Josh Burns (Macnamara, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm very pleased to speak after the member for Canberra. It's always good to be in the chamber listening to the member for Canberra. It was a thoughtful and considered response by the member, and I know that she cares deeply about this important reform, as we all do in this place. Regarding the Accord interim report, I'm going to start my remarks by making some broader comments about the process and about the challenges that many people face in our university sector, as well as the importance of it. Then I will go through some of the details of the Higher Education Support Amendment (Response to the Australian Universities Accord Interim Report) Bill 2023.

The first thing to say is that the Universities Accord comes at probably one of the most important times in our university sector's history. The changes that are on the table and the reforms that are being led by the Minister for Education are crucial because we need, in order to develop the economy of the future, skilled Australians who are able to attain qualifications from university. We know that Australians are facing extreme pressures around the costs of living, and the cost of attaining education cannot be a deterrent for people. We want to make sure that education is accessible for every single Australian who wants it. We want to make sure that education, the great enabler of social mobility, is available for as many Australians as possible. That's why we are having a deep-dive look into our university sector—not only the courses that are available and the priority that some of the courses get but also the affordability of life after university and the affordability of Australian students to participate in and access university. Fundamentally, probably the most important question is about access to university and ensuring that there are enough places in Australia that are available to people from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds so that, no matter what postcode you were born in, you have a chance to study.

In my own family, both of my grandparents on my father's side left school when they were 13 years old, and they never had the chance to go to university. My grandmother, before she passed away, loved to read. She would consume books, fiction and non-fiction, and she was an extremely academic person. But, due to her socioeconomic background and the world she was born into, she never had the opportunity to go to university. We need to ensure that that's not the experience for Australians today.

This interim report comes at a time when we need to make sure that we are providing access to universities for younger Australians. We need to make sure that, when they are in university, they are supported, which goes to some of the recommendations that I'll outline in a moment, and also, when they leave university, they are able to manage the accumulation of government debt. We all know that in a high inflationary environment, the HECS debt, which has traditionally always been a very low interest loan, has been more expensive for students over this period, which is another reminder of why we need to get inflation down as low as possible. But the HECS system has served Australians really well. It has meant that, for the amount that governments are putting into university, we've been able to open the doors to university far wider, for more students across the country.

The bill that's before the parliament at the moment implements priority recommendations of the Australian Universities Accord interim report. This report was released by the Minister for Education in July this year and brings together the ideas and expertise of some of our country's leading experts in academic, business and public policy. Personally, this bill demonstrates why this Labor government is committed to ensuring that every Australian has the opportunity to access and benefit from higher education. The interim report shows us just how powerful education can be in shaping not only one person's journey but that of whole communities and our entire nation. Education isn't some secret club meant for only the chosen few. It's a game changer. It's a great enabler of social mobility that provides people with life-changing opportunities. The government has confirmed that we will implement each of the recommendations of the interim report. With this bill we endeavour to reaffirm the belief that every individual, regardless of their background and circumstances, deserves the opportunity to pursue higher education and unlock their full potential.

In my own electorate, I'm lucky to have two great universities: the Caulfield campus of Monash University and the Southbank campus of the University of Melbourne. We also have the wonderful Victorian College of the Arts and other institutions, including NIDA, which enable higher education. Macnamara has one of the highest concentrations of tertiary students of any electorate, and I am very proud of that. I'm very proud of the fact that many people in my electorate have gone to university and that they are able to use those skills to add to the Australian story. We need highly qualified people to come and contribute to the Australian economy. Let me say that we are also extremely proud of our TAFE graduates, we're extremely proud of and reliant on our skilled workers, and we're extremely proud of our tradespeople. We are home to all and we need people from all different skills backgrounds. Whether they're in the creative sector or the financial services sector, or anything in between or connected, we are very proud to have people in our electorate of Macnamara.

