Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I table revised explanatory memoranda relating to the Health Insurance Amendment (National Rural Health Commissioner) Bill 2017 and the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Simplifying Student Payments) Bill 2017 and I move:

That these bills be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speeches read as follows—

EDUCATION AND OTHER LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL (NO. 1) 2017

Student loans to pay for tuition fees provide important financial support for vocational education and training students who would otherwise be unable to afford to study because of upfront fees.

Most training providers whose tuition fees are funded by student loans do the right thing, providing high quality training that gives their students the skills they need to get a job, or get a better job.

Unfortunately, however, it is common knowledge that Labor's failed VET FEE-HELP scheme was exploited by a number of unscrupulous providers and their agents.

In particular, disadvantaged Australians were targeted, including those with a disability, those with low levels of literacy, Indigenous Australians and older Australians.

People were signed up for loans but had little understanding of what they were signing up for; taking out loans for courses which they did not need and did not have the capacity to complete.

That is why the Turnbull government axed Labor's failed VET FEE-HELP scheme and established a new, student-centred, robust, outcomes-focused VET Student Loans program.

VET Student Loans rebuild Australia's income contingent loan program for vocational education and training from the ground up, restoring confidence in the VET sector and better protecting students.

As part of VET Student Loans, the Government announced it would establish a new VET Student Loans Ombudsman, giving students access to an independent complaints handling mechanism with the power to adequately investigate their concerns.

The submissions made to the Senate inquiry into the VET Student Loans Bills late last year demonstrated the significant stakeholder support for the government's announcement.

For example, the Consumer Law Action Centre said:

'An ombudsman will assist the sector to rebuild its reputation and the trust and confidence of students, parents and employers. The fact that the Government is acting quickly to establish this service is welcomed, as accessible and free dispute resolution is complementary to a rigorous consumer protection environment.'

Similarly, the Australian Council for Private Education and Training (ACPET) noted:

'An ombudsman also offers the vast majority of providers the protection of knowing that those who do the wrong thing will be weeded out.'

The VET Student Loans Ombudsman will be operated through the Commonwealth Ombudsman, whose independence will help in restoring confidence in the VET sector.

The VET Student Loans Ombudsman will be able to investigate complaints, and compliance by providers with legislation in relation to loans, for both the new VET Student Loans program or under Labor's failed VET FEE-HELP scheme, and make recommendations to address concerns.

The unfortunate actions of a small number of unscrupulous providers and their agents have left some students with significant debts and damaged the reputation of our many high quality VET providers.

This government recognises the critical importance of assisting these students with their complaints and repairing the reputation of the sector.

This is why I introduce this bill today.

Australian Research Council amendments

The bill also increases the funding caps in the Australian Research Council Act 2001 in line with inflation and ensures that the Australian government can continue to provide support for thousands of research projects.

The Australian government is making a significant investment in science, research and innovation—committing $10 billion across all portfolios in 2016–17 alone.

Through our $1.1 billion National Innovation and Science agenda (NISA) the Turnbull government is supporting research, incentivising innovation and entrepreneurship, rewarding risk taking, and promoting science, maths and computing in schools includes, including through:

Through the Australian Research Council (ARC), the Australian Government is investing in excellent fundamental and applied research that helps improve the quality of people's lives, supports Australian industries and businesses, and ensures our nation remains at the cutting edge of research, innovation and global competitiveness.

Such research has and continues to play an important role in both addressing the most challenging and significant social and economic problems of our time, and ensuring taxpayers money is invested wisely.

In November last year, the government announced more than $416 million in Australian government funding through the ARC's National Competitive Grants Program.

This funding supported research projects including: developing high-speed optical wireless technology; helping to better understand speech and language difficulties in children; and understanding how people with disabilities use smartphones to navigate and use essential services.

In January this year, the government also announced the first research projects awarded funding under the new continuous Linkage Projects scheme, including research that will: improve our national rail track system; develop better coal seam gas water treatment; and improve the efficiency of Australia's mining sector.

Australia's higher education system must have adequate research funding and facilities to ensure we attract and retain world-class academics, working with industry, and teaching the next generation of researchers, policy-makers and entrepreneurs.

