Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak in support of the Education and Other Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2017. As we have heard, the bill establishes a VET student loans ombudsman with the power to investigate complaints about the student loans scheme, to recommend that providers take action to address and resolve problems, to give providers advice and training about handling complaints and to work with the sector to develop a code of practice. The VET Student Loans Ombudsman is very welcome. In fact, Labor took a policy to establish such an ombudsman to the election last year. Then, when the VET student loans bill was debated in the House late last year, Labor moved amendments to establish a VET student loans ombudsman. The government did not support the amendments at that time but did give an undertaking to establish a VET student loans ombudsman separately under the Ombudsman Act 1976. This bill gives effect to that commitment.

In general, stakeholders are supportive of setting up an ombudsman, but many are disappointed that the office does not have stronger powers. They would like the ombudsman to be able to make binding decisions, they would like the department to be able to take action against a provider that does not follow the recommendations of the ombudsman and they would like the ombudsman's powers to cover the entire VET system, not just student loans. But this is a start, and this government is on notice that it must prove its ombudsman model can get results. It must be acknowledged that, without Labor's consistent badgering, the government would not even have come this far. Labor can and will take credit for dragging the government to the table to establish a VET student loans ombudsman—a process that has taken almost two years—and Labor will make sure this ombudsman delivers for students. We know students need someone in their corner to stand up for their rights and to fight back against bad practices and dodgy providers. We have certainly heard enough bad stories and we have seen the names of good organisations tarnished by association with the bad. Labor has really led the debate on this, just as we will continue to lead the broader debate on the need for our country to focus on skills and training. We expect to see the recommendations of the ombudsman respected and heavy punishment for any providers that do not cooperate.

There are many thousands of students who have been treated very badly in recent years, and we know that the system has fallen into crisis. In 2014, the graduation rate for the largest 10 providers was under five per cent. That is hardly a raging success. That represents $900 million in federal money—more than $215,000 for every graduate. Students were tricked into racking up massive debts with little hope their courses would ever lead to jobs. Ten thousand qualifications were cancelled in Victoria because they were not worth the paper they were written on. There was an explosion in short courses and online courses and a decline in quality. It is estimated that 40 per cent of VET FEE-HELP loans will never be repaid. VET FEE-HELP loans have blown out from $700 million in 2013 to a staggering $2.9 billion in 2015. Where was the government when this was happening right under its nose? Labor will lead the debate on the VET sector and will lead the broader debate on skills.

As Labor leader Bill Shorten told the National Jobs and Skills Summit on Friday, our nation is crying out for a long-term vision, and that vision that includes three key objectives: firstly, lifelong learning, ensuring all Australians have access through their working life to the education, skills and training they need for decent jobs; secondly, preparing for the jobs of the future, making sure the Australian workforce is more responsive to the evolving skills needed in our economy; and, thirdly, working together. As the Labor leader said, training and skills is not something that the government does alone; it has to be something that business does as well. It is the responsibility of us all in a changing world and changing environment and a global workforce. In the past 10 years, Australia has lost 75,000 manufacturing jobs. Let me say that again: 75,000 manufacturing jobs in 10 years. But in that time 485,000 jobs have been created in health care and social services. Jobs are changing, and jobs in the service sector are filling those voids left by manufacturing jobs. But there are still challenges—challenges in automation, offshoring, casualisation of the workforce and underemployment. To address these challenges, I again reflect on the Labor leader's words: we must be productive, competitive, adaptable and resilient. To do that, we need to have a workforce with a good education, with good skills and with good training for the jobs of the day.

Key to this debate are apprenticeships. When Labor left office in 2013, Australia had about 420,000 apprentices—now we have 280,000. Across the Hunter, including in my electorate of Paterson, we have lost 4,200 apprenticeships since June 2012. More broadly across the country, we have seen cuts to TAFE and training in the order of $2.5 billion. We have seen an explosion in the private provision of training and some truly shocking examples of mismanagement. We have a great university system, but university is not for everyone. Vocational education is vital. Our TAFE sector is vital, and we must rebuild TAFE for the future. Between 2013 and 2015 the Liberals oversaw a 21 per cent decline in TAFE enrolments and an almost 75 per cent decline in TAFE and VET capital investment. Talk about gutting a worthwhile organisation! We have started to turn this around, but the VET and TAFE sectors are still under pressure, and that is why a VET ombudsman is so important.

