Emma McBride (Dobell, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention) Share this | Hansard source

In the entirety of New South Wales, it sits at around 30 per cent. That's twice as high as in communities like ours. The Higher Education Support Amendment (Response to the Australian Universities Accord Interim Report) Bill 2023 is especially important for communities that I represent and that Minister Conroy and Dr Reid in Robertson on the Central Coast of New South Wales represent.

On the Central Coast we have the University of Newcastle. We've got campuses in Gosford and Ourimbah. People who attend university in my community are often juggling work, study, commuting and family commitments. Compared to other communities, they are more likely to come through an enabling program, like Yapug and Open Foundation, than directly from school. In fact, 30 per cent of commencing students at Ourimbah come through enabling programs, and the University of Newcastle has always had a focus firmly on equity and excellence. That makes it all the more important for a region like the Central Coast and the outer suburbs and regions around Australia. We need to do better at creating opportunities in our regions and our outer suburbs, like the Central Coast, with pathways to higher education and better support for students when they get there at whatever age or whatever time of life.

In my capacity as Assistant Minister for Rural and Regional Health, the education divide between the city and the bush is clear, and it plays out in peoples' lives and in their health, quality of life and life expectancy. As Minister Clare has said time and again, in the regions only 13 per cent of people have a university degree in Australia today. As I mentioned, that rate of higher education is reflected in their health care and that of their communities.

Recently, the Royal Flying Doctor Service released the Best for the bush, rural and remote health base line 2022 report. It showed that women living in the most remote parts of Australia are likely to die 19 years sooner than their city counterparts. It also found that those living in very remote areas are almost three times more likely to be hospitalised. This government's challenge—and my challenge as the assistant minister assisting Minister Mark Butler for rural and regional health—is to help turn this around. We need to turn this around. Our communities are relying on us to make this change. These regions are calling out for more GPs, nurses, dieticians, podiatrists and psychologists, just to name a few. But all of those jobs require degrees. We know that the best way to have health workers and health practitioners in the bush and in the outer suburbs is to train them there. The reality is that health professionals educated in Camperdown aren't moving to Condobolin, and this needs to change.

The recommendation of the Australian Universities Accord interim report, led by Professor Mary O'Kane and released by the minister last month, makes that very plain. I was pleased to see that one such recommendation was to create more university study hubs in the regions and in the outer suburbs. This is absolutely critical reform. Our government has committed to doing just that. There are currently 34 of these study hubs in regional Australia. We have committed to 20 more in the regions, and, for the first time, we will be setting up 14 in the outer suburbs of major cities. Because for those kids growing up in the outer suburbs, this has become a big and growing challenge, as much as it is for those in the regions.

This year, I've had the chance to visit and meet with students at rural clinical schools right around Australia, including in Cairns, Far North Queensland, Orange, Bathurst in New South Wales and Launceston in Tasmania. These young people are a testament to the changing structure of our higher education system and the changing nature of our healthcare system. It's not only kids of doctors who can become doctors in Australia today; it's the sons and daughters of farmers and teachers and firefighters who will contribute to their communities and make that much-needed change for their communities, lifting those communities, lifting the economic purpose, lifting the financial security of those communities and, in turn, providing the health care that those communities so desperately need and deserve. The answer to more doctors for the bush is to train more kids from the bush. A key part of that is giving every Australian—wherever they're born, wherever they live, wherever they grow up—the very best opportunity to get to higher education, whether through TAFE or university, and to succeed when they get there.

Another recommendation from the Australian Universities Accord interim report is to remove the 50 per cent pass rule. As it currently stands, students are required to pass at least half of their units of study to keep their eligibility for Commonwealth assistance. The rule was implemented by the former coalition government back in January 2022 as part of what they called their job-ready graduates programs. However, what we have seen and what has been borne out is that it's nothing but punitive for struggling students. As the minister noted, Universities Australia has described the rule as 'widely regarded as being unnecessarily harsh'. It disproportionately effects first nations students, students from low socioeconomic backgrounds and underrepresented students.

I have visited many students at the University of Newcastle, Ourimbah Campus. Many of them, through the enabling programs, have told me about their own experiences, where they've had caring responsibilities for a loved one and the financial situation in their household has meant that they couldn't successfully finish school or where the challenges their family had to face made it really tough for them to be able to get through secondary school. In my community, students will likely come through an enabling program like Open Foundation or Yapug.

It's so important that those students have the very best support to succeed, particularly in a tough semester. When I was taking my final exam to be a pharmacist, one of my close friends from school passed away. That can have a big impact on you when you're going to take an exam, when you're sitting an oral exam. We need to make sure that the right scaffolding is there in support around people to make sure that when they get there, after all the struggle to complete secondary school or get through an enabling program—when they're at university—they get the very best chance to succeed. So I am so pleased on behalf of the many young people and other people in my community who have been adversely impacted by this that this is going to change. It's an important change. As I said, the rule disproportionately affects First Nations students, students from communities like mine and other underrepresented types of students. That you could lose your education support because of the death of a family member or you have caring responsibilities resulting in a particularly tough semester is not fair. The removal of this rule has been called for by universities across Australia, and I'm pleased that we're doing it. I'm pleased to support this amendment bill because it does just that, remove the unfair and unjust rule that affects students who are doing it tough.

While we do that, we need to give students the best chance to succeed not only academically but personally. That means that we need better approaches for identifying students who need help and we need to get better at connecting students to that support. We need to provide enough wraparound support for students—financial, housing and, importantly, mental health and wellbeing support. I note the former minister, the member for Wannon, is in the House. I'm sure that what he did was well intentioned, but we are seeing students who are struggling and who are worse off because of it. We're pleased to see that it is being scrapped. We need to take into consideration the person behind the laptop and make sure that we're giving that person the best chance of success, and that is what these amendments are about.

Deputy Speaker Freelander, with your indulgence, I would like to finish on a personal note if I may. To my nephew Gus: happy 21st birthday! I know just how challenging it was to complete school and your sound-engineering course through COVID and while juggling work. Your mum and dad and our family are very proud of you and the creative, kind, capable young man you are today. So many young people like my nephew Gus and my niece Isabel went through that very difficult time of finishing secondary school through COVID and making that start in life, whether it was through higher education or going straight into the workforce. With my responsibilities as Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, it is absolutely front of mind for us to make sure that every young person, whatever their circumstances—who have, particularly, been through this very challenging time—gets the best start in life, and that is part of this legislation, to give them the best chance.

As I said at the beginning, education can be a great leveller, but that is only the case if we give everyone the chance of a world-class education. Australia has some of the best universities in the world; I was fortunate to attend Sydney university. We need to make sure that all Australians have a chance to walk through their gates and to leave with the very best start in life—a quality education.

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