Abstract: Assessing variability is fundamental to identify the most important traits in tef improvement program. The objective of the present study was to estimate variability, heritability and genetic advance on sixteen morphological characters in tef (Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter). Forty-nine genotypes were evaluated at two locations of Bale in south east of Ethiopia in 2008 cropping season. Simple lattice design of 7x7 with two replication was used to test the treatments. Pooled ANOVA of the two locations showed highly significant (p<0.01) for days to panicle emergence, lodging percentage, thousands kernel weight, grain yield per plant and grain yield per hectare. Significant differences (p<0.05) were noted for panicle length, shoot biomass and number of branch per main panicle. Genotype by location interaction was none significant for all traits which indicated that performance of the genotypes were consistent for these traits across the test locations. High phenotypic coefficient variation were observed for thousand kernel weight (78.82), productive tiller (46.45) and grain yield per plant (34.15) while high genotypic coefficient of variation were noted for traits, thousand kernel weight (40.34), productive tiller (32.46) and grain yield per plant (21.18). Maximum heritability estimate were observed for days to panicle emergence (75.50%) and grain filling period (66.79). High genetic gain was observed for lodging (10.90%) and days to panicle emergence (8.05%). The study showed that there are variation in extent of variability, heritability and genetic advance in traits under study which can facilitate selection for further improvement of important traits in tef.