As Rod Sims, the Chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, told the National Consumer Congress in Melbourne last week, it has taken two years to clean up the mess following the so-called reforms to vocational education, and we are still going—hardly swift, that is for sure. The switch to vocational training carried out by the private sector rather than through the longstanding government provided TAFE and equivalent systems led to disaster. Rather than providing quality education at efficient prices, many VET providers provided poor education at sorely inflated prices.

In its recent report, the Australian National Audit Office found that poor design and a lack of monitoring and control led to costs blowing out. It also found that insufficient protection was provided to vulnerable students from some unscrupulous private training organisations. Mr Sims said the ACCC had so far taken court action against four of these companies, but he described it as the tip of the iceberg. The Australian Government Actuary estimates that over a billion dollars of Commonwealth money in loans issued inappropriately by the education providers in 2014 and 2015 alone will never be seen again. A billion dollars!

In my own region, the Hunter Valley, more than 1,500 students have been left in the lurch after 11 private colleges were suspended across the state for failing to meet minimum standards. Among them is Careers Australia, which the Newcastle Herald reported closed its Steel River campus in Newcastle in July after the New South Wales government withdrew funding, leaving 300 students in the lurch. Among the colleges that had funding terminated was Wise Education Group, which documents reveal had more than 100 enrolled students in Newcastle. The Herald has also reported that Hunter students have been caught in the federal crackdown on the scandal-plagued vocational education sector, after Aspire College of Education and Evocca College both closed their Newcastle campuses. This government, finally, is acting on these shonky dealings, but we must go further, to ensure that the ombudsman being set up is truly a voice for students.

As the Business Council of Australia Chief Executive, Jennifer Westacott, said recently:

The VET sector is a crucial piece of Australia's economic and social infrastructure. It prepares workers for the rapid economic change and helps to keep Australians competitive in a global market.

We recognise the role of strong TAFE providers alongside effective and accountable private providers.

Ms Westacott said the Business Council welcomed the opposition leader's recognition that vocational education and training is not a second-best alternative to a university degree and that both types of qualification should be valued equally. Generations of Australians already know this. They know that TAFE is the backbone of our apprenticeship system, and that both are badly in need of revival. This is a job that Labor will do.

I will not say this VET Student Loans Ombudsman is a case of 'too little too late', but I will say it is a case of 'just in the nick of time'. Reforms are being made; shonks are being closed down. But the ombudsman is a vital link in the chain to ensure that students undertaking vocational education are protected, not ripped off, and that their concerns are not summarily dismissed but taken seriously. The government is on notice that Labor will be watching this VET Student Loans Ombudsman to ensure the office is a strong voice for students, the way that Labor will be.

Emma Husar (Lindsay, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to make a brief contribution to the debate on the Education and Other Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2017. This bill establishes a VET student loans ombudsman under the Ombudsman Act 1976, with the power to investigate complaints arising from the Commonwealth government's student loans scheme. I am assuming he is going to be rather busy.

This is an important reform because, given the recent controversies surrounding dodgy private vocational education and training course providers, students clearly need a watchdog in their corner to make sure they are not getting ripped off, as my friend and colleague the member for Paterson has just pointed out. This ombudsman is long overdue, and it comes after those opposite sat on their hands as the system derailed around them like a bad train accident, with more and more students being cheated, and more and more taxpayer funds being defrauded. The fact is that those opposite were too busy playing musical chairs with the portfolio to do anything about the growing problem that existed within it. But, when it comes to protecting VET students, and under a fairly apathetic government, I guess it is better late than never. Although I do think those affected are owed an apology.

