Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Nick Xenophon Team) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the VET FEE-HELP reforms. I must say that it is high time the government introduce reforms to the VET FEE-HELP program. For too long the current system has been abused by shonky providers and vulnerable students have felt the brunt of that abuse. The scheme has seen a massive blowout in expenditure, unsustainable increases in course costs, and, most critically, the rise of malicious providers who have used tactics such as offering laptops to vulnerable students as an incentive to sign up, knowing full well they would not be able to complete the course. These students now have large debts hanging over their heads, and some of them might not even know it.

Change was necessary, and the government was right to ban the practice of offering inducements last year. But that did not put a stop to the massive amount of taxpayer funded courses that were being provided unchecked. Many, many courses were offered, with little oversight as to what the course involved and how it was taught. Thankfully, the government has finally made a decision to act. The government likes to point out that the scheme was introduced under a Labor government, but that does not give any excuse for the inaction over the last three years. When the reforms were introduced by the Labor government in 2012, the then shadow minister, Sussan Ley, criticised them for not having the skills or the know-how to implement VET fee programs. Four years later we sit here with a government that has shown that they cannot effectively administer a VET program. How many students now unknowingly have debts due to the delayed response from this government? What is the government doing for those students?

My strongest fear is that we have many vulnerable students—particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students—who are unaware of the loans they have hanging over their heads. The Minister for Education and Training, through his department, has not confirmed that the government will be able to reach out to all of the students who were duped into signing up for the loans. If these students are unaware that they even have a loan, how can they get that loan waived? These are students who had little understanding of what they were signing up for, who were misled and who in many cases are the most at-risk members of our community. With big debts, how will they get a loan? How will they get a car in the future? That debt will stay with them—possibly for the rest of their life. The government needs to protect these students and reach out to as many as possible to let them know about the debts that they have. The burden of proof in relation to this must be reversed.

Who will regulate this new scheme? According to the Minister for Education and Training, it is a job that the department can manage, but we have seen how hard it is for the program to be regulated already. It would simply be a monumental task for the education department to administer, and I hope that there is more consideration given to a third party being in charge.

As this House knows, 478 courses have been excluded from the VET FEE-HELP scheme. I believe that the eligible course list is too restrictive and ignores some of the future needs for our country. Australia needs a progressive VET sector, not one based on old data and ignorant of job creation and future projections. Of course we need to crack down on these shonky providers, but what the government is doing with its defunding of so many important courses will mean that good, honest, well-run private providers will also suffer through the funding cuts. How is this fair? These providers have done the right thing, and they are being punished for the actions of wrongdoers.

The government's choice to focus on the state skills needs list and prioritise STEM disciplines sounds practical and efficient, but it means that some very valuable course have been defunded. One in 63 students in Australia is diagnosed with autism. The government is removing funding from Diploma of Teaching Students with Autism Disorder. Surely this is a need, given there is one student in nearly every two classrooms who suffers from autism and teachers are saying that they do not know how to best specialise and manage these students so that they can have a solid education experience. The government is also introducing massive cuts to creative arts courses. Our aspiring actors, directors, screenwriters and producers will suffer. Our film and television industry will suffer.

Australia is built on every person in our community contributing—not every person in our community contributing to a STEM discipline. We need the arts. We need teachers who are willing to teach students with disability, and who have the specialist skills to do so. We need health treatments for our elderly. Vocational education provides pathways for people to pursue in those very important areas. So I urge the minister to consider a very quick review of the planned culling of courses in legitimate areas.

I will give some examples of the narrowing of available courses. We have excluded courses in architecture and building, like the Graduate Diploma of Building Design and the Graduate Diploma of Building Surveying. No-one could say that that is a shonky profession to get into. We know that there will be jobs there in the future. In education, we are cutting the Diploma of Education (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) and the Graduate Diploma in Home Economics Education. These are important areas where we need to ensure we have specialist skills. In health, we are cutting the Advanced Diploma of Oral Health (Dental Hygiene), the Diploma of Community Health and the Graduate Diploma of Oral Medicine. They will no longer be courses where VET assistance can help a student. And we are cutting the Diploma of Dementia Care Leadership. With our ageing population, surely this course needs to be included.

In my electorate we do not have any universities, so vocational educational is the most accessible form of further education for our young people. Australia does need a thriving vocational education sector, and we need it to work hand-in-hand with our higher education sector to prepare the next generation for their future. These reforms will strengthen the VET industry, which is why they have my support, but I hope this time around students are protected and they can focus purely on learning the skills needed to contribute to our communities.

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