Alison Byrnes (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today in support of the VET Student Loans (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2025. I don't think it is possible to understate just how important vocational education is. To put it simply, it changes lives, giving students career paths, helping them gain skills and confidence, and opening doors that might otherwise be closed to so many. It is also absolutely vital to ensure the effective running of our country. From tradies to childcare workers, from nurses to baristas and even graphic designers and HR workers, there are endless possibilities available through TAFE and private vocational education providers. The VET FEE-HELP scheme has helped to make these careers possible for so many people, deferring costs—the same as for the university system—and supporting students with income-contingent loans. Many could not go to TAFE without this. Education would simply be out of reach. So it is absolutely vital that the systems and processes that make this possible are fit for purpose and clear for all.

The VET Student Loans legislation has been in place since 2017. During a review, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations identified an issue with how VET student loans were administered. The issue related to the handling of student tax file numbers and showed that there was no clear role for VET student loan providers to handle them. We are taking action to fix that today, and I am really pleased about that—applying the new rules retrospectively to ensure that there is continuity and clarity in how the law should be applied.

At the same time, the department has been working on its back-end IT systems to mask tax file numbers and automate their transfer between relevant systems. This bill will make the previous handling of tax file numbers lawful while also making that unnecessary and restricted in the future, streamlining the process and ensuring that the loans can be administered properly. I want to stress that providers have always been subject to security controls and integrity safeguards in order to protect students' personal information. These protections and safeguards will continue. It is also important to note that there will be no change to the way students apply for or receive these loans.

We have invested $42.2 million over four years from 1 July 2023 to build a modernised VET student loans IT system that further strengthens the department's administration of the VET Student Loans program. From the start of 2026, VET student loans will be underpinned by a new, modern assessment and payment system—just one of the ways we are improving government processes and efficiencies to help businesses and the Australian people.

As I said at the beginning, vocational education changes lives. It is so incredibly important, and, to be frank, without it we would lose workers from a whole range of critical industries that keep this country moving. The Albanese Labor government believe in TAFE, and we believe in vocational education. We will always invest in TAFE because we understand the hugely significant role that it plays in our community, and that's why we have worked hard to make TAFE free for over 685,000 students across Australia since 2023. That includes more than 50,000 childcare workers, more than 73,000 care economy workers, more than 11,000 construction workers and more than 10,000 clean energy workers with certificates III and IV in electrotechnology, electrician, plumbing and services, just to name a few. In the Illawarra alone, between January 2024 and June 2025, 4,781 people benefited from free TAFE. How incredible is that?

Just recently I was so excited to join the Minister for Skills and Training—along with the New South Wales Minister for Skills, TAFE and Tertiary Education; the member for Keira; and the member for Wollongong—to officially launch the brand-new renewable energy training facility at Wollongong TAFE, funded with $2.5 million from the Australian government that I was delighted to secure under the TAFE Technology Fund. These mobile training units will bring renewable energy education and career engagement programs directly to students in regional communities like the Illawarra. We had so much fun trying out all of the fantastic equipment—cycling to power household appliances, virtual reality welding, tracking electricity consumption across Australia and so much more.

The project includes a mobile community engagement truck featuring virtual reality experiences and interactive displays that showcase renewable energy concepts and career pathways; a mobile training truck providing hands-on experience with wind turbine, solar and electric vehicle components, aligned to TAFE NSW qualifications; and two dual-purpose shipping containers that double as mobile classrooms, fitted with renewable energy systems, battery storage and interactive learning tools.

It was a collaboration with the University of Wollongong through the Energy Futures Skills Centre—another amazing centre that we have invested $10 million in—to create the clean energy workforce of the future. It was impeccably designed by Australian company Exhibition Studios and their incredible team, with special mention to Karl Meyer, Meagan O'Neill and Matthew Riley—with all jobs remaining here in Australia. I want to also acknowledge the incredible work of Professor Ty Christopher, Director of the Energy Futures Network at the University of Wollongong. Without Ty's passion, incredible knowledge and dedication to a better energy future, none of this would be possible.

I know that in the Illawarra we absolutely must be training the workers of the future—preparing the workforce and our community for the energy transition that we must have. It's already here. It has already started. There are plenty of jobs already being created in the Illawarra as we carve out a spot for ourselves as a clean energy powerhouse. I am sure that these mobile training units will play a key role in that future.

I also want to touch briefly on another exciting announcement to come out of the Energy Futures Skills Centre just last week—the launch of the Energy Futures Zone at the Science Space, located at the University of Wollongong Innovation Campus. I could not have been more excited to open this new space on Thursday last week, along with the vice-chancellor of the University of Wollongong, Max Lu. No run-of-the mill cutting of ribbon for us—we got to open the zone with a liquid nitrogen science experiment, which I have to say is probably one of the most fun openings that I have ever done. There are zones to learn, zones to practise skills and zones to get excited about the job possibilities of the future, all in an interactive environment for everyone aged five to 105. Working in partnership with the TAFE units and with the broader Energy Futures Skills Centre which will open next year is how we will ensure that the Illawarra is ready, skilled and available to supply the workforce we need tomorrow and in the future. It's something I am so proud to deliver for our community because I know this is absolutely going to transform our local economy and the lives of so many young people who will gain the essential skills and knowledge that they need.