When it comes to responding to the growing problems we have seen in the VET sector, Labor has led the charge in addressing these problems. In the Senate, we moved to establish a VET ombudsman more than one year ago. Where has the member for Wentworth been? MIA. At the time, the government said they would consider the idea and act on it. Well, it has taken them a fairly long time to finally act. And, I should note that, when they did act, they got it wrong. After 12 months of considering the issues, and after seeking feedback from the sector, they introduced a bill into the parliament that neglected to establish an ombudsman. This, of course, was despite students, providers and consumer advocates all calling for one. These I would refer to as the experts in the field. Once again, the government is not listening to those experts. We know that establishing an ombudsman was the most popular idea in their own discussion paper among industry stakeholders—again, the experts. So, following this incompetence, it was up to Labor to move an amendment to establish an ombudsman, and the government gave a commitment to introduce standalone legislation.

So here we are. Only after the government has been dragged kicking and screaming, the right policy finally prevails—and, I might add, a Labor policy. We believe this amendment has been brought forward in good faith, and we sincerely hope the government are genuine in their moves to establish this ombudsman, and we hope they demonstrate this genuineness by resourcing the office accordingly and not simply window-dressing. It is important to make very clear that we need outcomes in this area, because without significant changes our VET system will continue to be under enormous pressure and under threat of collapsing, leaving hundreds of thousands of Australians without a pathway to improve their skills and enter the workforce—which, I would suggest, is pretty bad for the budget.

On this side of the House, we in Labor believe in vocational education and training, and we believe in the people who rely on it to contribute to our society. And that is why it is so important that this government starts taking the VET sector seriously. Without a strong and effective VET sector, many people in my own electorate, and many more around the country, will not be able to reach their full potential, and therefore they will not be able to contribute to society as much as they otherwise would have—and that means we all lose.

Under the Liberals we have seen the sector ripped off and defrauded, with students being signed up to fake courses, people being enrolled in courses that are completely inappropriate and people being tricked into taking on significant public debt with absolutely no personal gain or return, nor an ability to repay. We know of people being bribed with iPads and the like, and these are vulnerable people—young, sometimes with a disability. They are made to sign up to courses they have no intention of participating in or completing, or that they have the ability to complete. We know of vulnerable people being tricked into enrolling in classes where the completion rate was less than five per cent. Shockingly, we know that the 10 largest private providers were, at one stage, effectively paid more than $215,000 for every successful graduate—such was the scale of failure in this sector. We know that 10,000 qualifications were cancelled in Victoria alone, because they basically weren't worth the paper they were written on. Just think about that for a second: while TAFE course fees around the country are rapidly rising—especially in my home state of New South Wales—and hundreds of thousands of people are being locked out of courses that could change their lives, millions of dollars of taxpayer funds have been spent on courses where the qualification was not worth the piece of paper it was written on.

We can talk about the numbers. We can talk about the statistics. We can talk about people being locked out, but what if you are one of those students? What happens if you are one of those people who spent your time, energy and money trying to study only to have that course that you qualified for, or the certificate that you obtained, ripped up?

It is estimated that up to 40 per cent of these dodgy Commonwealth loans will never be repaid, meaning taxpayers will end up footing the bill to the tune of billions and billions of dollars. Where is the government's obsession with debt and deficit on reflection of those numbers? Now, it does not actually surprise me that those opposite in the government have attempted to blame Labor, because that is their only effective policy; it is their fall-back position for every tricky issue facing this country. Every single time, it shows how hopelessly unsuited they are to leading this country forward. I can only imagine that, in ten years time, their entire legacy will be summed up in two words, 'hurt and blame' because, time after time, their actions hurt those who can least afford it, and their inaction is simply blamed on us. How unedifying and disheartening it must be for those opposite who actually came here to make a difference to their communities.

We also know that apprentice numbers in this country have fallen by 30 per cent—that is, 130,000 fewer apprentices under the Liberals. These are incredibly shocking statistics, and they point to a fundamental failure of this government. The government have not mentioned apprentices once this week but have mentioned Labor, Bill Shorten and the unions countless times—I think even in the hundreds. So where are the priorities of this government? This is a failure that belies their promise to govern for all Australians.

