Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Vocational Education and Skills) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to make some brief introductory remarks overall for this portfolio. Clearly, the issues that we are facing in education are quite significant for us, and it is important that, as we go forward, we approach education funding as a continuum. I have on a number of occasions in this place made it very clear that in fact, when the government look at education funding, we do so on the basis that we are looking at education as a continuum. It starts at the preschool, the kindergarten, area. It moves through the primary and secondary schooling. It goes through, potentially, vocational education—although clearly, if you look at the education highway, that is a destination in itself—but clearly a pathway through to higher education. So the education stream that we look at is a continuum, and we on this side are very conscious that what we do has an impact on all parts of that education highway.

Let me say that in schools we are delivering, for the first time in Australia, a funding model that is fair, genuinely needs based, transparent and sector blind and provides unprecedented certainty to schools with its 10-year transition and enduring framework. We are delivering what the Gonski report actually proposed, to replace messy funding arrangements corrupted by special deals, trade-offs and a lack of transparency. We are delivering a funding model such that students and schools with the same need attract the same support from the Commonwealth regardless of where they live and regardless of what type of non-government school they attend. We are delivering a true level playing field for how funds are allocated to schools and greater transparency about who gets what.

We are delivering record investment into Australian schools. These are real funding increases, with an extra $18.6 billion over the next 10 years. Over 2018 to 2027, Commonwealth school funding will be a record $242.3 billion. Funding grows every year, from $17.5 billion in 2017 to $30.6 billion in 2027. We have appointed David Gonski to lead the Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools so that our extra education dollars can be invested to improve our nation's education performance. The Turnbull government is committed to a school funding system that is fairer, nationally consistent, needs based and transparent.

With regard to higher education, more than a year ago, on budget night 2016, the Turnbull government set out possible elements of a revised higher education reform package. The Turnbull government took full fee deregulation off the table. The Minister for Education and Training said he would listen and consult, and that is exactly what he has done. After 1,200 submissions, countless meetings with stakeholders and advice from an expert advisory panel, the Turnbull government in this budget reversed the previous package of reforms and proposed a new package. The package is fair. It ensures sustainability so that, irrespective of financial means or background, future generations of students will continue to access higher education. It also seeks to ensure that higher education institutions are held to account for the learning experiences and job outcomes of their students, for whom they receive significant and growing taxpayer subsidies.

Not only does this package of higher education reforms keep the demand-driven system; it has ensured that we can pay for it and at the same time offers more choice to students by extending access to diplomas, advanced diplomas and associate degrees. We are, for the first time, funding work experience in industry as part of university courses. We will support up to eight regional study hubs in more regional and remote parts of the country, and we are seeking to enshrine the Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program, which supports low-SES, regional and Indigenous students, in legislation.

Funding for higher education has grown at twice the rate of growth in the economy, and, with these proposed reforms, funding is still projected to grow by 23 per cent between now and 2021. This package is fair because it is asking students who have not had an across-the-board fee increase in over a decade to pay a little more—1.8 per cent more next year. It is asking universities to fund from further efficiencies, through an on-average two per cent reduction to base teaching and learning funding, and the taxpayer will also contribute through this package, given $700 million less in savings. The taxpayer will continue to fund, on average, 54 per cent of the teaching and learning costs at universities despite many of those taxpayers having never been to university. This package is fair, it is sustainable and it will drive improved transparency and better outcomes. (Time expired)

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