Kylea Tink (North Sydney, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

A successful higher education system is vital to deliver the kind of forward focused economy the Australia needs to be. In my electorate of North Sydney we are fortunate to have the MacKillop Campus of the Australian Catholic University. But universities across the country ultimately play a role in driving growth in productivity and living standards and help our society evolve and mature. They do this not only by teaching young people how to think but also by driving our economy through their direct employment and contributions to GDP as the nation's leading service export in the form of international education, the research they produce and the amazing graduates they turn out into our labour market. The Higher Education Support Amendment (Response to the Australian Universities Accord Interim Report) Bill 2023 is the product of the interim report of the 12-month review being undertaken by the government into Australia's higher education system, known as the Australian Universities Accord. The accord is intended to be a partnership between universities and staff, unions and business, students and parents and, ideally, Labor and Liberal, that lays out what we expect of our universities.

The five priority actions put forward in the report, which was released in July, include: to extend visible local access to tertiary education by creating further regional university centres and establishing a similar concept for suburban and metropolitan locations; to cease the 50 per cent pass rule, given its poor equity impacts, and instead require increased reporting on student progress; to ensure that all First Nations students are eligible for a funded place at university by removing the current geographic limitations; to provide funding certainty to universities in this sector; and, finally, to engage with the state and territory governments and universities to improve university governance, particularly focusing on universities being good employers, on student and staff safety, and on membership of governing bodies.

The purpose of this bill before us today is to implement two of the five recommendations by doing three things: uncap the number of Indigenous students who can enrol in a Commonwealth supported place; remove the requirement that students successfully complete at least 50 per cent of their units of study to continue as a Commonwealth supported student and be eligible for FEE-HELP assistance; and, finally, motivate those who supply higher education services to provide appropriate support for students by requiring these services to have and comply with a support-for-students policy to assist in identifying students at risk of falling behind and supporting them in completing units of their study.

I note Minister Clare's statement that the government intends to implement all five recommendations through other non-legislative mechanisms. I look forward to seeing that implementation happen. However, today, I would like to speak to three issues that are important to the community of North Sydney. Firstly, the issue of equity in higher education. I applaud the interim report's goal to have an integrated tertiary system in place by 2035, with a commitment to access for everyone with potential, aspiration and application.

Our economy is currently navigating significant structural shifts, with demand for a more skilled and qualified population coming thick and fast across all industries. The Australian labour market demanded an additional 490,000 people with higher education qualifications in 2022, and the reality is: we are facing serious skill shortages. In this context, I couldn't agree more with the interim report's conclusion that, with Australia's skills, skills trends must be reversed with a sense of urgency. The report concludes the growth in higher education attainment will include students from underrepresented backgrounds. The need to provide greater support to such a cohort is partly addressed by this bill, specifically calling out the need to address the 'greater divide between rich and poor'.

This is absolutely a right and noble goal; however, on behalf of the community of North Sydney, I would caution that, in achieving this goal, we need to be conscious of using inclusive language. I myself grew up in rural and regional Australia, and I'm the first of my family to attend university and qualify with a degree. I am eternally grateful for that opportunity. As we move towards solving the skills crisis, I'm not up for engaging in class based war for resources based on stereotypes or assumptions, and I do not want my children or any young person living in the electorate of North Sydney doubting their right to an education.

The impacts of the rising cost of living are being felt across the country, including in my community of North Sydney. We know that the cost of education in Australia has almost tripled since 2003, with secondary education up 185 per cent and tertiary education up 121 per cent. Ultimately, all levels of education, from preschool, primary, secondary to tertiary, are now in the top ten fastest-growing household costs in the last 20 years. With just over half the North Sydney population aged 15 and over reporting having obtained a bachelor's degree or above, the truth is that this cohort represents people who are either currently carrying or potentially accumulating a significant debt or supporting family members in the act of accruing one. In any case, these individuals and families are likely to be increasingly feeling the pinch. In delivering the much-needed reforms to the system, we must be careful to remember our education system is based on providing a universal learning entitlement, with the emphasis on the word 'universal'.