Unlike the former Labor government, which left a funding cliff for NCRIS in June 2015, and announced $6.6 billion in cuts to university funding, the Turnbull government, through the NISA, has secured the future of the NCRIS network and its 1,700 highly skilled technical and research staff.

High quality, accessible and sustainable research infrastructure is a crucial investment in Australia's future.

The amendments in this bill, to extend funding through to 2019–20, provide certainty to Australian researchers to continue to deliver critically important research, build partnerships with industry and the community, and realise excellent research outcomes for Australia and the world.

I commend this bill.

HEALTH INSURANCE AMENDMENT (NATIONAL RURAL HEALTH COMMISSIONER) BILL 2017

1 SECOND READING SPEECH

I am proud to introduce the Health Insurance Amendment (National Rural Health Commissioner) Bill, which amends the Health Insurance Act 1973 for the purpose of establishing Australia's first National Rural Health Commissioner.

This is an incredible and historic occasion—an historic occasion for the coalition, the National Party, and the third of our population that call regional, rural and remote Australia home.

This is really a historic occasion for our nation.

Improving access to quality health care for people, no matter where they live, is a priority for this coalition government.

Our doctors, our nurses, dentists, allied health workers, our pharmacists, our Indigenous health workers, mental health workers, our midwives we understand these people, what they are up against and we understand the needs of Australians in regional, rural and remote Australia.

We understand that it takes a toughness and a boldness, coupled with a deep sensitivity, to work in health in rural and remote areas.

Since Australia's pioneering days, before telecommunications, we found ways to overcome isolation between the new colonies. We did that. We are a nation that has overcome geographic challenges, having one of the largest land masses and the largest search and rescue regions in the world.

Around one-third of Australians live outside metropolitan areas, and about two per cent of the population live in remote and very remote locations. Compared to metropolitan areas, rural and remote Australians generally:

For those living in rural, regional and remote Australia, finding services can often be difficult, if not impossible.

As our Deputy Prime Minister, the Leader of the National Party, has said, 'We will continue to make sure that for the people out there doing it tough, that you don't make their life tougher.'

This government is committed to bridging the city-country divide.

The common problems encountered in the bush necessitate the development and application of a dedicated framework which supports a nationally coordinated approach that is adaptable to local conditions.

Our commitment today is to ensure that regional, rural and remote communities will have a champion to advocate on their behalf so they are able to receive the support they need to deliver health services to local people.

This is all guided by a deep-lying principle that every Australian should have the right to access a high-quality standard of health care, no matter where they live.

To this end, this bill will pave the way to establish Australia's first-ever National Rural Health Commissioner. The commissioner is an integral part of our broader agenda to reform rural health in this nation.

Establishing this role will be achieved by amending the Health Insurance Act 1973, which will provide for the commissioner to be a statutory position, enabling them to carry out their duties independently and transparently.

The commissioner will work with regional, rural and remote communities, the health sector, universities, specialist training colleges and across all levels of government health administration to improve rural health policies and champion the cause of rural practice.

The position will be independent and impartial—a fearless champion. The commissioner will be someone who has extensive experience within the rural health sector, who is capable of collaborating and consulting closely with a broad range of stakeholders, and who has a passion for improving health outcomes in regional, rural and remote Australia.

The commissioner will be appointed for a period of two years, with a reappointment up until 30 June 2020.

As a part of the role, the commissioner will be required to submit a report to the responsible minister. This will outline findings and recommendations for consideration by the government.

The Minister must table a copy of the final report before each house of the parliament, within five sitting days of the House after the final report is given to the minister.

The commissioner will not be able to delegate his or her powers to anyone else, they will not hold any financial delegation powers, nor will they have any specific employment powers.

The commissioner will be assisted by staff from the Department of Health throughout the duration of their term.

Once appointed, the commissioner's first priority will be to develop National Rural Generalist Pathways. The aim of these pathways will be to address the most serious issue confronting the rural health sector: the lack of access to training for doctors in regional, rural and remote communities. Attracting and retaining more doctors and health professionals into country areas is essential if we are to improve access to health care around the coast and in the bush.

Rural generalists are faced with a unique set of challenges, and the commissioner will examine these while developing the generalist pathways.

