Greg Combet (Charlton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present the explanatory memorandum to this bill and I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

This bill will introduce a number of measures that will strengthen and streamline the Higher Education Support Act 2003 resulting in more effective and efficient administration of the Australian government's student income-contingent loan programs in the higher education and vocational education and training sectors, namely, FEE-HELP and VET FEE-HELP.

The bill provides for the use and disclosure of information by Commonwealth officers gained through the administration of FEE-HELP and VET FEE-HELP for certain purposes including to the newly established national regulators in the higher education and vocational education and training sectors, namely the Australian Skills Quality Authority and the Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency operating under the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011and the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 respectively. This will support consistent decision making across Commonwealth regulatory frameworks.

The bill will also improve the Commonwealth's ability to manage risk to the administration of public moneys and better protect students in the vocational education and training sector by strengthening the compliance provisions for approved VET providers. As provider approvals are issued in perpetuity, the bill makes it explicit that an approved VET provider must notify the minister of events that affect its ability to comply with the requirements to continue to maintain its approved provider status.

Further, the bill includes a transparent provision to make it clear that the secretary may vary or revoke a determination that an advance payment is to be made to a VET provider if the secretary is aware that the provider may not comply with the requirements under the act or may not be financially viable. In deciding to vary or revoke, matters which the secretary may take into consideration have been provided for, such as the nature of noncompliance, the provider's history of compliance and the impact of the provider's noncompliance on its ability to deliver quality education and training.

The bill will also improve the administrative arrangements for application times for higher education providers and VET providers. This amendment will clarify that the minister's authority to decide an application for approval exists beyond the time periods specified under the act.

And, finally, the bill provides for clearer, simpler and improved administrative arrangements for the assessment of an individual's higher education loan program debt. In doing so, the bill enables improved congruity between the Higher Education Support Act 2003 and taxation legislation.

I commend the bill to the House.

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Childcare and Early Childhood Learning) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the Higher Education Support Amendment (VET FEE-HELP and Other Measures) Bill 2011.

The coalition is committed to ensuring that Australian education is world class. Be it our university sector or our vocational education sector, we are determined that we shall be recognised globally as a standard bearer. We need a system defined by its academic quality, flexibility and ability to promote productivity. The coalition supported both the establishment of TEQSA, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency, and also a national VET regulator to provide for a more systematic process of registration and auditing for vocational education and training, commonly known as VET.

It was the creation of these two agencies that in part led to one of the key aims of this bill. Part 3 of the bill outlines the use and disclosure of information collected from providers during their application process. This will enable the sharing of this information with the national regulatory agencies. Without doubt, the vocational sector had been plagued by a number of serious regulatory problems, resulting in the need for a real overhaul. We acknowledge that the system required a more stringent, consistent model of regulation and we supported the implementation of this model, albeit highlighting that the national VET regulator does not offer a truly national system of regulation as it currently stands because Western Australia and Victoria have chosen to remain outside the system. This bill specifically provides for greater compliance provisions for VET providers. Higher education does not just provide us with a home-grown workforce, it is also a vital export. Therefore it is critical that we ensure the end product is of as high a standard as possible. We want to be considered as a world leader and in order for this to occur we need a sound framework. That being said, we need a transparent, accountable system of regulation. But the coalition will not condone a system that is plagued by red tape. We need to audit smarter, not harder.

The former coalition government introduced income contingent loans to the VET sector in 2007. This helped extend education opportunities to those who had never previously believed a higher education was within their grasp. VET FEE-HELP enables all Australians to benefit from training, giving people a better employment future. Schedule 2 of the bill clarifies that the Higher Education Support Act is to this extent a tax law, for the purposes of the Taxation Administration Act, ensuring that the responsibility for the collection of the debt incurred via VET FEE-HELP or FEE-HELP rests with the taxation commissioner.

This bill seeks to amend the provisions concerning the permissible time frame the minister has in order to approve a request to become a higher education or VET provider. Currently, the minister has 90 days in which to approve the application from the receipt of the application. This bill will ensure that even if this time frame is not met, the minister may still approve the provider. The coalition does, however, caution the minister that a blow-out in time for approvals will not be acceptable.

Part 4 ensures that the secretary can revoke or alter a determination that an advance can be made to a provider. Again, the circumstances under which this may occur are outlined and provide that serious cases of misconduct can result in action from the Commonwealth.

Part 2 of the bill introduces subclauses 25 (2) and (3), outlining the circumstances in which a provider must provide written information to the minister when they believe they are in breach of their contractual requirements. Certainly, to some this may appear to be bit of a nanny state clause; however, on the understanding that in the first instance the department will work with the provider to rectify any problems, the coalition, whilst having some concerns, recognises that this mirrors a clause in the National VET Regulator Bill and we will not be opposing this measure.

As a country we need to ensure that we are positioning ourselves in the best possible space to deliver high-quality, industry-driven training. Vocational training has such a critical role to play here in helping us meet the future workforce challenges in both existing industries such as mining and in new economies yet to be explored.

Whilst these are good measures, regrettably we do find ourselves facing some significant challenges in the VET sphere. The national partnership agreement as re-announced by the Prime Minister earlier this year has been the subject of much speculation. Ultimately, this was little more than a re-announcement of a plan for a new national partnership agreement. The 'national entitlement for a training place' is indeed nothing new. Labor committed to this in the 2010-11 budget, and I draw the responsible minister's attention to the Skills for Sustainable Growth fact sheet, What is the national entitlement to a quality training place? The word 'quality' appears to have vanished, but there is little else of difference nearly two years on.

Given this government's significant botching of the Productivity Places Program, it could be time that they conceded they do not have the skills or the know-how to implement VET programs. They got so desperate with the Productivity Places Program that they were forced to handball them off to the states, then surreptitiously siphon off the money to other programs that they hoped to brand more favourably. This could well be why, as I understand it, states are a little reluctant to sign on the dotted line this time around.

