Where to Learn English in Australia (Free Classes)

If you have moved to Australia and your English is still developing, the AMEP is almost certainly your best first stop. It is fully funded by the Australian Government's Department of Home Affairs, it costs you nothing, and it has been helping new arrivals settle since 1948. Classes run at around 300 locations across the country, in major cities and regional towns.

What makes AMEP genuinely valuable in 2026 is that the old 510-hour limit was removed in April 2021. You can now study for as many free hours as you need until you reach what Home Affairs calls vocational English, the level where you can confidently use English for work and everyday life. There is no longer a ticking clock counting down your hours.

Classes are flexible: full-time, part-time, evening and weekend options are all available, so you can fit study around a job or family. And while you attend face-to-face classes, free childcare is provided for your children under school age, which removes one of the biggest barriers for migrant parents.

• Cost: free for eligible migrants and humanitarian entrants

• Hours: unlimited, until you reach vocational English

• Childcare: free during face-to-face classes for children under school age

• Locations: around 300 sites nationwide, plus distance and online options

You may be eligible for free AMEP classes if you are a migrant or humanitarian entrant, you are aged 18 or over (some youth aged 15 to 17 may also qualify, so ask a provider), and you speak less than functional English. Functional English is a basic working level, so if you are still building confidence, you very likely qualify.

Eligibility covers permanent visa holders and a long list of eligible temporary visa holders. According to the official AMEP eligible-temporary-visa list, this includes Partner visas (subclass 309 Provisional and 820 Temporary), Skilled Regional Provisional visas (subclass 489 and 491), Business Innovation and Investment (subclass 188), and humanitarian or protection visas such as Temporary Protection (785), Safe Haven Enterprise (790), Temporary Humanitarian Concern (786) and Humanitarian Stay (449).

Important timing rule: legislative reforms that took effect in April 2021 removed the time limits for registering, starting and finishing AMEP for eligible people who were in Australia on or before 1 October 2020. If you arrived after that date, registration and commencement time limits can still apply, so do not delay, contact a provider as soon as you can. Your eligible visa start date sets your timeframes.

Visa eligibility lists do change. Before assuming you do or do not qualify, check the current rules on homeaffairs.gov.au or simply ask an AMEP provider directly, they will confirm your eligibility from your visa details at no cost.

AMEP is not just a classroom. There are four ways to learn, and you can often combine them.

• Face-to-face classes: full-time, part-time, evening and weekend, at around 300 sites.

• Distance learning: learn from home with a teacher's support. This is designed for people who live more than 50 kilometres from an AMEP site, or who cannot attend in person for physical, cultural, religious or caring reasons.

• Online learning: AMEP Online (ameponline.homeaffairs.gov.au) and the free AMEP app on the App Store and Google Play let you study at your own level, anytime, for free.

• Volunteer Tutor Scheme: a trained volunteer works with you one-to-one, usually 1 to 2 hours per week, at a place you both agree on. It is free, and a great way to practise real conversation.

There is also a job-focused stream. The Settlement Language Pathways to Employment and Training (SLPET) program offers up to 200 additional hours of work-specific English plus up to 80 hours of work experience placement, helping you move from the classroom into an Australian workplace.

If you are not AMEP-eligible (for example, you are coming to Australia specifically to study), the main paid route is an ELICOS course. ELICOS stands for English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students. These are government-accredited and run from 5 to 60 weeks depending on your level, with options for General English, English for Academic Purposes, exam preparation (IELTS, Cambridge, TOEFL) and English for specific industries.

ELICOS courses are taught on a Student visa (subclass 500). A helpful detail: if your principal course is a standalone ELICOS course, you generally do not need to provide an English test score with your visa application. If you are using ELICOS as a stepping stone before a degree or VET course (known as course packaging), the minimum to move into your main course recently rose from IELTS 4.5 to 5.0 or equivalent.

Budget for the visa as well as tuition. From 1 July 2025, the Student visa application charge starts from AUD$2,000. Tuition is charged on top of that and varies widely by provider.

TAFE (publicly funded vocational colleges) also offer English and English-pathway courses. For migrants, TAFEs are often where AMEP classes are actually delivered, so a single TAFE can host both free AMEP places and paid courses. Ask the TAFE which applies to your visa.

Beyond AMEP, plenty of free or low-cost help exists, and it is worth tapping into for extra conversation practice while you are on an AMEP waitlist or if you have already reached vocational English.

• Public libraries: most run free English conversation groups, citizenship classes and digital-literacy sessions. Your local council library is a good first call.

• Neighbourhood and community houses: low-cost classes and friendly conversation circles, often welcoming to all backgrounds.

• Settlement service providers: organisations funded to support new arrivals often run informal English groups alongside other settlement help.

• Online self-study: AMEP Online and its app are free to everyone. They are a strong, government-built option you can use from day one, even before you enrol in a class.

None of these replace structured AMEP tuition if you qualify for it, but they add valuable speaking practice, which is the hardest skill to build alone.

Many migrants learn English both to settle in and to meet a future visa requirement. Home Affairs uses set levels: functional, vocational, competent, proficient and superior English. For most points-tested skilled visas (such as subclasses 189, 190 and 491), competent English is usually IELTS 6 in each of the four components, or an accepted equivalent in PTE Academic, TOEFL iBT, OET or Cambridge.

These rules are volatile. The list of approved English tests and the way scores are applied changed on 7 August 2025, and test results have validity windows (for example, results used as functional English evidence taken on or before 6 August 2025 may be accepted until 6 August 2026). Online or at-home remote-proctored tests are generally not accepted. Always confirm the exact score and accepted test on the specific visa page at homeaffairs.gov.au before you book a test.

A safety note that matters: for a fee, only an OMARA-registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner can lawfully give you Australian visa advice. If your situation is complex, that professional help is worth it. Before paying anyone, search the official register of migration agents to confirm they are registered.

Watch for scams. Applying for a Tax File Number is completely free through the ATO at ato.gov.au, never pay a third-party website for it. Be wary of anyone guaranteeing a visa, asking for payment in gift cards or cryptocurrency, offering fake job placements, or claiming to be a migration agent without an OMARA number. If in doubt, stop and verify on the official government site.