It is widely recognised that rural generalists often have advanced training and a broader skill set than is required by doctors practising in metropolitan centres. In many instances, they perform duties in areas such as general surgery, obstetrics, anaesthetics and mental health. They not

only work longer hours but also are frequently on call after hours in acute care settings, such as accident and emergency and hospital admitted patient care.

However, despite the rural generalists' multidisciplinary skill set, demanding workload and geographic isolation, there is no national scheme in place which properly recognises this set of circumstances.

In developing the National Rural Generalist Pathways, the commissioner will consult with the health sector and training providers to define what it means to be a rural generalist. The commissioner will also examine appropriate remuneration for rural generalists, to ensure their extra skills and working hours are recognised. By addressing these areas, the pathways will help to encourage more doctors to practise in regional, rural and remote Australia.

While the development of the pathways will be the commissioner's first priority, the needs of nursing, dental health, pharmacy, Indigenous health, mental health, midwifery, occupational therapy, physical therapy and other allied health stakeholders will also be considered.

Health-care planning, programs and service delivery models must be adapted to meet the widely differing health needs of rural communities and overcome the challenges of geographic spread, low population density, limited infrastructure and the significantly higher costs of rural and remote health-care delivery.

In rural and remote areas, partnerships across health-care sectors and between health-care providers and other sectors will help address the economic and social determinants of health that are essential to meeting the needs of these communities. The commissioner will form and strengthen these relationships, across the professions and for all the communities.

It is worth noting that this government's commitment has been shared and welcomed by the sector. These are organisations that have been crucial in its development and I would like to thank:

In addition to establishing the role of the commissioner, this bill also contains two other amendments to the Health Insurance Act 1973.

It will repeal section 3GC of the act, to abolish the Medical Training Review Panel. In October 2014, members of the Medical Training Review Panel identified an overlap between their functions and those of the National Medical Training Advisory Network. Part of the advisory network's functions is to provide advice on medical workforce planning and medical training plans to inform government, employers and educators. Given this focus, it was agreed that the advisory network could pick up the panel's annual reporting obligations on medical education and training, and that the panel's role would cease. This measure will simplify legislation in the health portfolio.

The other amendment will be the repeal of section 19AD of the act. This will not affect any medical practitioner subject to the legislation, and will not affect the operation of any current workforce or training programs. It will remove a burdensome and ineffective process which required a review every five years of the operation of the Medicare provider number legislation, subsections 19AA, 3GA and 3GC of the Health Insurance Act 1973.

Previous reviews have not resulted in operational improvements to the legislation. Furthermore, recent developments in systems supporting Medicare provider number legislation and processes are not captured by section 19AD. Repealing this ineffectual measure in the act is a necessary measure.

To sum up, this bill is an important step forward for regional, rural and remote health in Australia.

This coalition government recognises the value of our rural communities and the special place they hold within the fabric of this country. People living in these communities make an enormous contribution to our national economy, and to the culture and character of Australia. Access to a quality standard of health care is what they deserve and are entitled to expect. The key is to recruit and retain more doctors and health professionals outside of the major cities, and that will be the focus of the National Rural Health Commissioner and our government.

With the appropriate training opportunities, recruitment, remuneration and ongoing support, the government is confident that more people will be encouraged to pursue a rewarding career in rural health.

Regional, rural and remote health is built on the commitment, the expertise and the courage of its workforce. We have some of the most resilient and passionate people working in this sector. The formation of the commissioner will help to provide the rural health workforce with the support it needs to carry out its vitally important work.

Finally, the commissioner will champion the incredible and rewarding opportunities of a career in rural medicine. Our government will do our best to hear you, to listen to you, and to make the necessary steps for our health system to work better for you.

Our coalition government looks forward to working closely with the National Rural Health Commissioner to ensure we can improve access to health services for all the men and women who call regional, rural and remote Australia home.

SOCIAL SERVICES LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (SIMPLIFYING STUDENT PAYMENTS) BILL 2016

SECOND READING SPEECH

This bill will introduce a package of measures that will simplify and support access to student payments by:

Youth allowance, Austudy and ABSTUDY Living Allowance are income support payments that provide financial assistance to full-time students and apprentices. The payments are designed to encourage people to undertake further education and training to enhance their employment and career prospects.