However, despite the numerous problems that have been the making of the federal government in this space, we do have thousands of committed providers who are endeavouring to do their best to provide a quality education both for local and international students. The coalition is committed to assisting these providers to operate within a framework that ensures a quality education within sensible business parameters for these training businesses.

We clearly have a way to go to in order to ensure that Australia is a preferred choice for international students seeking the best quality education, and for Australian students wanting a globally competitive advantage. But we in the coalition are committed to this goal and we do trust that this bill, properly administered in a policy sense, will help to realise this ambition.

Yvette D'Ath (Petrie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak in support of the Higher Education Support Amendment (VET FEE-HELP and Other Measures) Bill 2011. Ensuring that our workforce has the necessary skills and education in the contemporary Australian job market is vital to the health of Australia's economy and competitiveness in the global community. The Gillard government is reforming our vocational education and training system to give Australians skills for life—skills to get a new start, a better job and a higher pay packet.

Since coming into office, Labor has made a record investment in training to build a highly skilled workforce, to boost productivity and to increase participation. We want Australians to have access to the high-skill, high-paid jobs of tomorrow. In the current economic environment, we have an urgent need to lift skill levels and workforce participation in Australia to allow industry and individual Australians the capacity to respond flexibly to current economic developments. We live in a global world and we need to be competitive. That means we need people with more skills and higher level skills. By 2015 Australia will need an additional 2.4 million workers with qualifications at a Certificate III level and higher to meet the needs of the economy.

Labor recognises that now is the time for VET reform. We have committed $1.75 billion over five years for a new skills reform national partnership agreement with the states. This is in addition to the $1.4 billion the Commonwealth provides annually to states and territories to fund their VET system. These reforms are aimed at making training more accessible, of a higher quality and more transparent to consumers.

This bill will introduce measures that will strengthen and streamline the government's student income contingent loan programs in the higher education and vocational education and training sectors—namely, FEE-HELP and VET FEE-HELP. Through these schemes the government will provide a loan for all or part of a student's tuition fees and pay these fees directly to the approved education provider. Students in diploma and advanced diploma courses will no longer have to pay their course fees upfront. They will have access to an income contingent loan, similar to the HELP system in higher education. This will boost participation rates in higher level VET courses and provide the highly skilled workers that industry needs.

Importantly, this bill will improve the Commonwealth's ability to manage risks to the administration of public moneys and better protect students in the vocational education and training sector by strengthening the compliance provisions for approved VET providers. Further, the bill includes a transparent provision to make it clear that the secretary may vary or revoke a determination that an advance payment is to be made to a VET provider if the secretary is aware that the provider may not comply with the requirements under the act or may not be financially viable. Matters that the secretary may take into consideration on the decision on whether or not to revoke may include the nature of noncompliance, the provider's history of compliance and the impact of noncompliance on delivering quality education and training.

When it comes to better quality training, the government is also pursuing reforms to ensure that students are receiving high-quality training that meets the needs of industry. We need to ensure that employers can trust in the quality of our VET system. These reforms will build on the new regulatory requirements that this government has already put in place for the establishment of the National VET Regulator, which is now operating in five jurisdictions.

TAFEs are also an integral part of the reforms. TAFEs play an important role in serving the training needs of industry. Labor recognises their importance to local communities in their delivery of high-level training and workforce development for industries and improved skill and job opportunities for disadvantaged learners and communities. In recognition of their role, this government has invested heavily in the infrastructure of our TAFEs as part of the $4.5 billion commitment in tertiary infrastructure from the Education Investment Fund. That investment has seen many facilities updated for the first time in 40 or more years, including automotive workshops and building trades centres.

Further, the government is providing greater responsiveness to industry needs. To lift national productivity, Commonwealth and state and territory governments need to work closely with industry and employers to ensure the VET sector can respond quickly and efficiently to deliver the right skills, at the right time, to meet industry needs.

This bill provides for clearer, simpler and improved administrative arrangements for the assessment of an individual's Higher Education Loan Program debt. In doing so, the bill enables better consistency between the Higher Education Support Act 2003 and tax legislation.

In the electorate of Petrie, our VET providers are committed to providing support and opportunities to their students and, with the introduction of this bill, I am confident that Labor have demonstrated once again that we are the party of jobs, skills and workforce participation by expanding opportunities for individuals to access further education.

On top of the many significant reforms and investments into higher education and skills that I have already mentioned, the Gillard government have a strong history of achieving in this area. Labor have made skills and training the centrepiece of this year's budget. We announced a $3 billion investment in skills and training to address the skills shortages being experienced by industry. We have put more young people into training. Apprenticeship and traineeship numbers have soared over recent years—up from 410,000 in September 2006 to around 459,000 in March 2011, the highest level ever recorded. We made a record government investment of more than $11.1 billion in total skills funding between 2008 and 2011—an increase of almost 55 per cent compared to the $7.2 billion under the former government between 2005 and 2008.

We have boosted the number of VET students to more than ever before. Students undertaking vocational education and training studies with public support rose by eight per cent, up from 1.67 million in 2007 to 1.8 million in 2010. We have ensured a record number of apprenticeships and traineeships. In June 2011 there were more than 462,000 people undertaking apprenticeships and traineeships, up 14 per cent from 404,600 in December 2007. Labor has given more people the opportunity to gain qualifications than ever before. Nearly 400,000 people gained VET qualifications in 2009, up 23 per cent from 319,200 in 2007. Nearly 290,000 people gained higher level qualifications in 2009, up from 228,500 in 2007, a rise of 27 per cent. In 2010, almost 140,000 students who already had degree-level qualifications studied VET, up 38 per cent from 101,400 in 2007. We have made training more accessible. In 2010, there were more than 26,000 VET FEE-HELP assisted students. This is an increase of nearly 400 per cent, or almost 5,300 students, compared to 2009. We have given better access to education for diverse groups. In 2010, there were 83,000 VET students who identified as being Indigenous, an increase of 17 per cent from 2007; 110,000 who identified as having a disability, an increase of eight per cent; and 271,000 from non-English-speaking backgrounds, a 17.6 per cent increase. Finally, we have ensured 150,000 regional and remote students in 2009 completed VET qualifications, a 23 per cent increase from 2007.

