Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

I hear the member for Chifley acknowledging that. I know that he does not beat up on the National Party all the time! Occasionally, he acknowledges the great work that this government is doing. It is a pity his colleague the member for Richmond cannot find it in her heart to do the same.

The VET sector requires strong quality assurance in order for the system to deliver high-quality training outcomes for students, which this bill is seeking to better enable, but also, importantly, to ensure the qualifications a student achieves are a reliable measure for employers of the skills and knowledge they have attained, regardless of where they were trained.

Currently, making new standards to address quality issues can take up to a year. As a result of the measures in this bill, addressing specific concerns or issues can be resolved in a matter of weeks, which is particularly beneficial to students but also to local industry and business needs—and this government is all about making it easier for business.

The bill also includes simple measures to ensure students understand which registered training organisation they are signing up to for their chosen qualification. It is absolutely unacceptable that training organisations are allowed to offer cash rebates and technological incentives to students in order to increase student numbers. It is inappropriate, because providing education and training should be about increasing the capacity of students, not improving the bottom line for training organisations.

The measures in this bill complement the tough new regulatory standards for new training providers which came into effect on 1 January 2015. Existing providers will be required to uphold these same standards from 1 April 2015 and to make it crystal clear in their marketing and promotions to students what they are signing up to, what the debt provisions are and how they may or may not change into the future.

The Australian Skills Quality Authority is responsible for the regulatory and quality-standard issues emerging in the VET sector. We are committing $68 million, which is not an insignificant amount, over four years to ensure the tough new standards are enforced. Extending the registration period for registered training organisations from five to seven years will enable the Australian Skills Quality Authority to redirect resources and to target the early detection of noncompliance, and that is important. This measure has come from the authority itself, which advised the government that the current renewal audits are the least effective method of identifying poor quality and performance among providers.

In addition to the introduction of new national standards for training providers, this bill further builds on significant reform in the VET sector through the establishment of a new training complaints hotline, improved data reporting and new trade support loans for students.

There are a great number of training providers across regional Australia; and, make no mistake, there are many, many good ones. I would say the majority, absolutely, are very, very good ones. The Nationals are committed to ensuring improved educational services are delivered in rural and regional Australia.

Mr Husic interjecting—

I will just say that again, because I do not think the member for Chifley quite heard me: the Nationals are committed to ensuring improved educational services are delivered in rural and regional Australia.

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