Darren Cheeseman (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Moreton for enabling me to jump the queue and proceed before him. I speak in support of the Higher Education Support Amendment (FEE-HELP Loan Fee) Bill 2010. This bill will amend the amount of FEE-HELP loan fees for undergraduate full-fee-paying courses. This is a recommendation of the review of Australian higher education institutions. This bill will increase the amount of the FEE-HELP loan fee from 20 to 25 per cent of the loan. This bill is another important recommendation from the Bradley review of the higher education sector. The review recommends that the loan fee be increased from 20 to 25 per cent for full-fee-paying undergraduate courses. This recommendation has been implemented because of its clear nature in the review and also the need for fiscal sustainability. This bill is consistent with the recommendation of the Bradley review.

These reforms will not apply to postgraduate courses of study, enabling courses, units of study with Open Universities Australia or briefing study for overseas-trained professionals. The loan will not count towards the FEE-HELP limit. For example, a student who uses $80,000 of FEE-HELP will have a HELP debt recorded at the ATO of $96,000. In enabling more students to attend university, this bill is consistent with the government’s agenda. The FEE-HELP debts will be indexed by applying CPI increases, there will be a real rate of interest and, of course, repayments will be required when a person’s income hits the income threshold. The loan fee will recover part of the cost of the government while providing interest-free loans that are on an income contingent basis.

The Bradley review recommended that the loan fee be increased to 25 per cent to enable the government to recover a higher proportion of the costs associated with providing FEE-HELP. The increase will apply to commencing and continuing undergraduate students who take out a FEE-HELP loan from 1 July 2010. These changes will affect a small proportion of students. Based on the 2008 student data, it is estimated that some 9,900 students will be affected. This number will probably come down due to the government’s decision to abolish full-fee-paying undergraduate courses at public universities.

This decision will be very helpful in my electorate, where there are large rural areas. My electorate has many students that have relocated for their studies. Deakin University has a campus in my electorate. Deakin is recognised as being in the top 10 public universities, which are phasing out full-fee-paying students. This means that Deakin University in Corangamite will be dramatically less affected by this reform next year than it would have been last year.

This goes to the heart of the Rudd Labor government’s reforms to higher education. This government is giving more opportunities to more people to attend university. The student income support reform is a great example of that. That, of course, would have enabled more regional students to attend university. I am very proud to watch the contribution which the Deputy Prime Minister is trying to make with respect to student income support, which is just another example of legislation continuing to be blocked in the Senate. Many students in my electorate have had to relocate to attend university, and the student income support reforms would have provided them with much needed financial support. Unfortunately those opposite continue to oppose that reform that is based on encouraging regional and rural kids right throughout Australia to attend university. The Leader of the Opposition thinks climate change is ‘crap’ but his actions in this regard are crap as well.

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