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

The government has a positive vision for tertiary education in which the taxpayer investment is focused on helping students to get the skills they need for a successful career, to get the jobs they want and aspire to and to ensure that they're trained in areas in which there are jobs and opportunities. That's why, when we set up the VET Student Loans scheme to replace those opposite's failed VET FEE-HELP program, we made sure that loans were available for training in areas where there were real jobs, real outcomes and real opportunities. That is why, in relation to funding for universities, which stands at a record level and continues to grow, we want to ensure that universities also focus on performance, because in recent years, as funding has grown, so too have rates of attrition, so too have noncompletions, and yet student employment or satisfaction rates have dropped in too many instances. We want to ensure that every tertiary education provider focuses on giving training that is job relevant, makes students job ready and helps them get the career they want for Australia's economic future. (Time expired)