The number of students enrolled at TAFE and other government-funded vocational education providers has fallen significantly across Australia with the largest drop occurring in NSW.

Nationally, TAFE enrolments fell by 6.5 per cent between 2016 and 2017, from 617,000 students to 577,200, the latest National Centre for Vocational Education Research figures show.

TAFE enrolments fell by 6.5 per cent between 2016 and 2017 nationally. Credit:Rob Homer

"[If we don't fix this], we'll find ourselves with jobs without people to fill them and people without jobs to do," said Andre Diez de Aux, director of policy and research at TAFE Directors Australia.

"The reason for the decline is rocky policy decisions that have resulted in a lack of confidence in the sector in general."