Julie-Ann Campbell (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am always delighted and pleased to be able to have the opportunity to talk about vocational education and training. That's not just because in my electorate on Brisbane's southside we are home to the flagship Acacia Ridge TAFE, but it does give me a little bit of an opportunity to brag about it, because it's something we are very proud of in the electorate of Moreton. It's the largest trade training centre not just in Brisbane, not just in Queensland and not just in Australia but in the entire Southern Hemisphere. I had the great pleasure of being able to host the Deputy Prime Minister when we tried out dino chassis behind the wheel of a car. I've had the great pleasure of hosting Mr Giles, working through how battery technology works and talking to the students about their experiences at their TAFE.

The Acacia Ridge campus is 22 hectares of purpose-built, state-of-the-art training facilities. I always enjoy visiting there because it's a hive of activity. It offers a wide range of trade related courses in automotives, building construction, electrotechnology, engineering, manufacturing and design, resources and mining, transport and utilities. It's all about making sure that we are giving people, many of them young people, access to the skills that we as a nation need for the future. The VET sector delivers vital industry-specific skills and qualifications across all of these fields and many more—helping to boost economic development, helping to enhance business efficiency and helping to tackle workforce skills gaps. The Labor government is supporting people to do that.

We're supporting people to learn, we're supporting people to train, we're supporting people to work and we're supporting people to gain skills that will make their lives better and that will make our country better. We're supporting them to be the people who make the things that we need, we're supporting them to be the people who build the homes and houses that we need and we're supporting them to be the people to care for our loved ones in an ageing population. Data from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research from September 2024 indicated that 5.1 million students took part in nationally recognised training in 2023, which is a 10.8 per cent increase from 2022. What that means is that we have more Australians—in my part of the world, more southsiders—who have pathways to skilling, pathways to a future, pathways to job security and pathways to ensuring that they not only have jobs but have good jobs.

Of this number 3.5 million students studied standalone subjects. Over 2.1 million gained full qualifications and 230,000 completed short courses. This is about the skills that our country needs and, contrary to what you might hear, it is working people—particularly those who have been trained just as in Acacia Ridge—who drive our economy. It is the working people who grow our economy. It is the working people who make sure that our economy is moving forward. Many of these students were able to study thanks to the VET Student Loans, VSL, program. This program supports eligible students to cover tuition fees for approved higher level—such as diplomas and above—VET courses at approved providers. The aim of the program is to promote courses and to grow the workforce in areas that align with industry needs, with what our country needs and with what business needs. The VET Student Loans (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2025 concerns the administration of these loans.

This bill addresses an issue with the administration of VET student loans which was identified during a recent review. It concerns the handling of students' tax file numbers and the fact that the VET Student Loans Act 2016 does not authorise VSL providers to handle tax file numbers. VSL providers are registered training organisations which are authorised by the Australian government to deliver VSL approved courses. They may be TAFE institutions or private providers. Tax file numbers are necessary for the administration of student loan programs such as VSL. They're used to accurately link loan accounts to individuals within the taxation system, enabling precise tracking of loan balances and repayments over time. It is important to note that there is no knowledge of tax file number misuse throughout the administration of the VSL program. Similarly there have been no student complaints in regard to the tax file number administration.

Nonetheless the Albanese Labor government is taking swift action to resolve this challenge. We want both students and VET providers to have certainty and to have confidence in the administration of their loans. The bill enables the retrospective authorisation of VSL providers' handling of students' tax file numbers. This will also give providers and government alike certainty that the administration of the loans between 1 January 2017 and 30 September 2025 was lawful.

Since early 2025 the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations has implemented a series of enhancements to its IT infrastructure aimed at improving the security and efficiency of handling sensitive personal data. One of the key changes involves the automatic masking of tax file numbers from VET student loan providers. This update ensures that providers no longer have access to, or need to, manage tax file numbers directly. The transfer of this information between relevant government systems is now fully automated. By streamlining the handling of tax file numbers and removing the need for providers to process them, the department has strengthened data privacy protections while maintaining the integrity of the loan management process. Importantly, these system updates do not affect the way students apply for a VET student loan. The application process through the electronic Commonwealth Assistance Form remains unchanged, ensuring a familiar experience for students seeking financial support for their training.

VSL providers are subject to a range of robust scrutiny measures and integrity protocols embedded within the relevant IT systems. These controls are designed to safeguard students' personal information and ensure that providers operate within a secure and compliant framework. Before being granted approval to administer VSLs, providers must complete comprehensive vetting procedures, ensuring that only qualified institutions are permitted to participate in the program. Providers are required to adhere to several key obligations. These include strict compliance with legislation. Providers must follow stringent rules regarding the use and disclosure of information as outlined in the VET Student Loans Act. VSL providers are also subject to mandatory breach reporting. In the event of any data breach involving student information, providers are obligated to promptly notify the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations. This requirement supports transparency and enables swift action to mitigate potential harm.

Importantly, the data protection standards that have historically governed the handling of TFNs by VSL providers will remain in effect following the commencement of the new bill. These ongoing safeguards reinforce the government's commitment to maintaining high levels of privacy and data security within the VET student loans framework. The Albanese Labor government has invested $42 million over four years from July 2023 to help develop a fit-for-purpose VSL IT system. This means that, from 2026, the VSL program will be bolstered by a new assessments and payment system. This is just one way that Labor stands behind the VET sector.

One of Labor's key election promises was to cut student debt by 20 per cent. In fact, we promised it would be the first piece of legislation we brought to this parliament, and it was. The result is, of course, that three million Australians with student debt will have 20 per cent of their debt wiped, gone. This includes students with VSL program debts.

When we think about the contrast between the Albanese Labor government and those opposite, what becomes clear is that, when it comes to TAFE and vocational education and training, we are focused on delivering for students—not just through this bill but through taking 20 per cent off people's debt and through free TAFE. We know that those opposite do not support free TAFE. While we're focused on delivering, the only thing that the opposition has done when it comes to students is to say no: 'No, we cannot give you that cost-of-living relief,' and, 'No, you cannot have 20 per cent off your student debt that will help set you up for the future.'

We've made TAFE free and we've made that permanent nationwide. This provides cost-of-living support to more Australians to get the qualifications they want for the jobs our economy desperately needs. Free TAFE will boost Australia's workforce by training more tradies and construction workers to build more homes, and more nurses and more healthcare workers to look after our loved ones. From January 2023 to June this year, 128,231 people in Queensland alone had taken up the opportunity to upskill for free. Across the country, thousands of students have flocked to courses such as the Cert IV in Building and Construction, the Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care, the Cert IV in Cyber Security, the Cert III in Individual Support, the Diploma of Nursing and the Cert III in Horticulture.

A February 2025 report from Jobs and Skills Australia, Opportunity and productivity: towards a tertiary harmonisation roadmap, indicates that a more integrated and coordinated tertiary education system has the potential to enhance workforce productivity, elevate skill levels across the industries that we're talking about and support the development of a future-ready workforce that meets the industry demands. Our government has invested $27.7 million dollars to support the development of a more aligned tertiary education system. This includes developing better student pathways by clarifying recognition of prior learning and streamlining regulation for dual-sector providers. Through the National Skills Agreement, the government has partnered with states and territories to establish nationally networked TAFE Centres of Excellence. These partnerships among TAFEs, university and industry will deliver the skilled workers and the skilled workforce for critical industries. An example in Queensland is the TAFE Centre of Excellence Clean Energy Batteries. The focus will be on targeted training solutions in renewable energy batteries, intermittent renewable energy source storage, grid connectivity—

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