Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

The OECD's Education at a glance report demonstrates that Australia's total expenditure on higher education from all sources stands at 1. 6 per cent of GDP, which is above the OECD average of 1.4 per cent. It further shows that Australia's direct public expenditure on all tertiary institutions and publicly-funded student loans and subsidies stands at 1.4 per cent of GDP, again above the OECD average of 1.3 per cent. It equates to some 3.8 per cent of all government spending in Australia versus an OECD average of 3.1 per cent. Expenditure per student at the bachelor, masters or PhD level is well above the OECD average, the seventh highest in the OECD, with Australian average investment of some US$19,700 per student versus an OECD average of $16,600 or so per student. It is a demonstration that we are a country that invests well and, under the Turnbull government, we will continue to invest— (Time expired)

The PRESIDENT: Senator Reynolds, a final supplementary question.