Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I speak in support of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Bill 2011 and the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2011. The member for Ryan in her speech was critical of the government in relation to the number of people attending universities. The simple fact is that since we were elected in 2007 an extra 80,000 undergraduate students have received the opportunity of a university education. That figure alone indicates our commitment to tertiary education, and the legislation here before the House again builds on that commitment.

We want a just and productive Australia. We want a prosperous Australia committed to economic development, productivity and the best high-paying and high-skilled jobs that are available. That is why we have focused strongly on higher education, because we believe that higher education transforms the quality of people's lives and enhances their potential. We believe that a university place gives a person the opportunity in life that they could not have if their circumstances were such that their financial capacity could not afford it, their familial history did not support it or their experience did not dictate that university hitherto was an option.

We strongly believe that the opportunity to attend university really gives a person not just a broadness in their thinking but also a financial security that they would not have otherwise. In a landmark reform, we have committed ourselves to lifting the caps on undergraduate university places. The legislation here demonstrates our comm­itment to the whole system by underpinning a robust quality assurance and regulatory framework which will put a renewed emphasis on student outcomes and the quality of student experiences.

That is why we have committed $70 million over four years to establish this new regulatory framework. We believe this will enhance the quality of education at the tertiary level. The new Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency will, we believe, remove the eccentricities and oddities of Federation with respect to regul­atory systems in the university sector. We believe that in this day and age, in the 21st century, one body and one body alone should govern the regulatory arrangements for universities.

We are pleased that we have got bipartisan support for this and that the sector has played a constructive role in offering suggestions to enhance the capacity of the new body, TEQSA. This will make a big difference, because if every stakeholder has a say and has a vested interest in how this will go then the agency will deliver on the expectation of it and that universities across the country will improve.

Higher education is not just about giving young people opportunity, enhancing the next generation of students and providing the promise of a high-skilled and high-wage job but also about improving the capacity of our economy to withstand things like the global financial crisis. We have made an enormous contribution with close to $4 billion in the budget for this sector. Our higher education sector is crucial to economic prosperity. Ensuring it functions with quality assurance is absolutely essential.

We are following the recommendations of the Bradley review in this regard. Clearly, a national approach is needed, and this was the recommendation. A national approach which underpins domestic and international confi­dence in higher education is crucial because students from overseas play an important role in the sector and engage in high levels of achievement and attainment. You only have to attend a university in any electorate to see that that is the case. I have two universities in my electorate: the University of Queen­sland has an Ipswich campus and the University of Southern Queensland is at Springfield. I commend the work that they do. I know from speaking to university educators, officials and administrators that they are very much of the view that a national approach to regulation and quality assurance is the right way to go. They are supportive of our demand driven proposals. They are also supportive of the increase in student participation and the consequent numbers we have seen. But they are also supportive of a consistency in national standards and regulation because they believe—and I concur—that this will benefit the higher education sector. This approach means our reputation for higher education and training is assured. If we have consistency in standards and regulations, our international competitiveness is protected and enhanced. If you are a student who has graduated from the University of Southern Queensland in Springfield, for example, and you want to work overseas, recognition of, say, your bachelor's degree in business or your qualification in teaching or in some other area gives you the opportunity to work overseas. This enhances your capacity for gainful employment overseas and it also builds on your reputation locally. Global economies continue to adapt to changing requirements; it is a dynamism which we never thought of in the past. These days you can click a button and transfer money across continents. A student can qualify in teaching or physiotherapy here and work overseas in ways that their grandparents and great-grandparents never thought possible. Overseas travel is so common for university students and our young people today that in some countries it is talked about as being OE—overseas experience. Students deserve to have confidence that their bachelor's degree really means something and is acknowledged around the world.

The legislation will ensure students or prospective students will have access to information relating to higher education in this country so that they can make decisions about the quality of university they attend and the quality of the course they undertake. It can help them make decisions about their academic progress and whether they go to a particular university or do a particular degree. Establishing that kind of confidence in the higher education sector is critical in terms of a competitive academic envir­onment, but it does require thoughtful and careful regulation. TEQSA's approach will be proportionate and risk based. Principles in the legislation are focused on three areas: regulatory necessity, so as not to place unreasonable burden on a particular higher education provider; reflecting risk, in that the agency must consider a range of factors when exercising its power; and exercising proportional regulation.

In practice these principles mean that this body is not going to be a dictator; it is going to be a regulator, and that is the difference. It is not going to lord it over the sector like the previous government did when it imposed legislation such as Work Choices on the sector—something that those opposite always forget. With these principles, we think the legislation will go a long way to enhancing high-quality education. TEQSA will operate as an independent body, at arm's length from the government and the minister. The legislation expressly prohibits the minister from giving a direction to a higher education provider, and that is a good and noble thing as well. Of course, TEQSA will give directions free from political interference. The minister can only give directions to TEQSA where that is deemed necessary to protect the integrity of the higher education sector. The agency, TEQSA, has the capacity to register and reregister higher education providers, to accredit and re-accredit courses of study, to conduct assessments, to monitor, to enforce compliance, to investigate actions, to make recommendations to the minister and to collect, analyse, interpret and disseminate information—all worthy aspirations, good objectives and good functions in the legislation.

I also commend in the legislation the establishment of the Higher Education Standards Panel. Its members will be responsible for developing standards and advising and making recommendations to the minister and to TEQSA. The panel will be independent of TEQSA's governance and will report directly to the minister. The panel members will have a chair and between four and 10 others will be appointed by the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations in consultation with the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.

The smooth transition to TEQSA is a key priority of this government. The bill provides amendments to existing Commonwealth legislation and transitional measures to ensure the smooth transition of functions from the states and territories to TEQSA. The extensive checks and balances in the bill will ensure that TEQSA considers risk in making regulatory decisions. The establish­ment does not affect the states' and territories' ownership of universities or their capacity to establish universities. Disseminating best practice is also a focus of the national system. TEQSA is all about making the sector better and more competitive; it is about making things simpler, clearer, more streamlined and consistent. It will be important for the higher education sector to meet the standards required by home-grown and overseas students. The legislation is warmly welcomed by the university administrators as well as the universities in my electorate and those across the country. I commend the legislation to the House.

See this speech in context