Perin Davey (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would just like to correct Senator Waters. Many of us have not only met young people but are parents to young people and support young people in our communities. I appreciate the generalisation, but it is false.

The Nationals support the Higher Education Support Amendment (Job-Ready Graduates and Supporting Regional and Remote Students) Bill. We support our regional students and our regional universities, and we support the contribution they will make to our economic recovery. I acknowledge the work of my Nationals colleague in the other place Minister Andrew Gee, who consulted extensively with regional universities to ensure that these reforms meet the needs of regional students and regional institutions alike.

Higher education is an important career pathway choice. It plays a vital role in our economy both through producing qualified jobseekers and professional development opportunities and as an income generator in its own right. We want to ensure that tertiary education is available to any Australian who wants to attain a university qualification. That's why this package will create more places—39,000 new university places by 2023 and 100,000 by 2030. To kickstart it, we're increasing the funding of universities from $18 billion to $20 billion by 2024. These extra places and the extra funding will also assist people from rural, regional and remote areas to access university courses, because we know that there is disparity in educational participation and attainment for people from regional and remote areas and our Indigenous populations.

The Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee heard in the recent round of hearings that the biggest impediment to rural, regional and remote students undertaking a university course is not cost but access. Mr Duncan Taylor, CEO of the Country Universities Centre, which manages six supported study hubs across regional New South Wales, told the committee that:

Without doubt, it is access. It is the up-front costs of potentially relocating to a distant university campus or, in the case of online study at home, it is the supports in place that are likely to make that study successful and the student not feel isolated and drop out of university.

When I asked for a figure on the attrition rate for students who choose to study at home in remote locations, Mr Taylor said that it is about 2½ times higher than that of face-to-face learning. But that rate falls greatly for those who can access the supported study centre. That's why the Nationals in government are very proud to support regional university centres, because we know that not everyone can relocate and move to a university campus for their study and that regional university centres do a very important job in providing additional support for those students.

We recognise, however, that some do want the benefit of face-to-face learning and some remote students want the choice to go away and experience university life. The job-ready package acknowledges this and provides for a tertiary access payment for those students. This one-off payment of $5,000 for school leavers from outer regional and remote areas who relocate more than 90 minutes from their home to undertake tertiary education will make relocation and accessing university easier for many. It is estimated that over 8,000 students will benefit from this payment next year alone. But, importantly, this tertiary access payment is not limited to university courses, because we recognise that university is just one career pathway for our young people; some go through university, some go through TAFE and others learn on the job. There is no right way to enter the workforce.

This bill also amends the Social Security Act to reduce the number of months that a student must receive eligible student support payments to be eligible to receive a fares allowance to return home from six to three. That is really important, because we have seen recently the stress of students who have been blockaded by state border closures and unable to travel home for holidays, to see their family or for special events. Our package will also ensure that universities target the enrolment of rural, regional and remote students by expanding the Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program to recognise these students as a key target group, along with the already-recognised low socioeconomic group and Indigenous students. Currently, around 130 students from low socioeconomic backgrounds or Indigenous students are eligible for support under the HEPPP. Our changes will mean an additional 125,000 students who either meet those criteria or are from regional and remote areas will be eligible for this support.

Contrary to what we're hearing in this debate from Labor and the Greens and some of the Independents, we're not making it harder for students from lower socioeconomic demographics; we are actually supporting and facilitating those students to access pathways through higher education and, ultimately, into the workforce. And we're making sure that this includes a new regional partnership pool to support outreach activities to increase the aspirations of rural and regional school students to attend university, because we know universities have a big role to play in reducing the gap in educational attainment between metro and regional areas.

We are also supporting our regionally based universities, because we know that if someone learns in the region they are more likely to earn in the region; they are more likely to stay regional. Not only do our regional universities make it easier for these students to study and, hopefully, to continue to work in regional areas; they support our regional communities through employment, through research and by fostering regional development. We support them. Indeed, we heard this over and over again through our inquiry at the Senate committee. The Regional Universities Network told the committee that they support this bill and that its timely passage would enable relevant arrangements to be put in place prior to 2021.

The vice-chancellor of the University of Tasmania—Senator Bilyk rightly said today that she is very proud of the University of Tasmania; it is the only university in Tasmania—said this package supports regional and rural education and assists in creating a sustainable university for the island. The Central Queensland University vice-chancellor, Nick Klomp, said reducing the cost of studying teaching, nursing, agriculture, health and engineering will make these courses more attractive to students from all walks of life, particularly from the regions. And, in Victoria, the Federation University vice-chancellor, Helen Bartlett, remarked that students, communities and providers should benefit from this new reform package and regional, rural and remote students, communities and tertiary education providers will benefit from this decision. In New South Wales, the University of New England vice-chancellor, Brigid Heywood, said, 'This reform will help regional Australia.'

I also note that Senator O'Neill referenced Charles Sturt University. They did not appear before the Senate committee, but I have had extensive briefings from them about their recent restructure. In my consultation with Charles Sturt University, they made it clear—and I want to put this on the record—that their restructure was not brought on by these reforms, nor was it brought on by COVID; it was brought on by their strategy to ensure that they can continue to deliver quality, modern education into the future. I commend CSU for being proactive, for undertaking this work and, importantly, for keeping their stakeholders informed.

Now to reducing the costs for students studying priority areas. I fail to see the problem in reducing the costs for 60 per cent of students. We know there is a gap between the skills of graduates as they leave university and the skills and experience needed to succeed in the workplace. We have shortfalls in priority areas, including sciences, health and IT. I note there has been a welcome increase in the number of Indigenous students enrolling in health courses; and our reforms will encourage, rather than discourage, more of that. There are also key growth employment areas which will require more graduates, such as engineering and agriculture—particularly relevant for regional Australia.

Because our government is committed to regional Australia, we are committed to developing and delivering major infrastructure projects, such as Inland Rail, that will need such graduates into the future. We also commend the National Farmers Federation and their ambitious goal of $100 billion in farmgate return by 2030; but we know that, to reach it, agriculture needs to continue to innovate. We need more graduates and more agricultural research—both practical and developmental—if we want to fulfil that goal. By strengthening our regional universities and by improving access to university for outer regional, remote and Indigenous students, and by offering incentives—