The Gillard Labor government is committed to education. Whether it is early childhood education, primary and secondary schooling, VET qualifications or higher education, this government is committed to delivering on education and skills for the future. Today we are debating another piece of legislation that sees Labor delivering on its commitment to developing skills to lift the nation's productivity. I know the people in my electorate are committed to skills improvement and want to see this government invest in apprenticeships and traineeships into the future. That is why it is my pleasure to commend this bill to the House.

Ewen Jones (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Higher Education Support Amendment (VET FEE-HELP and Other Measures) Bill 2011. This bill aims to provide administrative efficiencies in relation to the FEE-HELP and VET FEE-HELP assistance schemes for vocational students. These include requiring VET providers to notify the minister if they will not be able to meet quality and accountability requirements, allowing for certain information to be used and disclosed if authorised, and allowing for the secretary to revoke a determination made to pay an advance to a VET provider. The bill also allows the minister responsible for deciding whether an institution can become a higher education provider to make that decision after the time frame of 90 days within which the decision is currently required. The coalition agrees with many of the intended outcomes of this bill that relate to strengthening the compliance framework for VET providers. We have seen rorters take advantage of this sector. This bill aims to ensure that these things cannot happen again and that the sector can instead maintain consistently high standards of education. But there are also severe penalties for overreacting and burdening institutions with red tape.

With a strong construction industry in Townsville and my electorate's position on the edge of the North-West Queensland Minerals Province, vocational education is extremely important to my constituents. Bob McAulay has just stepped in as Director of the Barrier Reef Institute of TAFE in Townsville, temporarily replacing current Director, Robyn Dyer. As Bob has said to me, 74 per cent of jobs in the Far North region are jobs that have benefited from vocational education and training. There can be no question of the importance of these institutions to economic growth in our region. In mentioning the VET FEE-HELP loan opportunity, Bob recognised the importance of it, not for the institutions but for the students. The cost of any education is not cheap, and without a system like this in place students would have to either go without or try and find the money to pay upfront. I agree with Bob that the extension of the HECS-HELP mechanism to the VET sector is fair for vocational students. Bob also spoke to me of the extensive and burdensome regulation that they are faced with at TAFE. He said it is so excessive that he cannot imagine any organisation being able to get away with providing a substandard education. While we all appreciate the need to ensure that a high-quality education is provided by all institutions, overburdening them with more and more requirements will serve only to hamper service delivery in this sector. That is what we are talking about here: the delivery of a quality, affordable, directed vocational education and training service.

My concern in this area is also with the bureaucracy that comes from the constant imposition of new regulations by this government. Every bit of new red tape takes more people away from what they are supposed to do, what they want to do and what they are good at doing—in this case teaching—in order to sign forms, tick boxes, and write letters. It must also be paid for by the taxpayer or the recipient of the service. This government has never seen a new set of regulations upon which it could not expand—such behaviour comes at a cost. To provide a good education to trades students requires someone who can not just do the job well, but teach it well. That is a specific combination of skill sets. If you introduce these new requirements you take these people away from jobs we need them doing.

Given the importance of trades, not just to Townsville but to the North Queensland region, I am a big supporter of vocational education. I believe that governments at all levels should help out VET institutions and students wherever possible. We are suffering a skills shortage at present across the country. We are certainly feeling the pain of this in Townsville. Townsville businesses are employing apprentices, only to have them poached by mining and processing companies for a far higher wage than a small business can adequately compete with. There are serious skills shortages, and that is something this government needs to address. VET exists not just to supply staff to the mining sector but also to ensure there are enough trades specialists for all the other businesses upon which we rely. Vocational education is the vehicle for this. We need to encourage high school students to go into this area, we need to make it more affordable, we need to ensure that there are plenty of places available and we need to work with institutions to make sure the best vocational education possible is provided to as many students as we can. Instead, we have this bill, which gives no assurance that VET institutions not meeting the requirements will be given help to improve rather than immediately being stripped of their credentials and left to try and sort themselves out. The Howard government had the vision to introduce income contingent loans to the VET sector. I support this government's furthering of this measure, but it is disappointing to see it in this legislation allowing the minister to approve applications to become a higher education provider after the 90-day time frame. We can't tick off on these training opportunities fast enough and yet the government is going to allow excuses to blow out the time frames for approvals. There is a cost in getting to the necessary standard, and you still have to get through a 90-day trial period. We either commit to it or we do not. We also need to look at exact areas of skills shortage and consider ways to encourage students into these vocations. We need more people in certain trades, so we should be rewarding the students that are choosing to go into these areas.

I do not oppose this bill. Vocational training is needed more than ever to allow Townsville and North Queensland to continue to grow and prosper, and I want to see that happen while ensuring that the standard of education is not put at risk. But I caution this government on the risk of overburdening the sector with regulation that will see the VET sector hampered and sent backwards.

If I could just touch on Tec-NQ—the Australian technical college Townsville campus, which the Howard government started. It was one of the most successful technical colleges in the country. It brought high school students in and, by the time they graduated with a high school certificate, they were two years into their trade. It delivered education and produced tradesmen. After the 2007 election, the Rudd government made them spend $50,000 of their own money to change their name to Tec-NQ and then withdrew their funding. As I said in speaking on a previous bill, we set these things up and we ask people to commit and then, at the very last moment—perhaps with a change of government—we change everything and withdraw support. Tec-NQ is still in existence but it has had to move away from its original core duty of providing high school education and a trade base for high school students, to becoming an RTO—a registered training organisation. That to me is a waste of funds. We have seen the government duplicate what Tec-NQ has in its trades training centre, producing a different outcome for a different set of people, and it is in the middle of nowhere, where no high school student can get to it.

