Fiona Scott (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Firstly, I would like to commend the member for Lalor for her passionate and heartfelt remarks. It is good to see a schoolteacher in this place stand up for her community. So thank you.

I rise today in support of the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Amendment Bill 2015. This bill sees a lot of bipartisanship on both sides of the chamber and it really brings out the best in what this place does. The bill seeks to addresses many of the challenges faced within my electorate of Lindsay. Further, this bill will provide clarity to both education providers and students alike.

For too long, vocational training has been treated as the poor cousin when it comes to attaining workplace skills. Some of the certificate courses being offered are foundation stones for our youth to gain entrance into the workforce.

Every day, right across western Sydney, hundreds of registered training organisations do extraordinary work. I myself have been a product of the Western Sydney Institute of TAFE where I gained early vocational courses in marketing and graphic design and, finally, a diploma in marketing management. This provided a gateway opportunity for me to then go to the University of Western Sydney and study a Bachelor of Business, with a major in marketing and, finally, a Masters of Business Administration from the Australian Graduate School of Management.

I would never have been able to achieve these things and have that gateway if I had not attended the TAFE college in my local community, on Henry Street, in Penrith. I am very passionate about this sector because I really can see what it will actually do for so many of our youth. But, like so many of the brilliant RTOs, we are all equally disappointed when we see rogue operators partaking in unscrupulous activities and bringing the entire industry into disrepute.

I stand here today, a product of the VET system. Now, in my capacity as a member of parliament, I feel that it is my responsibility to ensure that other young people are provided opportunities and that other young people can trust the vocational training that they sign up to. Further, accessibility and affordability of the system are essential, as is a system that continues to provide a diversity of program formats designed to meet the varying skills and levels, the individual learning outcomes, of students. These are all crucial elements of the sector.

Currently, for many students working their way through the system, this is not easy. Understanding which registered training organisation is providing which course and what gateways they will potentially open is, for many students, obscure and ambiguous, and students will often be forced to sign up to courses through third-party organisations. Sadly, some of these training bodies have gone door to door with sales techniques whereby potential students have been enrolled in courses with the enticement of an iPad, a laptop or even some form of tablet and maybe a couple of hundred dollars.

I was at a multicultural event over the weekend and was pulled aside by a couple of the elders at that event. They were extremely distressed and very, very upset. A few of their youth who had not been in Australia very long and were still coming to grips with English were signed up to a training program. They ended up being saddled with large amounts of debt. They were given a laptop computer—one of them was given an iPad—and told, 'Here you go, on your way, off on your course.' They were so, so upset. They were upset for their youth, but they were also upset about the waste of government dollars in this program. This community group really has been one of the most innovative in my community. To see these men, whom I respect so much, so upset about this program made me very, very angry.

What also made me angry about this was hearing through my office from nursing homes which have had individuals signed up to these programs. The fact is that these rogue operators are absolutely targeting our most vulnerable, targeting people who may not necessarily know what they are signing up to. This is an abhorrent thing that they are doing, and it must stop.

This amendment is designed to clean up this mess, with one simple requirement: if you offer a course, you must identify which certifying body that course is with. Not only is this amendment good for openness and accountability; it is good for transparency. I would have thought that this is a bonus for organisations in showing they have a credible product to offer.

Registered training organisations must meet curriculum and quality standards. All major representative organisations overseeing these providers would also agree. All the stakeholders are cognisant and supportive of the need to address quality issues in vocational education and training. As for setting the quality standard, the government will further consult with all states and territories, employer groups and the sector to develop the quality standard.

The Australian Council for Private Education and Training is one of the many industry bodies which firmly believe these changes will deliver better transparency for the sector. Rod Camm, the chief executive of the council, says that requiring the registered training organisation to be listed is something that students have a right to know about. He further goes on to say:

As the peak body representing quality private providers, ACPET—

the Australian Council for Private Education and Training—

has been a vocal supporter of measures that strengthen the VET system …

… These measures are necessary to protect both students and colleges …

Finally, Rod says:

After a necessary and welcome period of consultation by the government, I think we can all agree these reforms are urgent, and must be passed as soon as is practicable.

TAFE Directors Australia have a similar view. Malcolm White, the CEO of TAFE Directors Australia, said:

The legislation is an important step in enabling the regulator to act quickly to address the practices of a few unscrupulous training providers that are damaging the reputation of VET—

vocational education and training in Australia. Importantly it will also allow the regulator to respond effectively to the questionable actions of some brokers and third parties engaged in 'selling' courses on behalf of registered training organisations. TDA calls on all members of the House of Representatives and the Senate to support this important legislation.

That is the key to this bill. It is to prevent the system from being further rorted. It is to put confidence back in the system. And it will lay bare those charging exorbitant prices for their services.

Jim Barron, the Chief Executive Officer of Group Training Australia, goes further. He believes the legislation will help to ensure that providers will ensure that training is of a high quality to meet the needs of apprentices, trainees and employers. It is an important reform that will help bring equality of opportunity for those who partake in such training.

In New South Wales alone there are more than 564,000 students involved in vocational education. About 10 per cent are international students. This government will subsidise New South Wales to the tune of $579 million to keep those courses affordable. That money will be spread across 1,100 operators right around NSW. Two hundred and fifteen of those 1,143 registered training organisations are in Western Sydney. With such money involved, we really need to ask: are we getting value from that money? With 101,000 apprentices reliant on these courses for their careers, can we afford this? Can we allow for this damage to the training and career opportunities of our students and our communities to continue? Of course the answer is no.

In 2012, 150,000 people were awarded their qualifications through these organisations. It is essential that these qualifications meet basic standards. What we do not want to see is more nightly television exposes, like those that we have seen over the past fortnight where people are being awarded hairdressing qualifications but are unable to carry out basic cuts. These are not the first stories of operators selling courses as part of immigration scams or of other institutions that are just not delivering on their promises. This brings me to the next part of the bill.

The bill ensures that organisations have their registration periods extended from five to seven years. It will ensure that the national regulator can better meet the 2012 standards and the 2015 amendments can be better enforced. Under the current system too much focus is being placed on the audit assessment at accreditation time. Under the changes in the bill, the national regulator can work between these periods to ensure quality is maintained over a length of time and not just at renewal time. The aim is to cut the red tape from strong performing operators, while placing greater focus on the poorer performing operators in the spectrum. Further, it is a strange quirk that the existing legislation makes it near impossible for the national regulator to investigate non-registered training organisations, even if they make claims of being registered. This bill will strengthen the national regulator's power. Under the amendments, anyone purporting to be registered can be investigated. Very simply—and common sense would say, I think—this is definitely a necessary amendment.

The bill will also complement a number of changes that are taking place right across New South Wales, and part of those changes is a new national entitlement, Smart and Skilled. This program provides a range of new subsidies for non-apprentice courses, assisting those studying for Certificate Levels I, II and III. Alongside this program are a range of Commonwealth programs, including the Industry Skills Fund and Trade Support Loans, which were introduced as part of the 2014-15 budget. To support these measures in this amendment bill, there will be the creation of a new National Training Complaints Hotline. On the hotline, Rod Camm, from the Australian Council for Private Education and Training, said:

The message to all providers is clear: tidy up your act or leave the sector … There’s no place for unscrupulous behaviour in this sector and we fully support the government’s measures to stamp it out.

These are very, very strong words. This is good legislation. It will shore up an important educational sector. It will help build on the confidence of the industry, and it is for that the reason that I commend the bill to the House.

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