All it takes is one email to your Farm Household Case Officer before you enrol. They send the request to the department, and we’ve already put together everything they need for it… so your $10,000 Activity Supplement can cover the fee.
Pick your course, and we’ll fill in the rest
Organic Vegetable Gardening
8 weeks · AU$439
Next class: 4 January 2027
Grow more of your household’s food, all year round, and spend a lot less at the shops.
Home Mushroom Cultivation
8 weeks · AU$369
Next class: 2 November 2026
Grow delicious mushrooms at home, in buckets and on logs that keep fruiting for years.
Permaculture Living
12 weeks · AU$459
Next class: 7 December 2026
Plan your whole place so it costs less to run and handles the dry years better, with David Holmgren, co-originator of permaculture.
The skills keep paying you back for years, too – more of your household’s food from your own patch, mushrooms in buckets and on logs, and a place that’s planned to cost less to run and cope better with the next dry spell.
Fast Forward is AU$899 on any course, and adds one-on-one coaching and our books in the post.
Your email to your case officer
To: your case officer
Subject: Activity Supplement – Milkwood [course name]Organic Vegetable GardeningHome Mushroom CultivationPermaculture Living course
Hi [case officer’s name],
I’d like to use my Activity Supplement for Milkwood’s [course name] course, [N] weeks online, starting [date], AU$[price] including GST.Organic Vegetable Gardening course, 8 weeks online, starting Monday 4 January 2027, AU$439 including GST.Home Mushroom Cultivation course, 8 weeks online, starting Monday 2 November 2026, AU$369 including GST.Permaculture Living course, 12 weeks online, starting Monday 7 December 2026, AU$459 including GST.
It would help me [how the course would help you]grow more of our own food and spend less at the shopsgrow our own mushrooms cheaply, and see whether they could become a small sidelineplan our place so it costs less to run and copes better with dry years, which I think fits the goals in my agreement.
Milkwood isn’t an RTO, so it would need a non-RTO assessment. Their case officer pack has the learning outcomes, trainer qualifications, insurance and costs: [pick your course and the link goes here]Organic Vegetable Gardening case officer pack (PDF)Home Mushroom Cultivation case officer pack (PDF)Permaculture Living case officer pack (PDF)
Could you check it fits my agreement, and start the request?
Thanks,
[your name]
[your Customer Reference Number]
Don’t have their email? Ring the Farmer Assistance Hotline on 132 316 and they’ll put you through.
Nothing opened? Copy the email instead, and paste it into a new email. Send it before you enrol.
Pick your course and this email fills itself in, ready to send.
How it works
Email your case officer before you enrol. We’ve written the email for you above, so just add your details and send… ideally a couple of weeks before the class starts.
They send the request to the department. Our case officer pack has everything they’re asked for, from learning outcomes and trainer qualifications to insurance and costs.
Get the case officer pack (PDF)Get the case officer pack (PDF)Get the case officer pack (PDF)
You get the go-ahead, and you’re in! Most requests are decided within a few days, and then the fee is either paid to us directly or you claim it back, whichever your case officer sets up.
Quick answers
Doesn’t it have to be a course from an RTO?
No! Training from providers who aren’t Registered Training Organisations (RTOs), like us, can be funded too, and the department looks at each request case by case. Their factsheet, Training Providers and the $10,000 Activity Supplement, explains it, and so does the Services Australia Activity Supplement page.
How does payment work?
Either the fee is paid to us directly, or you pay and claim it back within two months of the invoice. Your case officer will tell you which, and we’ll send you a tax invoice either way.
What if it doesn’t come through before the class starts?
Just let us know, because we can almost always work something out. We’ll hold your place while the request goes through and open the course the day you get the go-ahead… and since you keep access for good, joining a week or two after the class starts is completely fine.
Got a question we haven’t answered?
Write to us at [email protected], and your case officer is very welcome to as well.
See you in there!
Kirsten & Nick