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This paper examines the metamorphosis of technical and further education (TAFE) by tracing the genealogy of TAFE institutes in Victoria and analysing the changing size, structure and organisation of the technical system in Victoria. On the basis of this analysis, the nature of tradition and identity in TAFE is examined in an attempt to understand the forces which have shaped and redefined TAFE as a tertiary education sector up to the present day. Against the background of the dissolution of the binary system of higher education in Australia, and in the light of TAFE's history and current policy trends and developments, future prospects for TAFE are then considered. It is argued that a new set of institutional discourses and practices are reshaping TAFE and higher education in the transition to a post-technocratic settlement. The paper speculates on the potential re-emergence of a binary system of higher education and training comprising TAFE institutes and universities. In conclusion, it argues that the traditions which to date have threatened TAFE's survival as a distinct sector of education and training may, in fact, be the source of its salvation in a radically restructured tertiary education environment.