Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

Labor supports this bill. We have been calling for a VET ombudsman for a long time now, and we took this policy to the last election. This is because Labor understands that students need someone in their corner to stand up for them and their rights. We know that there are dodgy providers engaging in bad practices in the vocational education sector, and students need someone who will fight for them.

Labor have always stuck up for students and we always will. We are glad to see the government adopting yet another one of our policies, to this end. And it is about time. The unfair situation that many students have found themselves in is the result of this government's neglect. They were simply not paying attention to the VET system. They ignored all of the warning signs, concerns and complaints while they were busy changing ministers five times. The system has fallen into crisis on the Liberals' watch. VET FEE-HELP loans have blown out from around $700 million in 2013 to a staggering $2.9 billion in 2015.

Make no mistake, Labor has led the way on this debate. Fifteen months ago we moved to establish a VET ombudsman in this place. At that time, the minister said he would look into it and promised that the idea would be progressed, and late last year, when the government introduced their VET Student Loans Bill, the assistant minister said that the government would establish an ombudsman. Labor was glad to finally see some action. But a closer look at the bills revealed absolutely nothing about establishing an ombudsman. After a whole year of promised progress, including the issuance of a discussion paper seeking feedback from the sector on the idea of establishing an ombudsman, there was nothing—even though the RIS for these bills noted the concept of creating an ombudsman was the single most popular idea put forward by the government in their discussion paper, and even though students, providers and consumer advocates were all calling for an ombudsman.

It fell to Labor to step up and take action to protect students. It fell to Labor to move an amendment to establish an ombudsman, at which time the government again made yet another promise and undertook to return to the parliament with standalone legislation. They may have been dragged kicking and screaming to do the right thing, but Labor are pleased this legislation is before us today, and we are glad to support the implementation of one of our election promises.

Labor knows how important the broader debate on skills, training and jobs is. Just last month, the Leader of the Opposition hosted a national summit to bring business, government, TAFE, unions and providers together. We know that Australia needs long-term policy solutions for opportunities, jobs and the economy. Labor are putting in the work to ensure that we have a plan to skill our local workforce for the jobs of the future. There are longer-term reforms that we should consider in this place. We know that the establishment of an ombudsman has been strongly supported by stakeholders, consumer law advocates, providers and, of course, by students. Indeed, many have argued for an ombudsman who has a broader remit beyond the loans scheme, or holds powers of arbitration. Labor believes these ideas have merit and should remain under consideration as part of the long-term reforms to the VET system that are so desperately needed.

Labor believes the government have brought forward this legislation in good faith, and that the government and the department will use the powers available to make sure the ombudsman operates effectively. Labor expects to see the recommendations of the ombudsman respected and heavy punishment for any providers that do not cooperate. Because students must come first. Their rights must be protected.

The government is on notice here. There are many thousands of students who have been treated wrongly in recent years, and Labor expects to see results from this ombudsman. Labor has always said that effective implementation will be what makes or breaks the government's VET reforms. They owe it to students and to all the providers who are working hard and doing the right thing to make the changes they have and to make sure these changes are implemented in the interests of the sector and of students.