Kate Chaney (Curtin, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move amendments (1) to (7) and (9) to (24), as circulated in my name, together:

(1) Clause 2, page 2 (table item 1), omit the table item, substitute:

(2) Clause 5, page 4 (line 5), omit "the", substitute "a".

(3) Clause 5, page 4 (line 8), omit "the", substitute "a".

(4) Clause 9, page 8 (line 10), omit paragraph (c), substitute:

(c) 3 Commissioners.

(5) Clause 11, page 8 (line 27), omit "if requested by the Minister".

(6) Clause 11, page 9 (after line 2), after paragraph (c), insert:

(ca) to prepare reports, and provide advice and recommendations to the Minister, the Research Minister and the Science Minister, in relation to research and research training in higher education system and its interactions with the broader research and development system;

(7) Clause 11, page 9 (line 4), omit "if requested by the Minister".

(9) Clause 11, page 9 (after line 14), after subparagraph (d)(ii), insert:

(iia) the funding of research and research training; and

(10) Clause 20, page 13 (lines 9 to 12), omit the clause, substitute:

20 Commissioner

There are to be 3 Commissioners.

(11) Heading to clause 21, page 13 (line 13), omit " the Commissioner ", substitute " a Commissioner ".

(12) Clause 22, page 14 (after line 11), at the end of the clause, add:

(4) The Secretary and the ATEC must enter into an enforceable agreement specifying minimum staffing levels and standards.

(13) Clause 41, page 27 (after line 17), after paragraph (d), insert:

(da) the funding of research and research training, including indirect costs of research grants and support for research students;

(14) Clause 41, page 28 (after line 25), at the end of the clause, add:

Work initiated by the ATEC

(4) Within the scope of the ATEC's work plan specified in section 45, the ATEC may initiate its own research and analysis and publish reports, advice and recommendations in relation to the items listed in subsections (1) and (2).

(15) Clause 42, page 29 (after line 18), after paragraph (d), insert:

(da) the contribution of higher education in progress towards any research, development, innovation or science priorities and targets set by the Commonwealth;

(16) Clause 42, page 30 (after line 12), at the end of the clause, add:

(6) To avoid doubt, a report is not prepared at the request of the Minister.

(17) Heading to clause 58, page 41 (line 1), omit " the Commissioner ", substitute " Commissioners ".

(18) Clause 58, page 41 (line 3), omit "The Commissioner", substitute "A Commissioner".

(19) Clause 58, page 41 (line 7), omit "the Commissioner", substitute "a Commissioner".

(20) Clause 58, page 41 (line 23), omit "The Commissioner", substitute "A Commissioner".

(21) Clause 59, page 42 (line 1), omit subparagraph (a)(i), substitute:

(i) higher education (including research and research training);

(22) Clause 61, page 44 (lines 2 to 11), omit the clause, substitute:

61 Remuneration

(1) An ATEC Commissioner is to be paid, by the Commonwealth, the remuneration that is determined by the Remuneration Tribunal. If no determination of that remuneration by the Tribunal is in operation, an ATEC Commissioner is to be paid, by the Commonwealth, the remuneration that is prescribed by the regulations.

(2) An ATEC Commissioner is to be paid, by the Commonwealth, the allowances that are prescribed by the regulations.

(3) Subsections 7(9) and (13) of the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973 do not apply in relation to the office of ATEC Commissioner.

Note: The effect of this subsection is that remuneration or allowances of an ATEC Commissioner will be paid out of money appropriated by an Act other than the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973 .

(4) This section has effect subject to the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973 (except as provided by subsection (3)).

(23) Heading to clause 69, page 47 (line 12), omit " Ministerial agreement ", substitute " Consultation with Minister ".

(24) Clause 69, page 47 (lines 15 and 16), omit "seek and obtain the agreement of the Minister", substitute "consult with the Minister".

Having consulted with universities and considered the 62 submissions to the committee inquiry, I've drafted these amendments to achieve three key outcomes.

The first outcome would be to provide ATEC with autonomy and independence, as recommended by the Australian Universities Accord—final report and a wide range of stakeholders. ATEC should have the ability to initiate and publish advice and recommendations on its own initiative rather than solely at the request of the minister, which is how it's currently drafted. Without this independence and autonomy, ATEC won't be able to provide long-term well-evidenced policy advice. Much of the most important policy reforms may not be politically palatable, like reforming the failed job-ready graduates scheme. Without this independence and autonomy, ATEC will not have the opportunity to regularly advise on these issues. As drafted, it appears that ATEC will effectively be an extension of the department, providing advice on the request of the minister. ATEC only has one opportunity a year to provide advice that's not requested by the minister, in the State of the tertiary education system report, and that's not enough. My amendments would allow ATEC to initiate its own research and advisory functions, allow ATEC to publish reports with ministerial consultation, rather than ministerial agreement, and clarify that the State of the tertiary education system report can be prepared and published without the request of the minister. Further, ATEC should have some level of control and certainty over staffing arrangements. As drafted, staffing would be almost exclusively controlled by the department. This means that the department could, if it so wished, limit ATEC staff and effectively drain it of resources. One of these amendments would require ATEC and the department to enter into an enforceable agreement that would specify minimum staffing levels and standards, providing a level of certainty to ATEC.

The second outcome I'm trying to achieve with my amendments is to increase the number of commissioners. As drafted, there's significant concern that three commissioners will be insufficient to provide expertise across a diverse range of fields and areas, such as higher education, VET, tertiary education governance and administration, stakeholder consultation and engagement, regional Australia, research and research training, equity and access, and learning and teaching. The universities accord final report, for example, recommended seven commissioners. My amendments would increase the number of commissioners from three to five, remedying this issue.

The third intended outcome of these amendments is to make explicit the role of ATEC as a steward of the research sector. This, too, was recommended by the final report of the universities accord and a number of key stakeholders. Research is essential to Australia's long-term productivity, economic strength and international competitiveness, and the higher education sector plays a major role in Australia's research output. My amendments would allow ATEC to prepare reports and advice in relation to research and research training and ensure that the commissioners collectively possess experience in research and research training.

I'll also be supporting an amendment to be moved by the member for Kooyong in relation to student contributions. One of ATEC's functions is to provide advice on the efficient cost and value of higher education courses and programs. However, as drafted, ATEC could only consider Commonwealth contributions, not student contributions. In other words, when assessing how much courses cost, ATEC wouldn't even consider how much students are paying. Both Commonwealth and student contributions must be considered in analysing the cost, value and efficiency of higher education courses and programs, and the member for Kooyong's amendment will ensure student contributions will be considered as well.

I understand from the government that it will not support these amendments because it doesn't want to pre-empt the outcomes of a committee inquiry. We in the House also do not want to pre-empt the inquiry, but, unfortunately, the government gives us no choice, as it would prefer to push the bill through the House before the committee reports. While I do not believe this bill should pass as drafted, I think there's an opportunity to introduce amendments to build an impactful and effective ATEC. I want to acknowledge the genuine engagement of the minister with my office and with the sector more broadly and his passion for implementing the universities accord and building a flourishing higher education sector. I thank the minister for his comments in the House and for saying that he'll consider my amendments alongside the Senate inquiry report. I will not divide the House on these amendments. If the bill comes back to the House in an improved form in line with the accord recommendations and taking these amendments into account, I'll reconsider supporting it at that stage. I commend these amendments to the House.

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