In contrast, Labor has always stood up for TAFE and our vocational education system, because we know how life changing these courses can be. And, unlike those opposite, we are in the business of improving the standard of living for ordinary Australians, not taking every opportunity to attack and reduce it.

Just on TAFE, I am a very, very proud TAFE graduate. TAFE changed my life and gave me the ability to then go on to university. I know firsthand the benefits and I certainly want to make sure that it is something that is around for my own children.

We are undoubtedly—over on the Labor side—the party of TAFE, just as Labor is undoubtedly the party of Medicare. That is a legacy that some on the opposite side might wish to consider—and what their legacy might be. We want to see more people have access to the technical and semiprofessional skills they need to engage in and contribute to our communities, and build a decent life for themselves. We believe that every Australian should have access to quality skills training that positions them well for our rapidly-changing world. It is about equity and, sadly, too many people have been taken advantage of under this government and too many people have been, and will continue to be, left behind.

You can go out into any community around the country and, I can assure you, one of the most trusted and respected government institutions will always be, and has always been, TAFE. People understand its importance and know the value it adds to the lives of those who learn there, but Liberal governments just cannot bring themselves to back in TAFE. They just do not get it. At a state and federal level, the Liberals have an ideological opposition to assisting people gain skills so they can better compete in the employment market and build a better life for themselves and their families. What is it that you guys hate so much about TAFE? And there is no point in denying it, because everyone knows that is the case.

Going back to the substantive issue at the heart of this bill, we know that stakeholders are supportive of the move to establish an industry ombudsman—and I touched on that earlier. However, we also know that there is quite a bit of disappointment among stakeholders that the powers of the ombudsman are not as strong as they could or should have been. We have heard that there is a preference for the ombudsman to make binding decisions, which it cannot do under this legislation. We have heard that an industry funding source could ensure the office was well resourced and out of the hands of government budgetary decisions and constraints. We have heard that, at the very least, there could have been a requirement of the department to take action against a provider that ignores a recommendation by the ombudsman, and we have heard the voices of people who would have preferred that this office had scope to deal with the entire VET system, not just the student loans aspect.

And it is important to note those positions but, overall, even though this bill does not deliver on those views, it does represent a substantive improvement to the status quo and, for that reason alone, I am happy to support this bill. Of course, this does show that there is room for improvement in future—for the government to come up with their own policies, not simply borrow ours. In this regard, the government is certainly on notice to either prove that their model works and actually deliver the desired outcomes or be willing to work with the sector in the months and years ahead to strengthen it even further.

I think the most important thing here and going forward is to ensure our VET system is strong and fit for purpose. We need a government that prioritises skills training and supports people who rely on vocational education and training. Time and time again, Labor has shown that we are up to the job and we will certainly be holding this Liberal government to account to make sure this system is fairer for ordinary Australians looking to increase their skills and, ultimately, engage more fully in their communities.

Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Manufacturing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I commend the member for Lindsay for her remarks in respect of the Education and Other Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2017. As other speakers have made clear, this bill has two schedules: the first is in relation to the establishment of the VET Student Loans Ombudsman under the Ombudsman Act 1976, and the second is in relation to making annual appropriations to the Australian Research Council.

I am going to focus my remarks on the VET Student Loans Ombudsman. This is an appointment which has become necessary because of the Turnbull government's incompetence and woeful administration of the VET student loans scheme. It was not the scheme that was the problem; it was the Turnbull government's oversight of it. As the figures show, between 2013 and 2015 VET FEE-HELP loans blew out from $700 million in 2013 to $1.8 billion in 2014 and then to $2.9 billion in 2015—that is, in the space of just two years, VET FEE-HELP loans blew out by over $2 billion.

It is beyond comprehension how a government could oversee that kind of increase. Surely there would have been figures coming into the government on a month-by-month basis as to what was happening, and surely those figures should have raised alarm bells for the government. Indeed, I ask myself: just what advice was being provided by the department to the minister of the day, and what did the minister do with that advice? Why did it take so long for the government to act?

