Anne Urquhart (Braddon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak in support of the VET Student Loans (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2025. This bill is about fixing a problem identified during a review of how VET student loans were administered under the previous government. It is a practical measure that ensures certainty for students, providers and the integrity of the system.

Since the VET Student Loans Act commenced in 2017, VET student loans providers and registered training organisations, including TAFEs and private colleges, have played an important role in administering loan applications. In practice, this involved handling tax file numbers for the purpose of verifying a student's identity and ensuring loan repayment through the tax system. However, during a review of how VET student loans were administered, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations identified that the Vet Student Loans Act 2016 did not explicitly authorise providers to handle TFNs. The program operated as intended, providers acted in good faith and the system functioned to help Australians access training without upfront costs, but the legal footing needed to be clearer. This bill addresses that gap. It clarifies the authority retrospectively so that everyone involved—providers, Commonwealth officers and the department—has certainty that their past handling of TFNs for the administration of loans was lawful.

The bill does three key things. First, it retrospectively authorises the handling of those tax file numbers by VET student loans providers and relevant Commonwealth officers for the purposes of administering VSLs from 1 January 2017 to 30 September 2025. This ensures that the good-faith actions taken to administer the scheme were legally supported. Second, it provides certainty to providers, government officers and students that past practices where tax file numbers were used to correctly link a student's loan account to their Australian Taxation Office record were lawful and appropriate. Third, from 1 October 2025 providers will no longer need to handle tax file numbers at all. Updated IT systems in the department now mask tax file numbers from providers and automate their secure transfer between relevant systems; in other words, the future design eliminates the need for providers to handle tax file numbers while preserving the essential function of the program.

A tax file number is essential for an income contingent loan program like VET student loans because the loan is repaid through the tax system. A tax file number enables accurate tracking of a student's loan. It ensures the correct linkage to their Australian Taxation Office account and supports repayments as the student's income grows. Without a tax file number, the integrity of the program would be compromised. Providers have always been subject to strict integrity safeguards, including compliance with disclosure provisions under the VSL Act, extensive approval processes and mandatory reporting of any data breaches. These protections have applied in the past and will continue to apply, and, with the new IT architecture, we will go further. Tax file numbers will be masked from providers, and the secure handling of sensitive identifiers, which is really important, will occur within government systems designed expressly for that purpose—not for other purposes but expressly for that purpose.

The bill is not just about fixing a technical gap. It is about supporting Australians who rely on VET to build their careers. We know that there are many young and mature students out there who are looking at getting assistance to get through a VET program, and, in my home region of Braddon, the importance of VET cannot be overstated. Across the electorate of Braddon, VET student loans have helped locals train for many jobs like aged-care and disability support. Those sectors are growing rapidly as our population ages, and we want to encourage more people to get into those roles. It's really important. The loans have also backed apprentices and trainees in construction and advanced manufacturing. These are the industries that drive major projects in Tasmania, like the Marinus Link and beyond. Those construction and advanced manufacturing jobs are very, very important for the renewable rollout that we are seeing right across the country but particularly in my region of Braddon, in Tasmania, and we need to back in apprentices and trainees and give them every opportunity to go through the VET system and get trained.

Students at TasTAFE's Burnie and Devonport campuses are completing diplomas in things like agriculture, project management and nursing skills. These are essential for strengthening our hospitals, advancing our renewable energy projects and also supporting our local businesses. Private providers in Braddon play a vital role too. They deliver courses in hospitality, tourism and tour guiding, which create pathways for jobs that showcase our region. We have a fantastic region to showcase and we need really high-skilled people. People can get on board, get skills and training and get involved in those courses to help showcase our region through events like the Wynyard Tulip Festival, which runs every year. It's run by a small committee, but they need lots of volunteers and people with skills. There's also the Unconformity festival, which happens every two years in Queenstown, on the West Coast, and brings in people both from all over Tasmania and from mainland Australia, and there are also international people that visit there. Having really well-trained people with the skills and the opportunities to showcase those regions is vitally important. Without VET student loans, many of these students would face upfront costs they simply could not afford, and we see a lot of students make the decision about whether to actually get involved in a VET course based on whether or not they can afford it.

Free TAFE has been tremendous in supporting many students, both young and mature, in realigning their careers and changing the shape of what they want to do for the rest of their life. That measure has been really helpful. This bill's changes around student loans will make a difference in people's lives. The bill ensures that the system underpinning those opportunities is sound, secure and futureproof. We want more aged-care workers. We want more electricians for renewable energy projects, and we need more chefs in a local cafes and restaurants. These are the sorts of opportunities that students get when they go through a VET course.

The VET Student Loans program has been helping Australians access training since 2017, but during a recent review we found something important—that the law didn't clearly allow providers to handle tax file numbers, even though they needed to at the time for the system to actually work. We're fixing that, and that's something this bill is doing. Since early this year, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations has upgraded its IT systems so providers will no longer see the tax file numbers. They're now masked and transferred automatically.