Those are the sorts of things this government and all governments must look at. It is too easy to sit there and ask people to change their name and then to withdraw funding and support and expect everyone to pick up from there. I was on Palm Island last week and I saw it there. People are asked to commit wholly and solely to programs, 100 per cent, and then three months in we run out of funding. It is not just this government's fault or any government's fault, but we ask people to keep on turning up and to keep on committing and sooner or later they stop and then we call them lazy. That is wrong, and that is what is wrong with all these programs that are coming out.

I do not oppose this bill. I support people having to pay for education. I think it is worth while.

Craig Thomson (Dobell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to support the Higher Education Support Amendment (VET FEE-HELP and Other Measures) Bill. This bill will introduce measures that will strengthen and streamline the administration of the Australian government's student income-contingent loan program in the higher education and vocational education and training sectors, namely FEE-HELP and VET FEE-HELP. FEE-HELP and VET FEE-HELP are available through approved higher education and vocational education and training providers respectively to assist eligible students with their tuition fees. Through these schemes the government provides a loan for all or part of a student's tuition fees and pays these tuition fees directly to the approved education provider. This assistance helps students to take up higher education and higher level VET qualifications by reducing the upfront financial barriers associated with study. The bill will support the new Commonwealth regulatory frameworks for the higher education and VET sectors.

Provisions in the bill will allow for the transfer of information to the newly established national regulators in the higher education and vocational education and training sectors: the Australian Skills Quality Authority and the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency, operating under the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 and the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 respectively. The bill will improve the Commonwealth's ability to manage risk to public moneys and better protects the interests of students in the vocational education and training sector.

The bill makes it explicit that an approved VET provider must comply with the notice of events requirements that affect its ability to comply with the requirements to continue to maintain its approved provider status. The bill includes the capacity to withhold payment to a provider where there is concern over its compliance with requirements under the act. The bill will also result in improvements to administrative arrangements which help the application process times under FEE-HELP and VET FEE-HELP.

Higher education, be it in the university sector or the VET sector, is very important to this government and it has run through the four years of programs that this government has put before parliament. It is part of the Labor ethos that we believe that providing opportunities and access to education, at all levels, is fundamentally about making sure that everyone in our society gets a fair go, and it is the way in which we can make sure that people get appropriate training that will enable them to access jobs and opportunities.

This is particularly so in an electorate like mine, where we have a very low number of people with higher education qualifications and traditionally a lot of people who have not completed school. We also have some of the highest unemployment rates in New South Wales, usually being three or four per cent higher than the state average. Opportunities to give kids and older Australians access to study are vitally important. It is something that the Labor Party has always stood for, and it has always brought forth programs in this area. This bill is part of the whole suite of reforms that are so important to making sure people get access to the right sort of education to match the jobs that are out there at the moment.

One of the things that is often said to me by local employers is that, while there is high unemployment in our area, we cannot always get kids with the right sorts of skills needed to fill the jobs. Bizarrely for an area in which 30 per cent of the workforce commute to Sydney, we see a lot of the good jobs filled by people who commute from Sydney up to the Central Coast, because we are not providing local people with the skills necessary for the new jobs in the new economy. It is really important that the measures in this bill, which underlie this government's approach to education, are carried through to implementation. With the introduction of the National Broadband Network, we in the Central Coast are on the cusp of a whole series of opportunities that, for the first time, the Central Coast will have. We need to be making sure that we skill our workforce appropriately so that they are able to fill the jobs that are going to develop from the new technology, the speed of the technologies and the opportunity for business to suddenly be in areas where there is cheaper land, though not necessarily as close to the capital cities as before. That is a very important issue.

I had the pleasure last week of visiting the Central Coast campus of the University of Newcastle. This is a terrific campus in that it is a multifaceted campus. It has TAFE, university and community colleges all on the one campus, all integrated and providing a whole range of educational options for kids from the Central Coast. Over 90 per cent of the people who go to the Central Coast campus of the University of Newcastle are from the Central Coast. Traditionally, what used to happen was that our young people would have to travel to Sydney or to Newcastle to get the sort of training they can now get at this university campus. Invariably, that saw people drop out of education because it was too hard to commute and so forth. Now we have this campus there, and this government is fully supporting and resourcing this important campus to make sure that it provides a vital role for the Central Coast. I have done it before in this place and it is again worth placing on record the thanks that the people of the Central Coast have for my Labor predecessor, Mr Michael Lee, who was the member for Dobell for 17 years. Without him we would not even have this campus at the Central Coast. There was none there before, and he was able to secure the campus there, which is now, I am told, one of the most successful campuses of the University of Newcastle. It has over 4,000 students and is growing all the time, which fits given that we are a growing area.

Last week I was able to be at the university to officially open the $3.2 million redevelopment of the university's library—a state-of-the-art library, but one that is open to the whole university. It operates 24 hours a day. It has a coffee bar so that people can come and stay there. It is a far cry from when I went to university where you scurried into a library, grabbed some books and got out of there as quickly as possible. The sorts of libraries we are building in institutions now are open, welcoming and designed so that people will stay there, study there and socialise there. This library that we opened last week was a fantastic addition to the university, and I was very pleased, in my role as local member, to be able to open it.

But we have spent more than that on this university, and that is only right given the importance of the university to the Central Coast. In the last two years we have spent $20 million on facilities there. We redeveloped the science buildings and the exercise sports and science areas so that they are state of the art. We rebuilt and built some new buildings for education and nursing. These were the most significant expansions of the university since it first came into being when Michael Lee was the member there.