In the 2015-16 budget, the government committed over $60 million to commence the replacement of the ageing Centrelink IT system to support future welfare reform.

The measures in this bill support payment simplification, access to payments and future welfare reform by aligning payments settings, simplifying the administration of payments and making eligibility for student payments and concessions fairer and easier to understand.

I thank the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee for its report on the bill and its recommendation that the bill be passed. The committee received submissions from the National Welfare Rights Network and the Australian Council of Social Service both of which support the bill without amendments. I also thank these organisations for their support of the bill.

The government will continue to provide assistance for students and those most in need. The changes will not affect the overall value of student payments.

Aligning means testing rules

The first measure, aligning means testing rules, aims to simplify means testing and remove anomalies between student payments and other welfare payments. This measure is to commence from the first 1 January or 1 July after Royal Assent and will be achieved through a number of means.

Firstly, the family tax benefit income test and the youth parental income test will be harmonised, so that family tax benefit income details can be automatically reused for the youth parental income test. Parents will no longer be required to resubmit their income information to support a youth payment claim by one of their children.

Secondly, the integrity of the student payments means test will be improved by removing an anomaly that allows some partnered youth allowance and Austudy recipients to be subject to a more generous assets test than applies to all other youth allowance and Austudy recipients.

Integrity will also be improved by extending the trust and company rules that already apply to all other income support payments, to student payments. As a result, all of the income or assets held by students through a trust or company will be taken into account when establishing their entitlement to a payment.

Lastly, the pension income test exemption for regular gifts from immediate family members will be aligned across the social security system so that it also applies for student payments and other social security benefits.

Extending this exemption will remove a disincentive for families to provide support to family members. For dependent students, the parental means test already reduces a dependent child's youth payment where a parent has the ability to provide support, and it is not logical or equitable to further reduce the youth payment when the parent provides the expected support.

As per the explanatory memorandum tabled in parliament, this measure is estimated to save $778,000 over the forward estimates.

Simplifying eligibility for the Health Care Card issued to students

The second measure in this bill will ensure that from 1 January 2019 all students receiving income support will receive a concession card.

This change will allow all students receiving youth allowance (student), Austudy and ABSTUDY living allowance to automatically receive a Health Care Card. This will guarantee that around 240,000 students will receive Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme prescriptions at the concessional rate and access to the lower threshold of the Extended Medicare Safety Net when they receive a student payment. It may also provide greater access to bulk billing allowing students to focus on their studies without worrying about their medical costs.

This measure will improve consistency by aligning access to concession cards for students with other income support recipients.

Under the current rules, students are the only income support recipients not to qualify for an automatic issue Health Care Card. Instead, students can make a claim for a low income Health Care Card if their income is below a certain limit. This process is burdensome for students and costly for the Department of Human Services to administer. The automatic issue Health Care Card and the low income Health Care Card provide the same Australian government benefits to cardholders.

In 2017, holders of the Health Care Card and low income Health Care Card pay only $6.30 for each Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme prescription. Without a concession card these prescriptions could cost students up to $38.80 each. Access to a concession card means that once these students and their families' total out-of-pocket expenses for prescriptions reach the concessional Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme Safety Net of $378.00 or 60 prescriptions, they may receive Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme prescription items free of charge for the rest of the calendar year. These free Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme prescriptions are not available to people without a concession card.

In 2017, the annual threshold for both Health Care Card and low income Health Care Card holders for the Extended Medicare Safety Net is $656.30, instead of $2,056.30 for non-cardholders. Once the threshold has been met, Medicare will pay for 80 per cent of any further out-of-pocket costs for the rest of the calendar year for services including general practitioner and specialist attendances, as well as many pathology and diagnostic imaging services.

Currently, the application for the low income Health Care Card requires students to meet a more stringent income test, with the student needing to earn slightly less than the income limit for youth allowance over an eight week period. This measure will also extend these benefits to around 4,000 students who previously were not eligible for a concession card.

Currently, in most circumstances, student payment recipients must wait eight weeks to become eligible for a low income Health Care Card. This measure will ensure concessions are available to all students as soon as they start receiving an income support payment.

