Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move Greens amendment (1) on sheet 3369:

(1) Page 33 (after line 22), at the end of the Bill, add:

Schedule 4 — Maximum student contribution amounts for places

Part 1 — Amendments

Higher Education Support Act 2003

1 Section 93-10

Omit "The maximum student contribution amount for a place", substitute "(1) Subject to subsection (2), the maximum student contribution amount for a place".

2 At the end of section 93-10

Add:

(2) The table in subsection (1) has effect in relation to a place in a unit of study included in the Society and Culture part of the *first funding cluster as if the amount specified for that part of the cluster in respect of both a non-grandfathered student and a grandfathered student was instead the amount specified for that place in the unit of study immediately before the amendments made by Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the Higher Education Support Amendment (Job Ready Graduates and Supporting Regional and Remote Students) Act 2020 commenced.

Part 2 — Application provision

3 Application

The amendments made by Part 1 of this Schedule apply in relation to a unit of study that has a *census date that is on or after the commencement of that Part (whether the unit of study is part of a course of study commenced before, on or after the commencement of that Part).

This amendment reverses the Job-ready Graduates fee hikes. The Albanese government talks a big game about their cost-of-living credentials, but the reality is that, under their watch, fees for degrees have skyrocketed, with students now paying in excess of $50,000 for an arts degree.

When the Morrison government introduced their disastrous, punitive, Job-ready Graduates Package, Labor was strong in opposition, but they have now had over three years in power and have done nothing about it. Even their own Universities Accord process found that the fee hikes required urgent remediation. Just this week, over a hundred well-known Australians signed an open letter urging the Albanese government to abolish Job-ready Graduates and implement a system that does not punish students who choose to study humanities and social sciences.

So Labor crowing about their one-off debt cut does nothing for the students who are starting university this year and facing ballooning fees. It also does nothing for the high-school graduates that are deciding not to go to university because they can't afford to. If the government was serious about relief for students, the Job-ready Graduate fee hikes would have been reversed back in 2022, but, unfortunately, this was not the case.

Labor still has an opportunity to support this amendment and make $50,000 arts degrees a thing of the past. So I commend the amendment to the Senate and urge others to support it, because we need to urgently repeal this punitive package.

Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Early Childhood Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Faruqi for her amendment. The government is not in a position to support this amendment at this time.

The government is currently responding to a range of recommendations from the Universities Accord. We have implemented or are in the process of implementing 31 of the 47 recommendations of the accord in full or in part. This includes making the indexation of HELP debts fairer, cost-of-living relief for students, support for people from the outer suburbs and regions to go to university, and structural reforms to our tertiary education system.

Last year the government wiped $3 billion of HELP debt for three million Australians and fixed indexation on HELP debt so that it will never increase faster than wages. For an individual with an average HELP debt of $26,500, around $1,200 has been wiped from their outstanding student loan.

Commonwealth prac payments started on 1 July 2025 for the first time. These will support about 68,000 eligible teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students while they are completing their compulsory practical training at university.

From 1 January 2025, the government massively expanded fee-free uni-ready courses to help more students from disadvantaged backgrounds get a chance to access university. We've also established the interim Australian Tertiary Education Commission, ATEC, from 1 July 2025. The Minister for Education has said we'll keep working through the accord's recommendations and we'll take advice from the Australian Tertiary Education Commission.

This bill cuts student debt by 20 per cent and delivers important structural reforms to repayments, which will benefit generations to come. This is the commitment the Australian people supported at the last election.

Claire Chandler (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question before the chair is that Greens amendment (1) on sheet 3369, moved by Senator Faruqi, be agreed to.