It is also worth noting that my neighbour the member for Robertson, before she came to this place, was a lecturer at this university and lectured in education. We both have a great affinity for this fantastic facility that is in Dobell. It is one that is increasingly providing at all levels a way for people on the Central Coast to get an education. It has a fantastic link program for kids who do not have the marks to get into university, where they are able to go to this university, study for a year and then get credits for a degree. In areas where there is not a culture of learning and where there is not a culture of going to university, these types of programs are absolutely essential. They fill a niche and make sure that people who would simply not have the opportunity to go and study are now doing that and therefore getting qualifications that mean they are able to get the high-paying jobs—the good jobs—that are being developed in the new economy rather than, as has traditionally happened, compete for the ever-shrinking area of unskilled work that is there.

Mr Deputy Speaker Symon, I know that you are very familiar with trade training in schools as well. We have some wonderful examples of that on the Central Coast, with schools cooperating and having multicampus trade training centres that provide this sort of trade training at schools. During the previous member's contribution he spoke about the Australian Technical College. The money that was going to go to the Australian Technical College in my electorate has been very well spent by being divided up and shared by three campuses of high schools on the Central Coast. That money has been put to great use. It has been part of an integrated approach to education, to making sure that kids in my area in particular get those opportunities.

Lastly, the bill itself provides for clearer, simpler and improved administrative arrangements for the assessment of an individual's Higher Education Loan Program debt. In doing so, the bill enables better consistency between the Higher Education Support Act 2003 and the taxation legislation. It is part of a suite of bills that we have put to this parliament continually over the four years about our commitment to education at all levels, making sure that it is at the forefront of Labor's agenda for reform. I commend this bill to the House.

Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the Higher Education Support Amendment (VET FEE-HELP and Other Measures) Bill 2011. Since my election as the member for McPherson, I have spoken on numerous higher education bills in relation to both tertiary education and vocational education and training. Over this time, I have continually reaffirmed that I see the higher education industry as a key component of the economy of my electorate of McPherson, of the wider Gold Coast and of Australia. Therefore, I welcome the opportunity to speak on this bill today and on the higher education sector.

This bill aims to strengthen the compliance regime for the VET sector through a number of changes, thereby reinforcing amendments to the Higher Education Support Act 2003 that were made by the parliament last year. Firstly, under the current act a VET provider must notify the relevant minister of events that may significantly that provider's capacity to meet the quality and accountability requirements. This bill will change the act so that providers will also be obliged to notify the relevant minister in any event where there may be grounds to repeal that VET provider's approval. In reference to these changes, I hope—like my colleagues on this side of the House—that the department will work cooperatively with providers to address any issues of non-compliance rather than take a heavy-handed approach with those who report any discrepancies.

Secondly, the act as it currently stands requires the minister to make a determination on applications to become a higher education or VET provider within 30 days of the receipt of that application, although under the amendments the minister will still be able to determine an application even if the timeframe for such a decision is not complied with. This ability to decide outside the legislative time frame is also set to apply to the 60-day period from when further information is requested by the minister.

My concern is that such changes have the potential to see approval times for applications blow out. The changes that I have just discussed will mean that the 90-day or 60-day time frame that the minister is currently required to adhere to will become obsolete as the minister's power to determine an application will not be affected if the time frame passes. I hope that the 90-day and 60-day time frames will be strictly adhered to and that the new provisions will only be used in extenuating and special circumstances. Ideally, it should not be necessary to extend the time frames at all.

Thirdly, the bill introduces a number of changes, including that Commonwealth officers will have the ability to use information that has been collected as part of a provider's application for approval during the course of their employment and that such information can be provided to regulatory agencies so that they can perform their respective functions.

The VET sector is ever expanding and I and the coalition understand that government regulation needs to keep up with what is occurring in the sector. However, we need to maintain a fine balance between protecting the integrity of the VET sector and not burdening institutions with overregulation. There is sufficient evidence to support the view that overregulation stifles flexibility in business and creates a web of bureaucracy that many individuals and businesses find difficult to navigate.

This bill is another in a large list of other legislative changes to the higher education sector, especially in the vocational education and training sector. At the end of 2011, the House passed the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Amendment Bill 2011, which amended the regulatory framework for the new National Vocational Education and Training Regulator that was created earlier last year. One of the main purposes of this framework was to introduce a national system for VET regulation to protect students undertaking courses and to protect the reputation of the sector. But the national system is not yet national at all, as the Queensland parliament has still not passed the necessary legislation and neither has the South Australian parliament.

Education is the fourth largest export product in Australia and consequentially an important part of the national economy, with the sector making a contribution of $5.9 billion in 2009-10. The Gold Coast Institute of TAFE alone created an economic turnover of $188 million and $109 million in gross domestic product for the Gold Coast. If this is the contribution of one VET institution, one can only imagine the contribution that each organisation makes to their local area. The VET sector also provides many Australians with jobs, from the educators passing on the necessary skills and training to students to those running the institutions and ensuring their success.

The coalition recognises the importance that the VET sector plays in maintaining the health and productivity of many of our industries. That is why in 2007 the Howard government introduced income contingent loans for the VET sector, reflecting the importance and value the coalition places on valuing a VET qualification as a tertiary qualification. The introduction of income contingent loans such as VET FEE-HELP ensured that students who wanted to undertake vocational education or training could do so knowing that they had the financial assistance to get them through.

I would like to remind the House that on the Gold Coast alone there are over 160 registered training organisations. According to the most recent available census data, from 2006, there were over 2,200 people undertaking vocational education or training in my electorate of McPherson alone, with the number of students being evenly spread between males and females, which is very positive. In 2010, the total number of VET students for the Gold Coast as a whole was over 28,100, up from the 2006 total of 24,030 students. These numbers show that our local VET sector is strong and expanding, with more and more students viewing vocational education and training as a stepping stone to a long and successful career.

