David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) Bill 2025 and to foreshadow amendments I'll be moving in relation to this legislation. I want to start by thanking colleagues who were on the university governance inquiry for the huge amount of work that they undertook, starting with Senator Sheldon, who helped kick it off, and then Senator Marielle Smith. They both did really impressive work as chair of a committee dealing with a huge range of stakeholders. At times, through that committee's work and at Senate estimates, we were dealing with some pretty difficult subject matters and things could get fairly heated.

I want to acknowledge Senator O'Sullivan, Senator Henderson, Senator Faruqi, Senator Kovacic and Senator Barbara Pocock for their work. I think that some of that work highlighting the deficiencies in governance at universities in this country, starting with some of the concerns we've been hearing from our national university, the ANU, for a long time now, have really strengthened the need for more leadership in this space. I also want to thank the NTEU and the many staff, students, peak bodies and experts who have engaged so closely with me and my office over years now on these critical reforms.

At the outset I want to acknowledge that the establishment of the Australian Tertiary Education Commission, ATEC, is a welcome and necessary step. I thank Minister Clare and his office for their work on this and for bringing it forward. For too long we've had a higher education sector that has lacked coordination and lacked the independent stewardship that is actually required for long-term sustainability, and I think that's really caught up with us now. We're seeing the impact of that at universities across the country.

As has been pointed to in some of the contributions, our universities are critical national institutions. They educate the next generation, they drive innovation and they underpin our economic and social prosperity. So getting the settings right clearly matters. However, if ATEC is to fulfil its promise, it must be more than a new layer of administration. It must be genuinely independent, properly resourced and empowered to provide frank and fearless advice. That's why the second reading amendment I'll be moving makes three key points. First, it notes that the creation of ATEC is positive reform. Second, it recognises that ATEC's long-term effectiveness depends on its independence. This was raised a number of times through the committee process. That means independence in its functions, in its resourcing and in its reporting. Third, it urges ATEC to prioritise one of the most urgent and pressing issues in higher education today: fixing the failed job-ready graduates scheme.

This scheme has distorted student contribution settings, particularly for arts and humanities disciplines. It was rightly slammed by Labor when they were in opposition, but it has unfortunately now been in operation for longer under the Albanese government than it was under the Morrison government, and that is having a huge impact on students and our higher education sector. The universities accord made clear recommendations on this issue, and ATEC must move quickly to progress reform.

I will try to talk about my amendments in committee of the whole if there is time. I would just urge my Senate colleagues to look at amendments and ensure that we actually set the ATEC up for success. I think we need to be really critically looking at student contributions. We hear a lot about intergenerational inequality in this country. We see rising wealth inequality. Actually ensuring that the contributions of students is being looked at by ATEC, I think, is a really important part of setting this up for success.