The renewable energy training facility is not all we are doing to invest in Wollongong TAFE. The Illawarra is home to a thriving advanced manufacturing industry that is innovating and growing locally, nationally and internationally. We've got BlueScope, of course—the backbone of the Illawarra for 50 years. We've also got newer innovators like Hysata, Gravitas Technologies, Sicona Battery Technologies and so many more that are working to ensure that Australia and the world have the tools and the technology for our future. These companies are expanding, they are innovating and they need a workforce pool that they can call on—a workforce with the skills to really contribute to these growing industries.

That's why I am also really excited that the Albanese Labor government has invested $23.53 million, matched by the New South Wales government, to develop the Illawarra Heavy Industry Manufacturing Centre of Excellence. This centre of excellence will focus on traditional and renewable manufacturing to support the development of a skilled workforce that can meet the demands of new technologies and rising automation. It will provide targeted training in traditional and renewable heavy industry manufacturing for the defence and transport sectors. It will also integrate emerging technologies and automation into training, equipping students for work in digital, electrical and robotic manufacturing. It will also deliver microskills and microcredentials to upskill current workers. It is amazing that we will have, based in the Illawarra, one of only three of these centres of excellence.

It is not just one piece that will help our economy transition from a coal based workforce to the new clean energy market. It is all of these pieces together, combined with real investment in industries and in the companies that are doing that work. They are being given the signals that the Illawarra is serious about playing a significant role in that transition.

Young people are excited about the jobs that the clean energy transition is providing and will provide. They want to be a part of it because they see it as their future, and local companies see that too. We're backing them in with our Future Made in Australia policies, including the Industry Growth Program, which is helping local companies like Gravitas Technologies scale their innovation and bring it to the world market.

We believe in the transition. We believe in the jobs and opportunities that it can provide, and we are backing it with world-class education and training. Free TAFE and VET loans put this within the reach of everyone in our community and tells them that this future is possible for them and they can fulfil that dream to be part of this new revolution.

We are also backing apprentices—supporting and encouraging businesses to invest in the education of our future workforce. As of December 2024, the electorate of Cunningham had 2,790 apprentices. Our government is investing in apprentices because we know how important they are for our economy and how important they are for growing skills. Apprenticeships support businesses. They put young people on a viable career pathway and they ensure that we have the skilled workforce we need for the future.

We're doubling the level of support for apprentices who finish a trade in the residential housing sector and in the clean energy sector, providing them with a $10,000 incentive payment under the Key Apprenticeship Program. The program provides eligible apprentices with $10,000 in incentive payments, on top of their wages over the life of their apprenticeship, to work in housing construction and in over 40 different energy careers. We've also increased the living-away-from-home allowance from 1 July this year to help apprentices who are struggling with the cost of relocating to undertake their apprenticeship. Investing in apprentices means we will have more tradies, which means more homes can be built today, tomorrow and in the future, and it encourages more people into the sectors that are playing a crucial role in transitioning our economy to net zero and supporting our aspiration for a future made in Australia. Eligible apprenticeships include designing and constructing; hydroelectricity; solar and battery installations; electric vehicle maintenance; and more. This is great news for young people, and it is great news for the future of our country. I am so excited to see what the future will hold.

I have been a big support of renewable energy because I can see the potential. I can see the opportunities that it holds, particularly in regional areas like ours. Net zero is the future. It has to be, and it will be. I want to see the Illawarra embrace it, because the reality is that we embrace it or we miss out. These jobs will be created, and we want them to be created right in the Illawarra. We want those jobs for our kids as well as for those workers in fossil fuel industries that are facing huge challenges and changes ahead. There is opportunity, and, as a government, it is our job to make sure that we are putting support into the right places to allow community and industry to move in the direction that we need them to. That starts with vocational education. It must be affordable, it must be accessible, and it must be fit for purpose. That is what I see as the common denominator across all of these areas I have just outlined—affordable vocational education using state-of-the-art equipment in the regions, local and accessible to anyone who wants to embrace it.

I am a proud supporter of TAFE and a proud backer of vocational education. I am pleased to see this bill supporting the mechanisms that allow young people to access VET loans while securing their information, and I really want to thank the Minister for Skills and Training for not only his work on this bill but his commitment to affordable and accessible vocational education. It was a pleasure to have him in Wollongong just recently, and I look forward to welcoming him back soon. I also want to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to all of our hardworking TAFE and vocational education teachers. The work that you do is so valued and so valuable. Lastly I want to acknowledge all of those businesses who are taking on apprentices, investing in their education and their future. I want you all to know that you are making a difference in someone's life and giving them the key to their future.

The Albanese Labor government will continue doing all we can to support business, support students and support our community by investing in TAFE, investing in the jobs of the future and creating a future made in Australia. I commend the bill to the House.

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