In 2025, government investment in the Certificate III in Individual Support moved to a managed allocation approach.
Providers with a strong track record of quality training, high completions and employer partnerships were invited to deliver the course.
The managed allocation approach provides a pipeline of fit-for-purpose skilled workers to the sector, supports Our Policy Direction for Skills in South Australia and the government’s commitment to connect learners to the right training with the right supports to increase completions.
Government investment in care sector training
Since 2022-23, the South Australian Government has invested over $63 million in training delivery of Certificate III in Individual Support with non-government registered training organisations (RTO).
This investment has supported more than 11,000 South Australians to complete a government funded course, providing a significant number of qualified skilled workers for the care sector workforce.
Certificate III in Individual Support remains the largest publicly subsidised course in South Australia and non-government RTOs will continue to play a key role in delivering these training places.
The state and federal governments’ $2.3 billion investment in skills, through the National Skills Agreement, remains unchanged.
Key dates
June 2026: RTO allocation process for 2026-27 communicated to RTOs along with RTO offers for 2026–27
Frequently Asked Questions
Since 2021-22, the South Australian Government has invested more than $76 million in the Certificate III in Individual Support delivered by non-government RTOs. This is in addition to delivery by TAFE SA.
Since then, almost 11,000 South Australians have completed a government funded training place in the Certificate III in Individual Support, providing a significant number of skilled workers for the care sector.
The Certificate III in Individual Support remains the largest supported subsidised course in South Australia.
The transition from an on-demand to a managed allocation approach supports a pipeline of fit-for-purpose skilled workers by targeting government investment to RTOs with a track record of outcomes.
No. The STL communicates the courses and conditions under which the South Australian Government funds accredited training delivered by non-government registered training providers who hold a Funded Activities Agreement (FAA) with Skills SA.
Existing subsidised students are not impacted by the change.
Once training providers exhaust their allocation, they will not be able to create any new training accounts for the 2026-27 financial year.
Yes, all Training Accounts created under a managed allocation will consume a funded place, even prior to commencement of classes. South Australia’s Upfront Assessment of Need process is in place to help ensure the right fit between each subsidised student and their course of choice, and the student will get the support they need to successfully complete their training.
If a student withdraws prior to commencing classes and you would like to re-use the funding place due to exceptional circumstances that Skills SA should be made aware of, then please submit a request to SkillsContracts@sa.gov.au.
According to the FAA, RTOs can only create Training Accounts for students who are due to commence training 30 days or less into the future. If a student defers their course prior to class commencement and will be recommencing more than 30 days after the Training Account creation, then the RTO will need to close the Training Account.
Once a student has commenced their training, then RTOs can allow students to take leave from enrolment for a period of up to six months. In these situations, the RTO should update the Training Account to reflect ‘Leave from Enrolment’ status.
Skills SA considers requests to re-activate Training Accounts on a case-by-case basis. If a Training Account has been closed due to an error, RTOs can request Training Account re-activation by sending an email to SkillsContracts@sa.gov.au.
RTOs that accept an offer of training places from Skills SA will receive a Funded Activities Annexure outlining the specifics of the managed allocation. Once the annexure is executed, RTOs may start enrolling eligible students. Prior to commencement of training delivery for a student, RTOs must use the Skills and Employment Portal to:
- locate an existing Participant Profile (or create a new one) for the eligible student; and
- create a Training Account under the STL – Managed Allocation funding program and indicate the Contract ID (JF-00xxxx) shown in your Funded Activities Annexure.