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

I thank Senator Fawcett for his question and his interest in training in South Australia, and his concern, in particular, for students afflicted by the crisis that has befallen TAFE in South Australia. This week we have been made aware of the decision by the national training regulator, the Australian Skills Quality Authority, to suspend TAFE SA's registration in relation to 14 courses that TAFE SA was administering. This is as a result of an audit, a random audit, that was undertaken into 16 courses run by TAFE SA. So 14 out of the 16 courses that had been audited in TAFE SA have been given the thumbs-down by the national regulator as a result of serious, serious mismanagement on the part of TAFE SA and the South Australian government. Indeed, TAFE SA was found not to be compliant with numerous clauses of the standards for registered training organisations in Australia. Seven of the suspended courses are on the national and state priority lists, demonstrating they are indeed important courses, and the impact is estimated to touch upon at least 800 students across plumbing, commercial cookery, meat processing, hairdressing and automotive refinishing. The problem, though, is not limited there. Ms Susan Close, the minister for education in South Australia, has conceded that she and the government have no idea of the scale of the problem that has been created—that, given 14 out of 16 courses audited have been found to have fundamental problems, Ms Close has admitted, she has no idea how many more courses might be affected, how many more students may be impacted, or how many people who have qualifications that they may not have received adequate training for may well be out there. This is a most serious problem, a most serious embarrassment, for the South Australian government and it's one that Minister Close ought to be held to account for.