Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the real pleasure of chatting with many of you who’ve expressed interest in the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.
Some of you are career changers. Some want to refresh or finally complete a qualification you started years ago. Some of you have a trade, credential or skill you are ready to pass on. And many of you carry something that no textbook can replicate — years of hands-on industry experience and lived wisdom that the next generation is genuinely, urgently desperate for.
Jobs and Skills Australia has confirmed what those of us in vocational education have known for years: VET teachers are in shortage nationally, in every single state and territory. The sector needs thousands more educators over the next five years, with projected employment growth of 21% by 2033. That is HUGE growth in today’s economic landscape.
And the pressure extends into our schools. Across Australia, senior secondary programs — VET Delivered to Secondary Students (VDSS) and equivalent state programs — allow Year 10, 11 and 12 students to earn nationally accredited qualifications alongside their school certificate. These programs depend entirely on qualified trainers and assessors: people with real industry experience who hold, or are working towards, the Certificate IV TAE.
And yet most Certificate IV TAE programs see dropout rates of 40 to 55 per cent — participants left isolated, unsupported, and navigating a complex qualification without adequate scaffolding. I wrote about this in detail here: A Sane Approach to the Cert IV TAE → https://taeplus.com.au/a-sane-approach-to-the-cert-iv-tae/
How are we going to solve the problem?
Here’s something that comes up in almost every conversation I have with prospective students, and it matters: you don’t have to wait until you’ve completed the full qualification to start teaching.
Our 8-week TAE Plus introduction program earns you three nationally accredited TAE units and two nationally recognised Skill Sets. Those Skill Sets qualify you for workplace trainer roles immediately within your industry or company. From there, if you continue with the full Certificate IV TAE (at your own pace, entirely online), you can begin teaching under supervision in a registered training organisation (RTO) or TAFE environment from the moment you are enrolled.
What makes TAE Plus Different
We structured TAE Plus around one question: what does a working professional actually need to complete this qualification and become a confident, effective educator?
Our answer: An 8-week introduction — with two expert streams, running in parallel.
Each week you attend two live sessions designed to work together:
Thursday evenings (2 hours)
Led by Cristina Rojas, our Holistic Educator specialist — one of the most thoughtful educator developers working in the VET sector today. Her focus isn’t your compliance. It’s your confidence, your presence, and your ability to make teaching feel like the thing you were meant to do. Cristina develops the inner skills that no TAE program teaches: self-awareness, communication, emotional regulation and professional identity.
Friday sessions (4 hours)
Led by Chris Blanch, one of Australia’s most experienced Senior TAE practitioners. This is where you complete the three nationally accredited TAE units and earn two recognised Skill Sets that enable you to become a qualified workplace trainer by the end of week 8.
Can’t attend live? Every session is recorded — ultimate flexibility, zero compromise on quality.
After the 8 weeks, the remaining 9 TAE units are yours to complete entirely self-paced and online, within a two-year window. Most students will finish in around six months with our milestone coaching built in throughout your course, so that you are never left alone to navigate a complex qualification. Essentially, our whole model is structured around your completion. That’s not a tagline. It’s the architecture.
What does your qualification mean...financially?
As a qualified VET trainer with a Certificate IV TAE, you are eligible to teach across TAFEs, RTOs, VDSS programs in senior secondary schools, and workplace training environments nationwide.
Casual TAFE teaching rates — set under state enterprise agreements — typically range from $75 to over $100 per delivered teaching hour. In Victoria, the new TAFE Teaching Staff Agreement 2024 delivered starting salaries aligned with public school teachers, with top classroom rates set to reach $134,775. In NSW, the latest enterprise agreement pushed starting salaries above $92,000.
For most people entering the sector, casual and sessional work is the natural starting point — and the hourly rates are genuinely attractive for those who want to teach alongside an existing career. You are entering a market where demand significantly outstrips supply.
So, what's stopping you?
Our next generations need what you know — not just the technical content, but your perspective, your resilience, the real-world instinct that only comes from having done the work.
Our next cohort begins 30 April 2026. It is fully online. Places are capped at 15.
To secure your place, all that’s required is a $165 enrolment payment, followed by four easy instalments. No large upfront cost. No lock-in. Just a commitment to yourself — and to the students who are waiting for someone exactly like you.
If these conversations have been sitting with you — if something in this is pulling at you — now is the moment to act. You have three weeks before classes start.
If you’re ready to make a difference, reply to this email, and I’ll have the full enrolment pack sent directly to you.
Andrew Lawlor
Executive Manager – Education Programs
AFL SportsReady | TAE Plus
TAE Plus acknowledges the Traditional custodians of the lands on which our offices are situated. We pay our respects to their elders both past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.