Sally Sitou (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The benefits of higher education are clear. University graduates are more likely to be employed compared to their non-graduate counterparts. Seventy-two per cent of bachelor's degree graduates are in full-time employment within four months of completing their studies, compared to 58 per cent of people with a high school qualification. Australian workers with a university degree earned 55 per cent more than those who only completed year 10.

Higher education is good for the individual and good for our economy and society, and the future of work demands it. To support the growth of the Australian economy, education, skills and training are the most critical components. Of the 1.2 million new jobs projected to be created over the next five years, nine out of 10 of those jobs are forecast to require post-secondary education.

But, when I think about those statistics and the insatiable need for skilled labour in this country, it does give me pause for thought. Why? Because of my own family story. My parents came to this country 45 years ago. They fled their homeland and were lucky to call Australia home—a country that gave them refuge. But, when my parents came here, they had limited formal education and spoke very little English. They worked hard in factories, where they were able to find secure work with good conditions. They were able to go on to give my brother and me the work and education opportunities they never had, and my family was able to thrive here. I went on to have the most incredible career, working in international development in the Asia-Pacific and then in international education. Now I'm a federal member of parliament.

That was only possible because of two key opportunities this country gave my parents. The first was that they were welcomed here in the late 1970s. The second was the opportunity to get good, secure work with good conditions despite the limited education and skills they had. So, when I hear that the vast majority of jobs of the future will require post-secondary qualifications, it does give me reason to reflect. Would people like my parents be left behind in this new world, where there is an ever-increasing demand for skilled workers?

When we talk about the future of work, we need to make sure we are opening opportunities for all, regardless of their background, the postcode where they grew up or the school they meant to. But, for too long, those opportunities have been closed for some. In 2008, about 15 per cent of undergraduates came from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Fifteen years later, that proportion has not budged. It is sitting at around 17 per cent now. We must do better.

The doors of opportunity that higher education can provide must be available for all because higher education is transformative for an individual and transformative for a society. It makes me think of someone like Professor Rae Cooper from the University of Sydney—the first in her family to go to university. Moving to Sydney to study was a big adventure for a country kid from Merriwa in the Upper Hunter. The adjustment for a country kid studying at one of Australia's leading universities in Sydney can be overwhelming. That was something Professor Cooper experienced, and she dropped out in her first semester. She returned the next year, and she not only survived university but thrived, majoring in industrial relations at the University of New South Wales. Professor Cooper was awarded the university medal, and a lifelong love of research in work, employment and women began. She went on to complete her PhD at the University of Sydney, and she's been there ever since, and we are all the beneficiaries of that.

Professor Cooper has gone on to become one of the most influential researchers and thinkers on women in the workplace. She is the co-director of the Women, Work and Leadership Research Group at the University of Sydney Business School, an initiative studying gender and work, women's careers and flexible employment. Such has been the invaluable contribution of her research that she was awarded an Order of Australia in 2019. However, her contribution extends far beyond research and its application. Professor Cooper has been a mentor for so many students who needed extra support at university. In her own words, she said she spent 20 years identifying and seeking out students who looked lost in class. Down to the last one, they were first-in-family students, usually from the country or outer suburbs.

Professor Cooper was also my university supervisor, so I experienced firsthand how invaluable her mentorship can be. I am thankful to Professor Cooper for her support of me, the child of migrants from the western suburbs of Sydney and a first-in-family student. And there were so many other students. She changed lives in more ways than one. Professor Cooper's story is just one example of the transformative power of education. I'm proud to be part of a government that recognises this and values our universities.

This bill implements the priority recommendations of the Australian Universities Accord interim report. We are creating university study hubs in our regions and outer suburbs. These study hubs have been successful in helping students, particularly those from rural and regional areas, adjust to universities, because they are located closer to home, closer to family support and networks. We think students shouldn't have to leave their community to succeed at university. We are scrapping the 50 per cent pass rule. It has disproportionately affected First Nations students, those of low socio-economic status, those who are first in family, and other underrepresented cohorts of students. We should be helping students to succeed, not punishing them when they fall behind and forcing them to quit.

So that universities can target their support, we'll require better reporting on how students are progressing that identifies students who are struggling and connects them with support services. We will extend demand-driven funding to all Indigenous students. Currently an Indigenous young man has a higher chance of going to jail than to university, and that's just not right. Those young people are missing the chance to develop a career and, with that, a brighter future. And Australia is missing out on their untapped talent. We will provide funding certainty to higher education institutions during the accord process by extending the Higher Education Continuity Guarantee into 2024-25, with funding arrangements that prioritise support for equity students. Stronger higher education is good for the individual and good for our economy.

I want to contrast what we are doing on this side of the House with what those opposite did when they were in government. What did the previous coalition government do? Who was the education minister? Not sure? I don't even think the Morrison government knew who the education minister was for much of their time. Was it the former member for Aston, Alan Tudge? Yes, until he was benched. Was it the former member for Fadden, Stuart Robert? Yes. He was acting education minister for a short time. Neither of them is in our parliament today, which is probably for the best. Let's look at their legacy. What did they do for higher education when they were ministers for education? It's not a great legacy. They actively undermined the sector and oversaw the highest number of job losses this sector has ever seen. There are estimates of around 12,000 jobs lost during the pandemic.

We on this side of the House see higher education as integral to the future of this country. Whether it's transforming our economy to clean, reliable and affordable power, rebuilding our manufacturing capacity through the National Reconstruction Fund or providing the essential workforce required by defence industry in the years ahead, a robust and high-performing higher education system is fundamental. We need a post-secondary education sector that deliver the better skilled, better trained workforce Australia needs.

The Minister for Education, Jason Clare, has appointed Professor Mary O'Kane to lead the team that has developed the interim report for the Australian Universities Accord. The accord will build on a long-term plan for Australia's higher education system. It is the first broad review of the higher education system since the Bradley review, almost 15 years ago, and is long overdue. It provides an opportunity to examine the system as a whole. The university accord process provides an excellent opportunity to explore how our higher education institutions can deliver quality education and training that meets the needs of students and develops the skills needed now and in the future.

I am particularly interested in how the process can assist in improving the student experience, fostering lifelong learning by enabling students to develop transferable skills and move more easily between sectors. The accord will drive lasting and transformational reform in the higher education sector. We on this side of the House want to make sure that we are opening the doors of higher education and all the opportunities that come with that—open for all, regardless of their background. I welcome some of the key findings from the interim report and look forward to seeing the final report, which is due in December, later this year.

I worked at the University of Sydney for almost a decade, so I got to see firsthand the transformative power of education. I saw that through the teaching that was happening with so many of the students who came to the University of Sydney. Many were first in family, many were from regional and rule areas of Australia and many were Indigenous students. We are better for it. I also saw the transformative power of higher education through the research that was happening there. There was incredible expertise, incredible researchers doing important work and looking at the grand problems that we as a society face. I saw what they were able to do during the COVID pandemic. They were providing expert advice at a time when we as a society needed it the most.

Our higher education system changes lives, changes families and changes our society. We on this side of the House want to make sure that the doors of higher education and opportunity are open to all, including for people like me, a kid from Western Sydney from a migrant background, and someone like Professor Rae Cooper, a kid from country New South Wales.

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