Sharon Bird (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Vocational Education) Share this | Hansard source

Universities Australia have produced research on what the impacts will be, if the member wants to look at that. He could also look, for example, at the cost structures that are put in place under deregulation for international students and the sorts of costs that are there. There is plenty of evidence available. Currently the government proposes, first of all, to decrease the amount the Commonwealth pays towards the cost of courses. Then, of course, universities have their fees deregulated. So, what they will seek to do—and most universities will have to do this—is at least increase the fee to cover the cut in the amount that is Commonwealth-supported funding. So, for students who are looking at those courses, their share will increase, at minimum, by the amount that the Commonwealth funding for that course has been cut so that universities are not actually going backwards.

Then, of course, the government touts its Commonwealth Scholarships Program. Well, how are the scholarships funded? It is not Commonwealth government money. What actually happens is that universities, once they have covered the cost of the cut to the subsidy for the course, can then charge whatever they like. So, if they decide to charge additional, above and beyond making up that cut, they then are required to use $1 in every $5 to create a scholarship. To give an example, I and my colleague the member for Melbourne Ports are at university and we are enrolled in a class.

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