On the Gold Coast, the usually dominant tourism and construction industries are partly dependent on the health of the VET sector, as is the manufacturing industry. However, the Labor government is setting VET students up to fail once they complete their training, with falling job prospects on the Gold Coast and in Queensland in both the construction and tourism industries. The Gold Coast construction industry has been hit hard in recent years. In the November 2011 quarter there were over 37,000 people employed in the construction industry on the Gold Coast, constituting 12 per cent of the total number of employed persons. This is down 8.3 per cent from the 2010 total of 41,100 people. The Urban Development Institute of Australia has recently claimed that revenues for the construction industry have fallen 33 per cent or about $1.2 billion. The highest point of employment in the construction industry over the last five years came in 2007, when the Howard government left office. Since late 2007, when Labor formed government, employment in the construction industry on the Gold Coast has failed to rise back to that point.

The construction industry was the second-largest contributor to Queensland gross state product in 2008. Now it is the fourth-largest contributor, with its economic value having fallen by 13 per cent. You need only look around the southern Gold Coast to see that the construction industry is moving at a snail's pace. So what prospects do new, freshly trained VET graduates have in an industry which is faltering?

Although these facts would indicate that something needs to be done to spur the industry on, the government has instead set out to abolish one of the main contributors to the stability of the industry. I have spoken recently in this place against the government's plans to remove the independent Office of the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner. Today, I reiterate my disappointment that an organisation which is responsible for a 10 per cent increase in productivity, an economic welfare gain of $5.5 billion per year, reduced inflation of about 1.2 per cent and a 1.5 per cent increase in gross domestic product is being abolished at a time when the construction industry is doing it tough.

The VET sector also contributes to the success of the tourism and hospitality industry on the Gold Coast. Tourism on the Gold Coast and in Queensland has traditionally been strong. However in recent years, with the global financial crisis and the high Australian dollar, the tourism trade has entered a lull period. Looking at data released by Tourism Queensland for December last year, there has been a five per cent annual decrease in the number of overseas tourists arriving in Queensland, whilst the national average has neither increased nor decreased. But the bad news does not stop there. The Gold Coast saw a three per cent reduction in visitors for the year ending in September 2011, as well as a five per cent reduction in the number of nights stayed. These trends have dramatic consequences for local tourism operators. When you add the additional costs that are set to be imposed by the carbon tax, we will then have a situation where costs will eventually overtake the revenue being collected, leading to employees being let go, business closures and a lack of opportunities for VET graduates in the industry.

Ultimately what is happening in the Gold Coast construction and tourism industries will have an effect on local VET graduates looking for employment after they complete their studies. If the industry is unable to provide jobs for future VET graduates, we are setting those graduates up for unemployment or, more worryingly, underemployment. This is not acceptable. Although the long-term unemployment rate for the southern Gold Coast currently stands at 5.4 per cent, the monthly average for January this year is 6.2 per cent, up 1.9 per cent from December last year and up 0.1 per cent from the same time last year.

Vocational education and training can provide many people with an avenue to get out of unemployment or underemployment by offering them the opportunity to learn new skills, develop new techniques and acquire new knowledge. Although we can provide the opportunity for people to study by offering programs such as VET FEE-HELP, we also need to make sure that we do not inhibit growth in key industries that are reliant on VET graduates.

The Gold Coast is growing as a destination for both tertiary and vocational education. We have four universities and 160 registered training organisations, all offering a large variety of courses and avenues of study to domestic and overseas students. We have the infrastructure to accommodate a large student population, with accommodation, hospitals and shopping centres, and public transport available to these locations. The higher education industry on the Gold Coast helps businesses in these sectors to stay in business through students moving to the Gold Coast and spending money on transport, food and recreation.

By maintaining the stability and health of the VET sector, we can ensure that there is a ready and able workforce for the key industries that keep this country going. It is important that the reputation and competitiveness of the VET sector and of the wider higher education industry are maintained at a domestic level as well as internationally. It is not merely the economy that benefits from a healthy higher education industry but also local businesses and local communities. The coalition supports measures that aim to maintain the high quality of education that we export to the world and that students expect. We cannot allow the quality and the reputation of our higher education system to slip, otherwise we risk losing the business of international students as well as the workforce this country will need in the years ahead.

I will continue to work with the local VET providers to ensure that their students have the best possible chance of competing in the workforce and to ensure that the Gold Coast can continue to grow a healthy and prosperous higher education industry.

Kirsten Livermore (Capricornia, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to join my colleagues in speaking on the Higher Education Support Amendment (VET FEE-HELP and Other Measures) Bill 2011. Like all members in the debate so far, I support the propositions put forward by the government in this bill. Each and every week in here, Mr Deputy Speaker Symon—and I know that you support all these measures and speak on them very regularly—the government continue to build on our reforms in higher education and our existing investments in the vocational education and training and university sectors. There is a long list of very significant reforms. There is increased investment in youth allowance, allowing thousands of additional low-income students to receive support for the first time, a change that has already seen larger numbers of rural and regional students, particularly, going to university than ever before. This helps the government to meet the very bold targets that it has set for this nation in terms of increasing the rate of participation in higher education.

Another incredibly significant reform which we debated in this House, and which has taken effect for the first time this year, was the move to demand-driven funding of universities. That involved removing the cap on student numbers to ensure that our universities can grow and diversify according to student demand for courses. There will be a Commonwealth government funded place for every Australian student who is offered a position at one of our universities—truly a defining reform in our higher education system.

The other reform worth singling out is the delivery of a framework for better support and services for university students right across the country, reversing the damage that had been done to universities, particularly regional universities like Central Queensland University in my electorate, where students rely so strongly on the services and support provided by the university. Thankfully we have been able to overcome the ideological obsession of the opposition about voluntary student unionism to return those services and activities to university campuses across the country.

