Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this Student Identifiers Bill 2014, noting that it is part of the coalition government's wider agenda to invest in the skilled workers of the future. For too long higher education support has focused on universities and neglected trades and apprenticeships. While this bill is quite technical and uncontroversial, it is an important step in the right direction to ensure that young people starting trades and apprenticeships are not left behind and are given as much support as possible to start study and complete their course. This bill establishes a national lifelong unique student identifier, USI, for students in the vocational education training, VET, sector who undertake nationally recognised training from 1 January 2015. The current situation is that information about vocational education enrolments, participation and completions of courses is disorganised, incomplete and inaccurate. The measures outlined in this bill will fix this issue.

Information is usually collected many times at considerable and unnecessary cost to training providers. This is obviously a waste of time and resources that could be better spent on training the apprentices. The USI is an integral part of the government's strategy to address these problems and improve efficiency. An immediate benefit will be that the USI will operate in conjunction with the Total VET Activity program to help rationalise the way VET data is collected and used—to collect data once and use many times—lessening the burden on training providers. This bill will allow students to more easily explore and access further training as well as making it easier to promote their skills in the labour market. Students and apprentices will be able access their national training records online anytime and almost anywhere. They will also be able to share their data with prospective employers. The USI will allow governments to better assure the integrity of training programs and investments by facilitating accountability for public funds and the delivery of certified training.

As I highlighted earlier, this bill is just part of the coalition's agenda for investing in the skilled workers of the future and broadening the focus of education assistance, not just on universities but to the VET sector as well. The coalition government is investing in national productivity gains and the skilled workers of the future, delivering on our commitment for the $1.9 billion Trade Support Loans to equip young apprentices with the skills for real world jobs.

As part of the coalition government's comprehensive plan to create a more responsible skills and training system that cuts red tape and trains apprentices who are job ready, trade support loans are to start from 1 July 2014. Australia's productivity and competitiveness depend on a highly trained workforce. Trade support loans will help more apprentices complete their training and get the skills they need to fill the jobs that businesses actually want. Many young apprentices do it tough in the early years, and the government's proposed loans, paid monthly, will ease the financial burden and help increase training completion rates. Trade support loans are interest free. They are indexed annually with CPI but are not subject to a commercial rate of interest, as a bank loan would be. This is a policy that the coalition took to the election, and it is a policy that we are now implementing in government. The coalition's trade support loans are a responsible investment in the nation's future tradespeople.

The Australian government has an Economic Action Strategy that will build a stronger economy, create new jobs and bring Labor's debt and deficit disaster under control. The Trade Support Loans program offers loans of up to $20,000 which are repayable once apprentices are earning a sustainable income of more than $50,000. Apprentices will receive a 20 per cent reduction in the amount of the loan once they complete their training. The program targets occupations on the National Skills Needs List such as plumbers, diesel mechanics, electricians and fitters, as well as priority areas in horticulture and agriculture, with more than 1,000 qualifications eligible.

The coalition government is building a diverse, five-pillar economy that focuses on our strengths in manufacturing and innovation, agricultural exports, advanced services, world-class education and research, and mining. The government will continue to work with industry to ensure that the skills and training sector is responsive to its needs and is an effective catalyst for the industries and jobs of the future. I am proud to stand on this side of the House today discussing just one of the many measures that the coalition government is taking to invest in the skilled workers of the future.

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