Secondly, I will touch on the issue of campus safety. In response to the fifth recommendation of the interim report, the government indicated they would work with the states and territories on improving university governance. Of particular interest to me in this recommendation is making sure our universities are safe for students and staff. This past week in this place, we were fortunate to hear from members of the I Deserve Safety campaign, in partnership with End Rape on Campus Australia, the National Union of Students, Fair Agenda Australia and students from WA, Victoria, New South Wales, ACT and Queensland.

The 2021 National Student Safety Survey found one in 20 students had been sexually assaulted since starting university and that one in six had been sexually harassed. The latest survey shows that 1.1 per cent of the 1.3 million students studying at Australian universities had been sexually assaulted within a university context within the previous 12 months. This equates to over 14,000 sexual assaults per year or 275 sexual assaults each week, every week. Of students who reported sexual assault to their university in 2021, only 29.7 per cent were satisfied with the university's process.

This sexual violence is significantly impacting on student wellbeing, educational outcomes and future career prospects. However, the current university regulatory system is failing when it comes to university responses to sexual assault and harassment. The actions universities have taken to address this, to date, have not been good enough.

Last week, I was proud to join the campaign in calling for the government to implement a national task force to hold universities accountable for their responses to sexual violence. I am pleased that from that advocacy the minister then met with members of the campaign and heeded their calls, including announcing the inclusion of the CEO for Our Watch, Patty Kinnersly, on the working group and undertaking to continue to consult with the #IDeserveSafety campaign.

The government must urgently drive the delivery of an effective system for reviewing complaints about a university or residence's handling of an incident, ensure regular public reporting on incidents in the institutions and reporting on measures universities are taking to address and prevent sexual assault as well as establishing accountability through sanctions for universities that do not comply. Delivering Australian tertiary learning communities that are free from sexual violence must be a priority for us all in this place—no delay; no excuses—as with each week that goes by, another 275 sexual assaults will take place.

Lastly, on an issue that is missing altogether from this bill, despite being of deep importance to North Sydney, is the matter of student debt. There are unique burdens that young Australians are subject to, in the current economic environment. The cost-of-living pressures are disproportionately affecting young people and hindering their ability to engage in the Australian economy. The indexation of student debts is unnecessarily adding to this burden and causing real harm.

I fundamentally think it's unfair the indexation is applied on 1 June, each year, not to the portion of debt outstanding at that time but to the total amount of debt owing as of 1 July the prior calendar year. This, effectively, means portions of student debt that workers have already repaid are subject to an indexation increase, a circumstance that recently hit more than three million Australians, most of them young working Australians with student debts.

Many North Sydneysiders contacted my office with distressing reports of how the 7.1 per cent increase affected both their ongoing debt loads and, subsequently, their future opportunities. Due to an inflation indexed increase in the HECS and HELP debts, the average loan increased by more than $1,000, an increase that could have a lifelong impact on the borrowing capacity and ability of young workers to enter the housing market. In my own household, my son, who had paid down his HELP debt, found that the indexation took more money than he had paid off, and his debt went up overall.

In addition to this, the existing scheme also perpetuates gender inequity, with women holding 60 per cent of HELP debts and 58 per cent of the total $74.3 billion debt pool. Tertiary education is more than a cost; it is an investment in our future. A better educated workforce means greater productivity and greater community prosperity.

After meeting with the crossbench, the education minister committed to a review of the HECS and HELP debt system, and I call on the government to prioritise this review to ensure young Australians either accruing or carrying debts do not face similar distress in the coming year.

There are alternatives that the government could pursue. They could determine indexation based on either the CPI or the more stable wage price index, whichever is lower at the time, as currently occurs in the United Kingdom, or they could tie indexation to the RBA's trimmed or weighted mean that more accurately calculates underlying inflation, which would effectively compensate for the current and future burden of the higher cost-of-living pressures. Either alternative approach would be fairer for young Australians. I urge the government to prioritise this review, to reduce the emotional distress many are feeling with a growing debt hanging over their heads and no clear direction on how this debt will continue to accrue in the years ahead.

Ultimately, intergenerational equity is one of the biggest challenges of our time—in the tax system, on climate change and on a forward focused economy, including delivering the skilled workforce that will take our nation forward. I commend the government on this work and I welcome this bill in this place, but I say to everyone in this place: we must work harder and faster to help young Australians navigate this transition and support them as best we can.

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