Our reform commitment also goes to the vocational education sector, where training is provided to fill the skills shortages in industry today as well as to equip people to move into the growth industries of the future. While we debate this bill, work is progressing on building trades training centres in schools right around Australia, a very important part of introducing young people to the trades and careers that they might want to pursue and getting them started on acquiring nationally recognised competencies and qualifications.

So far in my electorate, a number of schools have already completed their trades training centres. I am thinking particularly of Rockhampton High School, which was first off the blocks and was successful in the very first round of the trades training centre funding program, a testament to the commitment that that school has and the priority that it gives to vocational education and training. It now boasts a world-class engineering facility preparing young people at Rockhampton High School to fill the many positions in the resources and energy and agriculture sectors in our region. St Brendan's and St Ursula's down at Yeppoon combined to establish trades training centres for the automotive trades and hospitality. Schools in the Central Highlands, in the western part of my electorate, and in Mackay, in the northern part of my electorate, have chosen to come together and pool their funding as a cluster of schools and are well on the way to making their trades training centres a reality and providing opportunities for students in their region, who are well and truly guaranteed places in industry if they are able to secure the appropriate qualifications. The Cathedral College in Rockhampton has already indicated to me that it also intends to apply in the future. That is a sign of the importance that schools attach to trades training centres, which allow their students to have access to a range of pathways and give them the opportunity to secure their future in the trades and in so many other occupations that now require recognised qualifications.

Our commitment is very real. There are millions and millions of dollars represented just in that list from my electorate. Our commitment is real and it is backed up by funding. It is already making a difference to people who want to skill themselves for job opportunities and for industries wanting to develop a highly skilled and productive workforce. We know that our ability to supply a skilled workforce and build productivity depends on a high-performing VET sector and one with a reputation for quality and integrity. VET providers have an obligation to meet high standards for their students and to be accountable to the government. For those reasons, this bill strengthens the government's oversight of the sector.

The bill seeks to amend various aspects of the Higher Education Support Act 2003, particularly as it relates to the government's Higher Education Loan Program, or HELP. Specifically the measures in the bill seek to strengthen and streamline the administration of the FEE-HELP and VET FEE-HELP loans schemes. Those HELP loans are loans from the government that eligible students can access to help them pay upfront tuition fees for their chosen course of study. It is important to note that the money unlocked through the loans scheme is actually directed to providers of VET qualifications, so the integrity and viability of those providers is essential. This bill is about safeguarding and strengthening the integrity of the VET sector.

One measure in the bill will allow Commonwealth officers to use and disclose information gained through the administration of FEE-HELP and VET FEE-HELP for certain purposes. Importantly, that includes sharing this information with the newly established national regulators—namely, the Australian Skills Quality Authority and the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency. The bill also improves the Commonwealth's ability to manage risk to public moneys. As I said, the loans we are talking about here are Commonwealth money paid to providers in order to assist the access of students to VET courses. It will also better protect the interests of students in the vocational education and training sector. To do that, we will strengthen the compliance provisions for approved VET providers. The bill makes it explicit that an approved VET provider must comply with the notice of events requirements that affect its ability to comply with the requirements to continue to maintain its approved provider status. The bill also includes a capacity to withhold payments to a provider where there is concern over its compliance with requirements under the act. The bill will result in improvements to administrative arrangements which will improve application process times under FEE-HELP and VET FEE-HELP—something that will be welcomed by providers.

It is pretty clear from this list that these are commonsense amendments designed to strengthen accountability in the sector and to ensure that students, and industry that relies on the flow of students coming out of the VET sector with appropriate qualifications, can have confidence in what the sector is producing in terms of graduates from those VET providers.

At the outset I gave very concrete examples of the government's commitment to vocational education and training, recognising as we do that it is essential for the future productivity of our economy, and of course for the quality of life for people in Australia, to be able to reach their full potential and to participate fully in our growing economy. The priority that we give to vocational education and training was underlined further by the Prime Minister when she delivered a major speech on 1 February, this month. In that speech she signalled that the government is preparing to go even further in terms of reform in the VET sector. The points that she raised in that speech included the extension of HECS-style income contingent loans to vocational education and training courses, those of a higher level, things like diplomas or advanced diploma level. That would abolish upfront fees. It would mean that people wanting to take advantage of building skills in those courses would no longer face upfront fees.

The other very important reform that she flagged in that speech was that for other courses students would have a fee subsidy paid by the government of up to $7,800. That would be help for those in entry-level courses across the spectrum, health and hospitality, business and communication, right across the spectrum where we want people to be upskilling and really starting on the path of obtaining skills and looking to where they can continue to develop those skills, gain those qualifications and play an ever -growing role in building our economy and filling the shortages that are there in highly skilled positions.

The policy that is being developed, and which will be released in greater detail fairly shortly, will also extend demand-driven funding for VET courses. So it is really following through on the agenda that was foreshadowed in the Bradley review of having a much more seamless integration of the treatment of the university sector and the VET sector and bringing the financial assistance for students and the way that VET providers are able to offer Commonwealth funded places to however many students are seeking and they deem eligible for their courses. It really brings the VET sector into line with the reforms in the higher education sector and I think is a very important step forward.

One of the other things the government has identified as vital as we continue on this agenda of upskilling Australians and giving them the opportunity to reach their full potential and participate fully in our economy, is the question of articulation of courses and having seamless pathways from vocational education and training qualifications right through to degree and higher degree courses at universities. The Standing Council on Tertiary Education Skills and Employment has made removing barriers to those articulation pathways a priority. Their priority is to look at ways we can remove barriers to those articulation pathways between qualifications in the VET sector and the higher ed sector.