In fact, the government only acted after this became a public issue, with lots of media stories and examples of the rorting that was taking place being brought into this House. Indeed, I do not recall having seen a similar level of incompetence by a government as what I have seen with respect to the Turnbull government's mismanagement of the issues relating to VET FEE-HELP loans. Not only should the cost blow-out have raised concerns; the stories that had been continually and openly talked about out there in the community, and which surfaced months and months before the government acted, had become too commonplace.

The sad reality is that, at the end of this scandal, it was not just the government and, through the government, the taxpayers of Australia that lost tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars; it was also the students who were left with thousands of dollars of debts, with worthless certificates that would never ever get them a job anywhere, because no-one gave those certificates any credit, and with courses that, in many cases, were left incomplete because the dodgy providers were unable to fulfil their obligation to provide the full courses that had been promised in the first place— indeed, providers closed down before they were able to deliver the full courses.

Many of the young people who were caught up in these scams where young people who were desperate to find work and who were, in turn, left further out-of-pocket because they spent some of their own money chasing courses with dodgy providers that resulted in a worthless certificate. When they realised that they had been duped and enticed into expensive courses with little prospect of employment at the end of them, who did they have to turn to? They had no-one to turn to because, when they turned to the government, nothing was done about it. Indeed, I can recall taking up some matters on behalf of constituents in my electorate, and, regrettably, the outcome was not very good at all at the end of it.

So Labor promised that an ombudsman would be created if we were elected to office, and the government finally agreed to do that. At least an ombudsman provided an office where some of these people could turn to when they found themselves in the situations that they did. Regrettably, under this legislation, while an ombudsman is being created, my concern—a concern that is shared by other speakers on this side of the parliament and by other external bodies who have an interest in this matter—is that the ombudsman's powers are limited.

The ombudsman has no ability to make binding decisions and, indeed, will be dependent on the department taking action. In fact, reading the explanatory memorandum, the department does not, in any event, even have to accept or take any notice of the ombudsman's advice or report when they receive it. So you might as well put your complaint, if that is what it is, directly to the department, because ultimately it is the department that is going to make a decision as to whether anything is going to be done about it or not.

This was an opportunity for the government to do more than that. It was an opportunity for the government to establish an office that had some real teeth and was able to resolve problems if and when they arose, either with respect to the student or the training organisation. Like other speakers on this side of the House, I welcome the position being established, and we will wait with interest to see just how well the position does deliver.

I also want to talk about apprenticeship numbers more broadly. A report last week suggested that between June 2012 and June 2016 there had been a 45 per cent reduction in the numbers of apprenticeships across Australia. The figures were: in June 2012, 515,000 apprentices in this country; in June 2016 the number had fallen to 282,900. That is nearly half. One has to ask the question: why is that? Why are we losing apprentices in those sorts of numbers, and why are there no places for apprentices in this country? It seems to me that it predominantly is because of many of the decisions of this government.

The first was abolishing the $6,000 Tools for Your Trade program, which I believe was working very well and which offered apprentices $6,000 in real money in their pocket to assist them with their training. It was not a loan that they had to pay back; it was $6,000 of assistance. Secondly, we have seen TAFE being undermined by this government, and, in turn, when it is undermined, it is not able to perhaps perform to the extent that it would otherwise have done. TAFE had been a reputable training organisation for decades—and still is—and it should have been an organisation that this government put its full support behind. But it did not; it actually wanted to see its demise.

Then we saw this government also oversee the demise of the automotive industry in this country. The automotive industry was one of the industries that provided opportunities for young apprentices in a whole range of different vocations. Again, with the loss of the automotive industry comes the loss of apprentices that would have otherwise been employed.

