John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Universities and students have been through a pretty grim year. Universities had all the challenges of COVID that we all shared, combined with closed classrooms, closed borders and uncertain futures. Students, meanwhile, had to move online, adjust their schedules and lose the face-to-face learning and socialising that make university life such a special time and which are an important component of education. But students had an additional burden over the last year. University schedules suit part-time and casual work, and huge numbers of students are employed in less stable workplaces like hospitality and entertainment—exactly the sorts of jobs that were hit hardest in the COVID recession and have been the slowest to return. Higher education students didn't just have their education interrupted by COVID; many also had their financial world upended too.

So, in response to the continuing financial impacts of COVID-19 on the higher education sector, the government is extending the FEE-HELP loan fee exemption, which was initially introduced as part of the Higher Education Relief Package in response to COVID-19. The decision to extend the exemption to the end of 2021 was announced on 30 April, as part of the $53.6 million support package for international education providers, and detailed in the recent budget.

Now the exemption will apply for units of study with a census date between 1 July 2021 and 31 December 2021. While most of Australia's undergraduate students are eligible for a subsidised Commonwealth support place and can access the federal HECS-HELP loan scheme, in 2019, 4.6 per cent of all domestic bachelor students were full-fee-paying. In most cases, these students were studying at specialist non-university and higher education providers such as NIDA. Because such institutions do not usually receive funding for CSPs, they can charge undergraduate students full fees. While many of these students are eligible to access the government's FEE-HELP loan scheme, they would ordinarily see a 20 per cent fee applied in addition to their loan amount. For students enrolled in a standard three-year bachelor's degree, the financial burden of this fee can be in the region of $5,000 to $10,000, in addition to the cost of their degree. This fee is an unbearable strain on the students.

I regularly speak about the innovation sector of my electorate in Macquarie Park and Macquarie University, but higher education is not solely isolated to the halls of Macquarie uni. We are blessed with other providers, including two TAFEs, hundreds of apprentices and countless independent education providers offering courses specific to their industry—like the incredible specialists who come out of the Royal Rehab's trauma wards.

This amendment will affect private universities most of all. In Bennelong, we are fortunate to be the home of one excellent private university, Excelsia College. Excelsia is a Christian college, but one of the few Anglican ones in Australia. They were based in Drummoyne for decades, but, in 2016, they realised that the future was in Bennelong. Anyone who wants to be connected to Australia's most innovative companies simply has to move to Bennelong. Like many growing universities, Excelsia is prioritising its offerings to students and providing specialised learning in a few selective subjects, predominantly in the areas of business and the performing arts. Specialising allows this university to use its limited space to benefit its courses. They even have a full theatre, equipped for acting, music and performance. The size, capacity and complexity are most impressive, considering the space they have to work with. Back in 2016, I was delighted to open the university's new campus and, before COVID, was always happy to see their performers and students at their annual open day. They have a very talented student body who always put on excellent shows. They are a testament to the hard work of the teachers and to the facilities on offer. I can't wait to visit again and watch them grow as we, hopefully, leave this pandemic behind us.

We know 2020 has been tough for universities, and border closures hit those that relied on international students hard. One day these borders will reopen, and I'm confident students will rush back. Australia will be even more desirable, as we complement our existing high standards with the confidence that we were able to keep our students safe and our job markets flourishing while the rest of the world struggled with the pandemic and recession. But, until that time, it is imperative that we encourage as many students as possible to attend uni so that universities keep their doors open until the borders reopen. This amendment will do that by making it cost less to attend uni now.

The Morrison government has provided record investments in higher education, with total funding up more than 37 per cent since we came to government. In the 2020 budget, we announced more than $290 million in additional funding for undergraduate places and $252 million for up to 50,000 additional short-course places. We also injected $1 billion to back university research during the pandemic. Our Job-Ready Graduates Package is greatly reducing the cost of degrees in key areas such as nursing, teaching and STEM.

The extension of the FEE-HELP loan for exemption proposed by this bill provides an incentive for students to commence or continue their studies in 2021. During COVID-19, it has become even more critical to remove the financial disincentive to higher education and support the reskilling and upskilling required for the nation's economic recovery. Encouraging as many people from as many different backgrounds as possible to invest in their higher education is essential to bringing in the different viewpoints which make our institutions more dynamic and to creating the outside-of-the-box thinking that initiates the next great breakthrough.

This bill reveals this government's commitment to supporting higher education providers to retain their student base and to continue delivering the high-quality education and training in which Australia has earned such a desirable reputation, of which we are justifiably proud.

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