Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This House has heard me on a number of occasions talk passionately about my love of strong health systems, universal health care and a robust higher education sector that provides opportunities to all. I'm really delighted to speak today on a piece of legislation that will deliver great health outcomes and encourage the education of health practitioners in our regions, because that sector matters to Labor and it's clear we have a problem there.

This legislation, the Higher Education Support Amendment (2022 Measures No. 1) Bill 2022, protects students from experiencing unfair financial hits due to the changes to higher education fee structures introduced by the previous government in the Job-ready Graduates Package, in cases where students have already commenced a course or are forced to change courses for a range of reasons out of their control. The legislation also provides a real incentive to doctors and nurse practitioners to work in regional and rural areas, by providing a reduction of 50 or 100 per cent in their HELP debt, the figure depending on the time they spend in an eligible rural, remote or very remote location and on whether the location is rural, remote or very remote.

This legislation ensures that there are grandfathering measures for HECS-HELP arrangements, to ensure that students are not disadvantaged by the Job-ready Graduates Package introduced by the previous government. It's important that, when students are undertaking honours courses, they are not unfairly hit with higher costs due to a change in higher education policy that was introduced after they had begun their course of study. Given I have both Monash and Deakin universities in my electorate, this has the potential to impact many students in Chisholm. It is really important that we protect those students from the financial hit they would suddenly experience if we did not grandfather the HECS-HELP provisions.

This measure also protects students who, through absolutely no fault of their own, have had their courses discontinued or restructured or have been forced to change courses by their education provider. It would be unfair to deny these students grandfathering protection, so that is one of the very good reasons we are introducing this legislation. I'm really pleased that the government have recognised this problem in the system and that we are taking this very important step of grandfathering HECS-HELP obligations for students who otherwise would perhaps be unfairly hit with a financial penalty.

Mr Deputy Speaker, we know we are in the midst of a jobs and skills crisis. Indeed, that's why our government made it a priority to host the Jobs and Skills Summit here in Canberra just after we were elected, just over six months ago. I ran a local forum in my beautiful community in Chisholm too. We've heard, through these various fora, about the acute shortage of professionals in the healthcare system and the grim impacts that that is having across communities right around the country. At the recent jobs and skills round table that I hosted in Chisholm, I heard about the importance of general practitioners as the load-bearing scaffolding of the health system. I know this really well. I was raised in a family with a father who was a general practitioner running his own business and doing so much work to support our community.

I've met with Deacon and Monash universities about this issue, and I'm really grateful for their insights and expertise in this area. Both Professor Christina Mitchell, from the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Monash University, and Professor Iain Martin, Vice-Chancellor of Deakin University, have generously shared with me their valuable thoughts on what we can do to meet our current and future workforce needs. I look forward to continuing to meet with them and listen to their expertise in advocating for evidence based solutions to problems we face as a community and as a country.

I don't know if the House is aware of this, but I was born in Traralgon, and we were living there because my dad, a doctor, and my mum, who was a nurse, had relocated from Melbourne to complete their training and assist with a workforce shortage in the region at the time, working at the local hospital. So there unfortunately have been shortages in our region for some time. It's critical that governments invest to attract to the regions health practitioners, especially GPs and nurse practitioners, who can help relieve some of the pressure experienced in hospitals and emergency departments, which happens when we don't intervene in health issues early. We know that, more often than not, early intervention leads to better outcomes for patients and is better for the economy too.

I'm really proud to be part of an Australian government that understands the problems facing communities in the regions and wants to provide real solutions—real outcomes for Australians and our communities. I'm really pleased that we're getting on with delivering the policies and solutions we need to build a better future. That's why ensuring that we establish a HELP debt reduction program for rural doctors and nurse practitioners is really important—that is, extending this incentive beyond what was introduced previously and came into effect on 1 January this year. This will ensure updates to outstanding HELP debts processed annually through the taxation system.

We are investing a significant amount in incentives for eligible doctors and nurse practitioners, and it is really important. This legislation will pay off doctors' and nurse practitioners' loans if they work in these communities, and I think that's a fantastic thing. This will make a difference both to communities and to those who would otherwise be carrying a significant HELP debt, often when they are at the beginning of their working life. The aim here is to attract students to fill the critical shortage of health workers in regional areas, and we've heard the Rural Doctors Association of Australia say that that numbers in the thousands. Eligible doctors and nurse practitioners will be encouraged to live in these areas. This will reduce their HELP debt significantly.

There are so many benefits to this for the individuals who are able to utilise this scheme and for our wonderful regional communities. We know that rural GPs are more likely to be able to provide in-hospital care as well as private consulting room care. We know that more GPs in rural areas provide after-hours services. We know that they engage in the public health roles expected of them by their communities where there often may be few doctors to choose from. They can engage in clinical procedures and emergency care. They are able to provide real holistic support to the communities that they serve, and I've seen this firsthand in my own family.

Although my electorate is not a rural area, the Monash medical school students who study in my electorate will more easily be able to choose to practise in remote areas of Victoria and Australia. I've met with some outstanding medical and nursing students at Monash University in Clayton. It is clear they are passionate about the work they do and love learning on the job. This program will give them the chance to practise in remote and regional areas and develop expertise in new communities or will allow them the opportunity to serve communities that they already had ties to before they moved to Melbourne to study.

This means people can start their careers and not have what is sometimes a real financial worry—HELP debt. I know that my parents as young health practitioners benefited from building a community as they were building their careers in Gippsland. When we moved to Melbourne a few years later to be closer to my grandparents I know the experience that they had in regional Victoria was really important for our family. They really got a lot out of being able to develop their skills and contribute their skills to the people who needed them.

This legislation does a number of things. I'm really pleased that we've introduced it to the parliament. It importantly protects students from the changes made to higher education fee structures that would have unfairly impacted those who commenced courses prior to its introduction or who were forced to change courses due to the external factors described in the legislation. It provides a real boost to our medical workforce, particularly in regional Australia, which is very dearly needed.

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