Lastly, the fall in the number of apprentices is due to the obsession of conservative governments over recent decades with privatisation. The reality is that it was always governments—government departments and government utilities like the water, power, transport and construction arms of governments—that provided opportunities for most of the apprentices in this country. As those different entities have been privatised, their new owners do not commit to taking on apprentices in the same way that the government departments did. The truth of the matter is that, as we sell off more and more of those government entities, there will be even fewer opportunities for young people to take up apprenticeships. As the Business Council of Australia Chief Executive, Jennifer Westacott, said only recently, as reported in one of the newspapers, we need to change the stigma surrounding TAFE being a poorer cousin to our universities. The reality is that not every young person either wants or is suited to university education. I will talk in just a moment of an example of a person who is doing exceptionally well right now but at the time was not suitable, for a range of reasons, in terms of seeing university as a career path for him. For decades, as I said earlier, vocational education has been part and parcel of the core function of TAFEs around the country and, hopefully, it is going to continue to do that if it gets the support of this government. We should not consider vocational education training and TAFEs as the poorer cousins to universities.

I said I would talk about a specific case example in just a moment and I am going to get to by talking about St Patrick's Technical College in the electorate of Wakefield. The college services the northern region of Adelaide, much of which I represent. Last week I attended the college as it celebrated its 10th anniversary under the leadership of the principal, Rob Thomas. St Patrick's Technical College also comes under the umbrella of Catholic Education South Australia. For the last 10 years or so it has been providing a range of apprenticeships and trade and vocational training courses to young people in the region. Indeed, my understanding is that some 800 apprenticeships have come out of St Patrick's Technical College. The areas that it focuses on are building and construction, community services, hospitality and lifestyle, and engineering and transport. And then it links with local businesses to try and provide career paths for the youngsters who go through the college. The youngsters are generally here year 11 or year 12 students from one of the surrounding high schools who, for whatever reason, do not think their future lies in university education.

One of those young people, who I met last Friday, is young Jack Donaldson, who did a certificate III in engineering and fabrication at St Patrick's college. Jack was transferred from his local high school to St Patrick's because his teachers and his school considered that, at the time, he was not going to be someone who had a future beyond going to high school, and so they recommended that he go to St Patrick's. Young Jack did that, and he became the young apprentice of the year in South Australia after having completed a certificate III in engineering and fabrication. Having done that, built his confidence, and stabilised his lifestyle, he then decided he would pursue a university degree and he is now doing a diploma in leadership and management. This is a good example of having an alternative opportunity at a time when it suited him best in order to keep them focused on his future. And he did it very well. He addressed the gathering last week at the college, and I have to say that he shows an incredible amount of ability and confidence in what he is doing.

It is important that we maintain a strong VET system in this country—a system that gives confidence to young people, industry and the broader community. The VET student loans ombudsman office is a step in the right direction—we acknowledge that. Hopefully, it will not be a tokenistic initiative to appease the sector but a an appointment that will make a real difference to VET in Australia because right now that is what is needed. With unemployment at nearly 6 per cent and youth unemployment more than double that and in some places triple that, Australia should not be filling the skills shortfalls that we have through immigration programs but instead by making the most of providing skills training to young people in this country, who I am sure would love to be given the opportunity to do that.

With those comments, can I say again that we will support the legislation but I wait with interest to see how well it works.

Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Vocational Education and Skills) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to thank all of the members have contributed to this debate on the Education and Other Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2017.

There is no greater defender of vocational education in this place than me. There is no greater of vocational education than the Turnbull government. There have been a number of fairly wild inaccuracies made by those opposite in speeches in relation to this bill. Quite frankly they are made by those members who are really struggling to defend their dismal record in the area of vocational education and training. The shadow minister has talked about government funding of TAFE. I have gone through this in detail with her before and I believe, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker Irons, that you were actually in the chair on the day that I referred directly to Labor's fiscal plan. I am sure you remember it because it was just staggering what we were hearing from the other side of this place.

Mr Husic interjecting—

Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! You are not reflecting on the chair, are you?

Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Vocational Education and Skills) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They talk at length about Labor's commitment to TAFE. I have researched it and I have gone back and checked the information. It does not take a lot to research what Labor has had to say about this and what their position is. I keep going back to this document, which is Labor's Fiscal Plan

Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This would be about as accurate as Rocky and Bullwinkle's Fractured Fairy Tales!

Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Vocational Education and Skills) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am not sure if the member opposite is actually concerned about the accuracies of his own document. Perhaps that is it, so I am going to read directly from it. In here, under education and skills, it has 'provide guaranteed TAFE funding'. So here we go: 2016-17 is a zero, 2017-18 is a zero, 2018-19 is a zero, 2019-20 is a zero. Zero plus zero plus zero plus zero equals zero. So, for all of their carrying on and talking about guaranteed funding to TAFE, in their own document four zeros equal zero—so absolutely nothing. Labor was guaranteeing no increase to funding to TAFE at all in their document.

Those opposite have also talked about the decline in apprenticeship and trainee numbers, something that the Turnbull government is heavily focused on reversing. This is another mess that was created by Labor that the coalition has, once again, been left to fix. The previous Labor government cut employer incentives to take on an apprentice nine times during the period 2011 to 2013. Those cuts totalled $1.2 billion. In Labor's last year in office—so, from June 2012 to June 2013—the number of apprentices and trainees in training slumped by more than 100,000, or 22 per cent. The rot started under Labor and, as usual, they now try to blame others for the mess.

This government has a plan to restore the status of vocational education and training that was so badly damaged by Labor. We are putting industry at the centre of our reforms to ensure that skills training meets employer needs. We have introduced Trade Support Loans to support apprentices throughout the life of their training, and so far nearly 60,000 have been approved. The Turnbull government is following through on its election commitment to establish a National Career Education Strategy so that school students receive the best career advice possible, matching them with the right training. And the VET Student Loans program is restoring integrity to vocational education after the debacle of Labor's VET-FEE HELP scheme.

The first part of this bill establishes a VET student loans ombudsman to investigate and act upon student complaints under both the failed VET-FEE HELP scheme and the government's new VET Student Loans program. VET Student Loans offer financial support to enable genuine students to receive and complete high-quality training. Our plan will ensure that training provided aligns with the skills employers are looking for to fill the jobs of today and the future, and this is good for our economy.

VET Student Loans fix the mess of Labor's failed VET-FEE HELP scheme, which allowed unscrupulous training providers to target vulnerable people, who were left with debts but with little prospect of getting a job. The cost to taxpayers from this scheme soared, and the reputation of vocational education was badly tarnished. This bill is an integral part of the government's total rebuilding of the vocational education and training loans program, and to restoring integrity to the sector. This bill on is the commitment I made in this place on 13 October last year to establish a VET student loans ombudsman.

Unlike those opposite, we properly research and plan our policy implementation so that we do not end up with debacles like Labor's VET-FEE HELP scheme. The VET student loans ombudsman will be able to investigate complaints and compliance by providers with legislation in relation to loans for both the new VET Student Loans program and under Labor's failed VET-FEE HELP scheme; make recommendations to training organisations and to the secretary of the Department of Education and Training and the minister in relation to loans, including cancelling student debts; conduct systemic reviews of the student loans scheme to ensure it is working as intended; and publicly report on its findings.

It follows the government's wide consultation with stakeholders in the VET sector on the introduction of an ombudsman through Redesigning VET-FEE HELP: discussion paper released in April last year. As a result, the government's proposal for an ombudsman has received wide support from interested parties, including Consumer Law regulators and advocates, unions and training providers. By establishing a VET student loans ombudsman and the VET Student Loans program, the Turnbull government is supporting students to get the skills they need for work and protecting students and taxpayers from abuse and rorts.

The second part of this bill increases the funding caps in the Australian Research Council Act 2001 in line with inflation, and ensures that the Australian government can continue to support thousands of research projects. High-quality research provides significant benefits to our nation. It helps to drive innovation and entrepreneurship, saves lives, improves standards of living, protects the environment and is absolutely critical to Australia's ability to compete internationally.

Again, I thank all members for their support for this bill and I commend this bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.