I am pleased to say that in my local region our university, Central Queensland University, is getting ahead of the game in that respect. They are already well underway in exploring the possibility of a merger between Central Queensland University and the Central Queensland Institute of TAFE to become Queensland's first dual-sector University. I am very proud and pleased to say that the federal government is supporting that initiative 100 per cent. We have committed $73.8 million of funding to allow that initiative to become a reality. I will have a bit more to say about that later on in the House tonight because we are seeking the support of the various parties contesting the Queensland state election at the moment for a similar commitment. I commend the bill to the House.

Teresa Gambaro (Brisbane, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship and Settlement) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this evening to speak on the Higher Education Support Amendment (VET FEE-HELP and Other Measures) Bill 2011. The bill amends the Higher Education Support Act 2003 to do two things. Firstly, it strengthens the compliance regime for approved VET providers and, secondly, it increases the availability of HECS income contingent loans to VET students. Focusing on the first aspect of this bill, there have been recent developments within the VET and higher education sphere which have prompted this update in the legislation. This bill seeks to strengthen the compliance regime for approved VET providers. This is part of an ongoing push to ensure the highest possible standards are maintained in the industry. These measures will ensure positive outcomes for many providers in the electorate of Brisbane.

I want to talk about some of the wonderful VET providers—there are many hundreds I could name—particularly TAFE facilities in my electorate. I especially acknowledge the Gateway TAFE and the Ithaca TAFE who do an absolutely sterling job educating students in skills they will require for their futures. The greater the skills a nation has and the greater the capacity of human capital, the greater the productivity.

The electorate of Brisbane covers many suburbs, including the CBD, which has some of the high-quality five-star hotels, including the Sofitel, the Stamford, the Hilton, the Marriott, and many high-quality restaurants, coffee shops and cafes. Also many mining industries are headquartered in the Brisbane CBD and the construction industry is a very important and vital industry.

There are a number of private providers. I acknowledge the wonderful work of the Australian Council for Private Education and Training, a thoroughly professional body. They are to be commended for the great work they do with 1,000 private organisations which deliver a huge range of higher education, vocational education, training and English language courses. I have had the great privilege of visiting a number of them in the electorate of Brisbane.

I put on the record the great work being done by Kay Ganley, and Michael Hall who has succeeded her, and all of the team at ACPET. They do great work representing VET providers who form part of their membership. In particular I acknowledge the great international work that Kay and other agencies do in the electorate of Brisbane, not only in providing this wonderful service to domestic consumers of the VET sector, but also in raising the standard and increasing the export of our wonderful service industries. Education is a huge part of our service export industry.

The substantial aspect of this bill is the extension of the HECS FEE-HELP income contingent loan for VET students. VET is an important part of Australia's higher education system. It is fair to say that predominantly in Australia we have placed more emphasis on our university based degrees and qualifications. The previous speaker, the member for Capricornia, talked about a seamless transition. Certainly there has been a transition from the VET sector into the university sector and there has been a transition where people with university degrees want to fine-tune particular skills by going back into the VET sector. It is a two-way movement. We need to have a much more flexible system than we have had in the past. I have had the wonderful opportunity and great privilege of a teaching role at the Queensland University of Technology. I fully appreciate the role our higher education institutions play in the future direction of our society. The VET sector certainly is an important part of that sector.

With our mining industries screaming out for skilled workers, the role of vocational education has become really important in recent years. The VET sector has predominantly offered the training required for the trades that are needed in our regional economies. The proposal contained in the bill put forward by the Prime Minister requires a sign-on from the states. The Commonwealth wants these changes in place by July 2012—at the commencement of the next five-year Commonwealth-state funding agreement.

The proposal would see the states emulate the system currently in place in Victoria where income contingent loans are offered on a widespread basis to VET students. More than 22,000 Victorian students have taken up these loans. The loan scheme will be an extension of VET FEE-HELP, administered by the Commonwealth, and it may have similar settings, possibly including a 20 per cent loan fee, quite unlike the HECS system. The policy would also see the abolition of upfront fees for many students, which is very welcome. In addition, students would be guaranteed a place in a training course.

The federal government would also guarantee foundation and entry-level courses for technical and service sector careers in areas such as health, business, hospitality, communications, construction, transport and other areas through a government-subsidised training place worth up to $7,800. Eligibility for these places has not yet been determined and there has been criticism levelled at the Victorian prototype model where students' eligibility is based on them not having completed a higher level qualification in the past.

These measures appear not to have been specifically costed. However, they are part of the $1.75 billion committed to VET in the 2011-12 budget. VET FEE-HELP is currently available to assist eligible students studying for higher level vocational education and training qualifications to pay their tuition fees. Higher level VET qualifications are at the diploma level and above, as VET FEE-HELP is not available for certificate level courses. These proposals will ultimately increase the take-up of VET courses, add much needed skills to the economy and encourage many young Australians in particular to add to their skills and knowledge. The other great thing about encouraging investment in vocational education is that it allows people who might want to go in a different direction, who want to change their current circumstances or who aspire to get ahead and earn more income for their families to enrol in our VET system and make that career change. It is good to invest in training. It is good for productivity. It is good for the country. It is good to encourage people to take up these paths of education. However, you must provide incentives for doing that and a good economy and full employment is part of ensuring success for the vocational training sector.

In conclusion, this bill will encourage the take-up of VET education through the extension of VET FEE-HELP. The coalition supports these outcomes. Given this government's form, we have our concerns regarding the implementation and some administrative aspects of what is being proposed, but in general we are supportive and I commend the bill to the House.

Greg Combet (Charlton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think a number of very constructive contributions have been made in relation to the Higher Education Support Amendment (VET FEE-HELP and Other Measures) Bill 2011 and I do not think any substantive matters have arisen to which I should respond. I simply conclude the second reading debate by commending the bill to the House, particularly for its purpose of improving the quality framework of the government's income contingent loans program.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.