This government is investing $42.2 million over four years to build a modern VSL platform. From 2026, the program will run on a new secure system for assessments and payments. The bill starts the day after royal assent, so it's really urgent that we get this bill dealt with. It confirms that past practices were lawful, but it also introduces a safer and more modern way to handle that sensitive data like tax file numbers and that data that students have. Why does it matter? Well, it matters particularly because VET student loans make training more accessible. They let students defer fees and gain skills in our areas that the economy needs most around science, technology, engineering—in our licensed trades. They help tackle skills shortages and create better job outcomes.

In Braddon, the area that I represent in Tasmania, that means that there will be more nurses in a hospital—we need a lot more of them—and more skilled trades for housing projects. We are working on that really hard as a government, and we need more people to come on board to get the skills to be able to build those homes. There will also be more technicians for renewable energy. As I said earlier, we have a very big renewable energy hub right on the north-west coast of Tasmania, and I want to see our young people have opportunities to get trained to be technicians and work in those renewable energies that provide really great future jobs and good, secure jobs for the future for those young people. It means stronger local businesses and a stronger regional economy.

This bill is about doing the right thing for students, for providers and for the integrity of our loan system. It ensures that VSL can keep supporting Australians without the complexity that's there, without uncertainty. Really importantly, it is with the privacy protections that the public rightly expects.

Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the VET Student Loans (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2025, proudly. Often, governments have great intentions. We've all heard a lot about the national skills shortage. We've all heard us talk repeatedly about the need for us to develop people with those skills in our communities to ensure that we can build the homes that we need, to ensure that we can be competitive on the global market. The VET student loans have been part of that since 2017.

But, as it is important to enact things in response to that skills shortage, it is just as important to ensure that we have a streamlined system and that the students who are looking to access that system have certainty about the outcome of accessing it. That's what this piece of legislation is about. It's about a government that's listening to the people at the end of the line of the intention of legislation and listening to the feedback we're getting from the system, if you like, and from the grassroots—from the students who are accessing the loans. What we've found is that there's a problem that needs to be fixed. This government has identified it during a review in the last term of government of how VET student loans were administered. Now we're fixing it with this piece of legislation. We're taking action to ensure this is resolved and there is a certainty for students and providers.

The bill is a fix for an issue where VSL providers were handling tax file numbers when the 2016 VSL Act did not authorise it. The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations identified that there's no clear role for VSL providers to handle tax file numbers in the VET Student Loans Act 2016. A stronger alignment between relevant IT systems and legislation was required. This is why the Albanese government is bringing forward the VET Student Loans (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2025, to ensure this alignment and to fix the problem.

The bill will retrospectively authorise VET student loan providers' handling of students' tax file numbers for administering the VET Student Loans program. The bill will also provide certainty to providers and government officers that their past handling of students' tax file numbers for administering the VSL program from 1 January 2017 to 30 September 2025 was in fact lawful. The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations has, since early 2025, made updates to relevant IT systems to mask tax file numbers from the providers and automate transfer to tax file numbers between relevant systems. This means that VSL providers no longer need to handle the tax file number. This also closes a loophole in terms of a potential breach of personal information to those providers when it wasn't necessary.

A tax file number is information that is essential for administrating a loans program of this kind. This is because tax file numbers enable accurate tracking and repayment of that loan in the future, through the tax system. There'll be no change to the way students apply for a VET student loan using the electronic Commonwealth assistance form, or the eCAF. I'd also note that there have been no VSL student complaints as a result of past TFN handling practices for the purposes of the VSL program since it commenced; however, this is important, responsible and part of due diligence.

Providers have also been subject to security controls in the relevant IT systems and integrity safeguards to protect students' personal information. That has been occurring, and this legislation will ensure that it's all been done above board in the past and will be into the future. The safeguards include requirements for providers to comply with the strict use and disclosure provisions that apply to VET information under the VSL Act, that they undergo extensive approval processes to become an approved provider and that they notify the department of any student related data breaches. The protections that have previously applied to VSL providers' handling of TFNs will continue to do so after the bill's commencement.

The bill will apply to all current and former VSL providers and their officers who have handled student tax file numbers to administer their loan applications and their VET student loans themselves prior to 1 October 2025. It also extends to other relevant people, including the Secretary of the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, the Commissioner of Taxation and Commonwealth officers. The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations has communicated with the providers about the IT changes throughout the year and continues to communicate with providers about this bill. We are ensuring that there is certainty in the system and that no-one else will be affected by a problem of this kind in the future.

VET student loan providers are of course registered training organisations that are approved by the Australian government to deliver the VSL approved courses, including TAFE institutions and private colleges. The bill will commence the day after it receives royal assent and the measure in the bill will be applied retrospectively to be in effect from 1 January 2017 to 30 September 2025. It's important that this bill happens expeditiously. It's important that the continuity of the provision of the VET student loans is not interrupted. It's important that certainty be given to both the providers and the students. It's important that people feel assured and confident that there have been no breaches and that because of this bill there will be no future breaches.