The interim report of the Australian Universities Accord recommended that we create more university study hubs in the regions and in the outer suburbs. I recognise that not every part of Australia has the concentration of university graduates that I do in my electorate, and we need to make it as fair and accessible as possible. As a member proudly representing an inner-city seat, I certainly agree that people in the outer suburbs and the regions deserve the same access to university education as anyone else in the country, certainly the same as people inside the cities. Concentrating higher education in the cities creates pressure on the rental housing market, which is something that's playing out in my electorate at the moment.

One of the report's most important recommendations concerns the so-called 50 per cent pass rule, which a number of speakers have spoken about. Under this rule, students are currently required to pass at least 50 per cent of the units of study they undertake to continue eligibility for Commonwealth assistance. The pass rate is assessed after they have completed eight units in a bachelor degree, or higher, or four units in a shorter course. Students who fail more than half will lose their eligibility for Commonwealth assistance. This rule was introduced in 2022 by the previous coalition government to dissuade students from continuing in courses that they are allegedly not academically suited for.

Let's break this down. The practical effect of these measures was to discourage students and increase the dropout rate. As Labor warned at the time, the impact of the rule disproportionately affected students from First Nations, low socioeconomic backgrounds and other underrepresented or educationally disadvantaged cohorts. More than 13,000 students at 27 universities have already been affected by this rule, and the removal of the rule has been called for from universities right across the country. We should be supporting students, not forcing them to quit. That's why this bill scraps the 50 per cent rule, but it does more than that. It introduces requirements on universities and other providers to have policies in place to support students to successfully complete their studies.

The report also recommended that we extend the funding currently provided to Indigenous students from regional and remote areas to cover all Indigenous students. In Victoria, the majority of First Nations people live in Melbourne. If we want to help them get a higher education, as we certainly should, we need to even the playing field and ensure that this funding is available to all Indigenous students. This funding was implemented in 2021 in response to the National Regional, Rural and Remote Education Strategy. Of course, assisting First Nations people living in rural, regional and remote areas to have better access to higher education is a very, very good thing, but there's no real reason why all Indigenous students should not get the benefit of this support.

Accordingly, the bill aims to increase First Nations enrolment numbers by expanding the eligibility of demand driven funding to include metropolitan First Nations students studying bachelor and bachelor honours courses. This measure directly supports efforts towards achieving Closing the Gap outcome 6: by 2031, to increase the proportion of First Nations people aged 25 to 34 who have completed a tertiary qualification to 70 per cent. This means there will be no cap on the number of First Nations students that can enrol in Commonwealth supported places, and providers will receive Commonwealth funding for all Indigenous students. The Department of Education estimates that this will double the number of Indigenous students at university within a decade. This measure is strongly supported by the universities.

We know that investing in education is investing in the very foundation of our nation's growth and prosperity. This bill shows the dedication of the Labor government to shaping a higher education landscape that is based on the values of inclusivity, innovation and access to opportunity. It reflects our commitment to collaboration between government, the university sector and industry, forging a future where education is not a privilege for a few who live in the right suburbs and go to the right schools but is available to all Australians, regardless of their background.

The work going on as part of the interim report is important. It will determine whether or not young people in Australia have access to a future beyond their postcode. It will ensure that Australians are not disadvantaged just based on whether or not their parents are able to afford a particular path in life. We need to make sure that public education is invested in constantly and we need to make sure that access to our quality universities is invested in constantly. It changed my family's life—a classic migrant family's story of coming to this country with nothing, but, within a couple of generations, able to have access to higher education and create a wonderful life for our family and for the generations to come. University is great enabler. It's a great tool to enable social mobility, and this universities accord is going to be the defining policy work that will determine how many Australians are able to access affordable university education that literally changes their life.

I am very pleased to be involved in this policy area with the Minister for Education. I know how much he cares about and values our university sector. I know that he has been working closely with all members of the committee that has been leading the universities accord. We thank them for their work. We thank them for their diligence. We thank them for the interim report. This bill is the response to the interim report and implements its recommendations, and I commend the bill to the House.

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