusted for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) or Recognition of Current Competency (RCC) and credit transfer (CT).

Prices and fees calculators are available to Smart and Skilled Providers. They can advise students on fee adjustments due to RPL, RCC and CT. 

Debt recovery for outstanding fees will to be undertaken as follows:

Commencing legal proceedings

Once instructions are received to proceed with legal action against a student for unpaid fees, ASTC has already exhausted their efforts in recovering the fees.  ASTC shall begin by:

1. Sending students a letter demanding payment of the fees in full or make an offer to accept instalment payments;
2. File and serve a Statement of Claim on a student if there is no reply to the letter of demand; and
3. Seek Default Judgment if a Defence to the Statement of Claim is not filed within 28 days of service on the students or if no offer to pay has been made.

An option open to ASTC is to accept a students’ offer to pay outstanding fees by instalments if a reasonable offer is made.

Enforcing a judgment

If little is known about the judgment debtor’s financial resources or place of employment, an Examination Notice (Notice) is served on the judgment debtor.

The Notice contains a series of questions directed at the judgment debtor’s financial circumstances and the Notice must specify the period (not less than 28 days) within which its requirements must be complied with, typically involving completion and forwarding supporting financial information to ASTC.

If the Notice is not returned to ASTC or is not satisfactorily completed, a court order for examination of the judgment debtor is sought, which basically compels the judgment debtor to attend court and provide their financial details.

The Examination Order must be served on the judgment debtor 14 days prior to the examination hearing and a Notice of Motion for an Examination Order must be sent to the registry within 30 km of the debtor’s residence (or nearest registry)

If the judgment debtor fails to attend the examination, the Court may issue an arrest warrant to compel the judgment debtor to attend court.

Instalment agreements

A judgment debtor may at any stage make an offer to pay by instalments.  An instalment agreement may be confirmed by letter or made an order of the court by filing it with the court.  The effect of an instalment order is that NSW law provides a stay of execution of the judgment while an instalment order is in place.