What does it mean for students? The VET student loans program enables students to undertake a VET course and defer the payment of tuition fees through an income-contingent loan. This is critical. It is critical in areas such as the area that I represent, where young people may not have a mum-and-dad bank to fall back on, and their decisions about further and higher education are actually impacted by their family situation. These loans were enacted to support those young people to access vocational education and training, to get the skills that they need for future employment, or for people to re-engage in the vocational education and training sector so that they can upskill and find new positions. It's about us having the workforce that we need to be globally competitive and make sure that we're doing the provision on the ground that our communities need.

We don't have to go far to think about the shortage in housing and construction at the moment, which we know we're trying refill. Look at the shortages that we've had in aged care across the country and in child care across the country. Vocational education and training systems are critical in developing that workforce. Government can do the things that we're doing to ensure that people are attracted to the industry and are maintained in the industry because they're getting a fair and decent wage, but we also need to ensure that they're capable and supported in accessing training so that they can take those next steps. This piece of legislation is about fixing that system. It's a small fix, but it's an important one. It's about making sure that everybody has continuity and certainty around this system so that people can access their loans without fear of a breach of their confidentiality or an upset in the system between them, the taxation system and the loan system.

Anne Stanley (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I've spoken at other times in this place about the critical need for Australia to have a skilled and job-ready workforce. Unfortunately, the failure of successive coalition governments has meant that many geographical areas around our nation have critical workforce shortages. Further, there are a number of workforce speciality areas that have severe shortages, regardless of your postcode or where you live.

The key to addressing workforce shortages is training and education. This can often commence at high school but also occurs at TAFE, university and through approved course providers. A key aspect of meeting Australia's workforce needs is free TAFE courses. Along with the states, the Albanese Labor government has partnered to deliver more than $1.5 billion worth of funding for 500,000 fee-free TAFE and VET places across Australia from 2023-26. This is a marvellous program and one that I am delighted to support. I have seen firsthand in the electorate of Werriwa the life-changing and positive effects that the fee-free TAFE program is having. It really can be a game changer. It opens opportunities to my constituents that they would never have been able to achieve.

Complementing the fee-free TAFE program is the government's delivery of a 20 per cent reduction to student HECS debt. Hundreds of thousands of Australians have already received that SMS message from the Australian Tax Office, and millions of Australians will continue to receive it over the coming weeks, advising them that their debt has been slashed by 20 per cent. I'm sure that will be a welcome early Christmas present for everyone.

Importantly, and relevant to the matter before us now, VET student loans are also included in the debt reduction scheme. Student loans for vocational education and training were first introduced in 2008, under the VET FEE-HELP scheme. Without these VET student loans, many students wouldn't have had the opportunity to undertake tertiary studies, with serious flow-on effects for Australian businesses and industries. The 2008 scheme was subsequently replaced in 2017 by the VET student loan program. The 2017 program had its own legislative framework, while still continuing to use the same system platforms.

A review of how VET student loans are administered has identified that there is no role for VSL providers to handle tax file numbers in the act. To be clear, VSL providers are registered training organisations approved by the Australian government to deliver these approved courses, including TAFE institutions and private colleges. This bill seeks to address this issue to ensure there is certainty for both students and those providers. Tax file number information is essential for the administration of the VSL program, because a provision of the TFN enables accurate tracking and repayments of VET student loans, particularly when a student's income reaches the repayment threshold.

The bill before us will result in stronger alignment between the relevant IT systems and the legislation. This bill will retrospectively authorise VET student loan providers to handle students' tax file numbers to administer the VET student loans program. This also includes retrospective authorisation of approval of the VSL provider's historical activities that involve requiring or requesting, collecting, recording, storing, using and disclosing students TFNs for the purposes of facilitating the administration of a student's loan application for a VET student loan or the loan itself.

Finally, the bill will also provide certainty to providers and government offices that their past handling of students' TFNs for administration of the VET Student Loans program from 1 January 2017 to 30 September 2025 was indeed lawful. Importantly, the matter this bill speaks to has been addressed throughout 2025, as the department has made updates to relevant IT systems to mask the VSL student tax file number, meaning that VSL providers no longer need to handle the TFNs. Thankfully, I note there have been no VSL student complaints as a result of past practices.

I note that, as a result of this bill, there will be no change to the way that students apply for these loans, and they will still continue to use the electronic Commonwealth assistance form. I commend the minister for bringing this matter before us for debate. Providers and relevant government offices need certainty that they were acting lawfully at the time in the way that they handled students' tax file numbers.

Similarly, students deserve equal certainty that their sensitive information is handled appropriately and according to the law. Australia, under the Albanese Labor government, has a VET program which will be the envy of the rest of the world, and this bill will ensure it remains that way. I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.