Damien Carrod was one of thousands of students to take advantage of the Free TAFE for Priority Courses initiative across Victoria over the last two years, studying at Diploma of Horticulture at Federation TAFE.

Through the course, Mr Carrod said completed placements and volunteered with the National Trust which eventually resulted in a job where he now looks after three gardens across three sites on the Mornington Peninsula.

"I feel like I've found what I'm meant to be doing and I'm where I'm meant to be," he said.

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"I've always had a love of gardening, but by having the skills and the knowledge now from the free TAFE course to be able to identify plants and the care that's required for them, to be able to design gardens and garden beds, it's helped me establish my career with the National Trust and now look after the gardens for three properties and manage them as well as be able to design and put proposals forward to redesign gardens, if need be."

Mr Carrod said his career could now take him anywhere.

"The free course itself could definitely take someone quite far because of the knowledge that was provided and then we're continually learning so this could eventually, if I want it to, I could head to the role of head gardener with National Trust," he said.

"It's a job that could take you anywhere in the world. There are people always looking for gardeners and even though some places might have a little bit of a different name or different terminology for things, it's all pretty much stock standard.

"Do it. If you get offered the chance to do a TAFE course, go for it."

More than 70,000 students have enrolled in the free TAFE courses since 2019, with students in Ballarat saving almost $4 million with more than 1000 enrolled at Federation TAFE last year, up by 17 per cent on 2019.

Among the most popular courses at Federation TAFE were the Diploma of Nursing, with a 44 per cent enrolment increase, and the Diploma of Community Services, which rose by 24 per cent

The free TAFE initiative began in 2019 and allows eligible students to apply for fully subsidised courses that could directly lead to jobs.

Member for Wendouree Juliana Addison said she welcomed the increased enrollments.

"As we know, TAFE is a pathway to future opportunities. It's great that people are enhancing their skills and job readiness with Free TAFE courses. The Ballarat community and our local economy benefits from having a trained and highly skilled workforce," she said.

Member for Buninyong Michaela Settle said the free TAFE courses could be life-changing.

"Free TAFE has meant that more people can get the skills and training they need for their future career. It's great to see so many students at Federation University have taken up this opportunity."

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