Eligibility Requirements

Before enrolling in a course, it’s important to ensure you meet the necessary eligibility requirements. These criteria help determine whether a course is the right fit for your skills, qualifications, and learning goals and whether you can access government funding.

This section outlines the key academic, language, and residency requirements, as well as any prerequisites or additional conditions that may apply. Understanding these requirements will help you make an informed decision and set you up for success in your chosen course.

Eligibility to access Government funding

Before commencing an accredited qualification or course prospective students meet with staff from Jesuit Community College to participate in a pre-training review. This review provides students with information to ensure that they enrol in the qualification /course that is most suitable and appropriate to their needs and goals. At this meeting, students will also undertake a language, literacy and numeracy assessment. This is used to assess your literacy and numeracy skills and determine if any students require additional support.

Students will also be informed about specific information relevant to the course – including delivery strategy, schedules, location, times, key contacts and assessment methods.

Jesuit Community College staff will verify your eligibility for Government subsidised training at the same time.

Skills First Funding Eligibility

General Eligibility Requirements for Skills First Funding

Jesuit Community College courses are government funded for eligible  participants. Please see below eligibility criteria to access government funding for our Skills First Funded courses.

Citizenship

You must be one of the following:

• an Australian citizen or
• holder of a permanent visa, or
• a New Zealand Citizen or
• an Asylum Seeker holder of a current VISA Class E (BVE), Safe Haven Enterprise Visa (SHEV) or
• Temporary Protection Visa (TPV) (as verified via the Commonwealth Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) with study rights) and
• Live and/or work in Victoria at all times while you are undertaking the training and assessment.

Skills First Subsidised Training

If you are 20 years of age or older (as at 1 January in the year of commencement of training) you are eligible to enrol in Skills First subsidised training in:

• a program that is at a higher AQF level than the highest qualification you hold at the time of the scheduled commencement of training (‘upskilling’)
• a program on the Foundation Skills List (unless you already hold an Australian qualification that is at AQF level 5 (Diploma) or higher.

Under 20

If you are under 20 years of age (as at 1 January in the year of commencement of training) you are eligible to enrol in any Skills First subsidised training at any level.

How much Skills First subsidised training can I do?

There are also limits on how much Skills First subside training you can do.

The limits are:

• You can’t start more than 2 qualifications in a year
• You can’t start more than 2 skill sets in a year
• You can’t do more than 2 Skills First qualifications or skill sets at the same time
• If you’ve already started up to two government-subsidised qualifications at the same level in your lifetime, you can’t do another Skills First qualification at that level.

Under 17s

If you have completed Year 10

If you are under 17 and have completed Year 10, you must provide an exemption granted by your school principal − this could be a completed Exemption from School Application Form, endorsed by the school principal

OR

A Department Regional Director may grant an exemption if your school principal’s refusal to grant an exemption has been referred to the Department for review.

If you have not completed Year 10

If you are under 17 and have not completed Year 10, you must provide an exemption granted by the relevant Department Regional Director − this could be in the form of either a letter or a certificate.

An Exemption from School Application Form alone is insufficient evidence of an exemption if you have not completed Year 10.

Other eligibility requirements

You are ineligible if you are enrolled in

• government, non-government, independent catholic or home school and/or
• the Commonwealth Government’s ‘Skills for Education and Employment’ program

We encourage you to discuss your personal circumstances with one of the Jesuit Community College authorised staff, as other funded opportunities may be available.

General Eligibility Criteria for Adult Community Further Education (ACFE ) funded courses

Jesuit Community College courses are government funded for eligible participants. Please see below eligibility criteria to access government funding for our ACFE funded courses.

You must be one of the following:

• Australian citizen
• Holder of Australian Permanent visa
• New Zealand citizen (holder of a current New Zealand passport)

AND

• 17 and over and not enrolled at secondary school (government, non-government, independent, Catholic or home schooling)

• If under 17 and has not completed year 10, you must provide a signed and completed endorsement page from the ‘Exemption From School Application Form’ OR correspondence or a certificate signed by the school Principal or a Department Regional Director.

• If under 17 and not currently, or has never been, enrolled in a Victorian School*, you must provide correspondence or a certificate signed by the Department Regional Director. (*For example, students enrolled in home schooling, or students who have moved to Victoria from interstate or overseas).

OR

The holder of a valid visa type accepted for participation in the Asylum Seeker VET Program:

• humanitarian, protection, or refugee visa in Australia
• student has applied for a humanitarian, protection or refugee visa and hold a bridging visa for this purpose
• student has made an application under s.417 or s.48b of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) which is yet to be determined and hold a bridging visa.

Student Support Funding

Jesuit Social Services is committed to working with people who experience significant social and economic disadvantage, to engage in further education, training and employment. Many people in these circumstances need support to engage in learning, to succeed in their learning programs, and to continue on to further training and employment.

And in some cases, meeting the cost of training course fees may impose additional hardship. In order to assist students of Jesuit Community College who due to financial or other forms of hardship might not be able to meet the cost of their Jesuit Community College Course tuition fees, Jesuit Social Services has established the Student Support Fund.

Applications for assistance through the Student Support Fund are open to students who require financial support to meet the cost of their Jesuit Community College Course tuition fees

The establishment of this fund draws on the rich tradition of Jesuit education committed to ‘care of the whole person’ and development of active and informed citizens.

Applications are open to be received all year round. They can be handed to your Jesuit Community College Trainer/Assessor or enrolment officer, emailed to courses@jss.org.au, sent by post to PO Box 1141, Collingwood VIC 3066, or lodged by hand at Jesuit Community College, 1 Langridge St Collingwood.

Before you apply for this financial support, you should consider alternative funding options.

Applicants must be:

• studying a course at Jesuit Community College
• an Australian citizen, or
• hold permanent Residency status, or
• hold a permanent humanitarian visa
• be a Centrelink Concession Card holder; or
• hold a current New Zealand passport; and
• demonstrate adequate academic progress for the duration of their funding.