In order to avoid waiting eight weeks to become eligible for a low income Health Care Card, currently an applicant of a student payment can provide proof that their income was below the relevant limit in the previous eight weeks. Following introduction of this measure, students will no longer be required to produce this proof to be eligible for a concession card. Not only does this measure guarantee that student payment recipients will receive health-related concessions, it will cut red tape and reduce reporting requirements for these students.

The financial impact of this measure over the forward estimates will be a cost of $726,000.

Automatically updating the geographical classification

The third measure in this bill will, from the first 1 January or 1 July after Royal Assent, simplify the process for adopting the latest version of the 'Australian Statistical Geography Standard' remoteness structure published by the Australian Statistician which is used in the assessment of eligibility for student payments under the Social Security Act 1991.

Currently, youth allowance recipients whose family home is in a location geographically categorised under the remoteness structure as Inner Regional Australia, Outer Regional Australia, Remote Australia or Very Remote Australia can access additional benefits or concessional qualification requirements under the Social Security Act that are not available to students from major city areas. The additional benefits are:

These additional benefits are in recognition that students from regional and remote areas are more likely to have to relocate to study and have significantly lower participation rates in higher education than students from major city areas.

The geographical remoteness structure currently used in the Social Security Act to determine eligibility for these additional benefits is the 2006 'Australian Standard Geographic Classification', published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The '2006 remoteness structure' has been used to determine eligibility for student payments since 2011. However, the '2006 remoteness structure' is out of date and was subsequently superseded, in January 2013, by the 2011 'Australian Statistical Geography Standard' remoteness structure. The remoteness structure is updated every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, following each Census. The next update, which will be to the '2016 remoteness structure', is due in January 2018.

This measure will introduce amendments to the Social Security Act, so that qualification for student payments will automatically draw upon the updated remoteness structure, without the need for future legislative amendment when a new 'Australian Statistical Geography Standard' remoteness structure or any replacement remoteness structure is published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The 2011 'Australian Statistical Geography Standard' remoteness structure will apply from the first 1 January or 1 July after Royal Assent, with the 2016 version having effect from the first 1 January or 1 July to occur after the day of its publication. This will ensure that the assessment of qualification for youth allowance and the Relocation Scholarship is based on the latest available information on geographical classification.

This measure will result in some students, who were previously ineligible for payment, being able to qualify for youth allowance under the concessional workforce participation arrangements and the Relocation Scholarship, and they may qualify for a higher rate of the Relocation Scholarship.

There is a risk however that these changes could disadvantage students who commence study in a year that a remoteness structure update is released or who are partway through their course when their family home is no longer classified as located in a regional area. It is expected that the numbers of students affected will be very small.

However, students who are found ineligible for youth allowance under the concessional workforce participation independence criteria due to a change in the remoteness structure, may still qualify for Youth Allowance as a dependent or under one of the other independence criteria.

Students who are no longer eligible for the Relocation Scholarship due to their family home being reclassified as located in a major city area rather than a regional location, will still retain access to youth allowance, provided they continue to meet the qualification criteria.

Students who had previously qualified for youth allowance under the concessional workforce participation independence criteria using an earlier remoteness structure, will not have their qualification for youth allowance reassessed if their family home is classified as in a major city location of Australia under an updated remoteness structure. These students will retain their independent status.

The reclassification of areas is unlikely to have lasting or recurrent effects on students' payment eligibility given the cycle of five-yearly updates of the geographical classification document and that on average tertiary courses are completed in three to four years.

This measure is expected to have a cost neutral effect on the budget over the forward estimates.

Independent test for youth allowance and scholarship payments for students

The fourth measure in this bill was an election commitment and part of a package to support regional students' access to education. It will amend the rules governing when a person will be regarded as independent for the purposes of youth allowance and the Relocation Scholarship. This measure will reduce, from 18 months to 14 months, the period young people from regional and remote areas of Australia have to earn the amount required to satisfy the workforce independence provisions. This measure is to commence from 1 January 2018.

Students whose family home is in a regional or remote location can access youth allowance on the basis of being independent under concessional workforce participation arrangements. One way in which students can demonstrate they have supported themselves is through a period or periods of employment over 18 months since leaving secondary school, with earnings totalling at least 75 per cent of Wage Level A of the National Train