Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I support this legislation, the Higher Education Support Amendment (Response to the Australian Universities Accord Interim Report) Bill 2023. It makes an amendment to the Higher Education Support Act, which has operated since 2003 in this country. The preface to Australian Universities Accord review's interim report talks about the fact that we need growth through skills and through greater equity, and I quote a paragraph which I think is really germane to this debate:

Too few Australians are beginning and completing qualifications. While it is predicted that 90% of jobs created over the next five years will require a post-secondary qualification and 50% a higher qualification, completions and demand for places are actually falling, with completions of a first bachelor degree at their lowest since 2014. This combined with existing skills shortages means a sense of urgency for change is needed.

This particular legislation before the chamber today is about change, and I know it's supported by my alma mater, the University of Queensland, and supported by the University of Southern Queensland, which has campuses in Ipswich and Springfield in my electorate. This particular bill amends the Higher Education Support Act 2003 and implements a couple of recommendations in the interim report under the accord. The bill contains reforms to allow First Nations students, including those in metropolitan areas, to be eligible for Commonwealth supported places in demand-driven higher education courses. It will also remove the requirement that students must pass half of the units they study in order to remain eligible for a Commonwealth supported place and FEE-HELP assistance. This government is making changes. We are delivering 20,000 Commonwealth supported places and hundreds of thousands of fee-free TAFE places, and that's absolutely crucial. This bill will insert a new requirement that higher education providers must implement a policy that addresses the support that providers will provide to their students in order to assist them to successfully complete the units of study in which they are enrolled.

In June 1990, barely 130 days after almost 10,000 days in prison, in Madison Park High School's stuffy gymnasium in Boston, Nelson Mandela rose to speak. He could have addressed any topic, but being at a school he spoke on education and he said this:

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

I think that is absolutely apt, brilliant and succinct. Of course he's right. What he said has currency today. The extension to his words is not only that we may use education to change the world but that education is essential for surviving and thriving in an ever-changing world. This is especially true in a world of eight billion souls. There are several international human rights treaties to which Australia is a party. They create and support the right to education. It's mainly found in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The covenant requires primary and secondary education to be available and accessible for all and for higher education to be made equally accessible to all on the basis of capacity. The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has stated that the capacity of an individual should be assessed by reference to their relative and relevant experience.

Concerning part of this present bill, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples contains provisions relevant to the rights of Indigenous people to education. The declaration directs governments to engage with Indigenous people to protect their rights to education. Federal public servants are directed to consider the right to education when working on legislation, policies or programs that: relate to standards which must be met by educational institutions, resourcing of such institutions, access to education for certain groups of people who face barriers to education—such as Indigenous people or people with disabilities—or qualifications for entry into higher education institutions; or impose restrictions on the ability to study. It is a fundamentally important right which Australians should enjoy.

The proposed amendments will expand the eligibility of places in demand driven higher education courses. The Commonwealth government will provide funding on a demand driven basis for all First Nations students, regardless of where they live, to enrol in bachelor-level courses. There is no cap on the number of First Nations students who may enrol in Commonwealth supported places and eligible providers will receive Commonwealth funding for all First Nations students. Expanding demand driven funding for all First Nations students will increase First Nations student participation rates, and will lead to a significant increase in First Nations people with tertiary qualifications. As the minister has, aptly, pointed out on many occasions during question time in this place, if you're an Indigenous male then you're more likely to go to jail than go to university. We've got to address that in closing the gap.

This supports the government's commitment to closing the gap. We have a tertiary education target to increase the number of Indigenous people aged 25 to 34 who have completed a qualification of cert III or higher to at least 70 per cent by 2031. This measure will double the number of Indigenous students at university within a decade. The proposed amendments will remove the requirement for students to maintain a pass rate above 50 per cent of the units that they undertake. This is assessed after they have completed a certain number of units. Currently, students who cannot maintain this pass rate lose eligibility for Commonwealth government assistance. They must either pay for their course up front, transfer to another course or, even worse, withdraw from study.

The pass rate measures were originally introduced with the intention of dissuading students from continuing courses for which they were not academically suited, to avoid accruing large higher education loan program debts without successfully gaining a qualification. The practical effect of these measures has been overly punitive for students, and they have not necessarily motivated higher education providers to provide better support to students with academic difficulties. These measures have disproportionately affected students from underrepresented and educationally disadvantaged cohorts, including First Nations students and those with limited financial and other resources. To encourage higher education providers to provide appropriate support to assist students to complete their studies successfully, this bill will insert a new requirement that higher education providers must implement a policy to assist students to successfully complete the units of study in which they are enrolled. Providers will need to indicate how they're supporting their students who are experiencing academic difficulties.

And I might digress to give praise to the University of Southern Queensland—and universities all around the country as well—for the work that they did to help students during COVID and those difficulties. They really had some challenges in financial support for themselves, loss of familiar contact and isolation from loved ones. Universities stepped up, whether it was about money, or a helping hand, or an arm around them or practical assistance. The universities did a great job around the country. Particularly, I want to praise the University of Southern Queensland in my electorate. There are many students there from First Nations backgrounds, people living with disability and from poor communities—from what we would previously call a 'Bradley' cohort, low socio-economic backgrounds—and the University of Southern Queensland did a mighty job supporting them during COVID, and this has continued. Under this bill, providers will need to put in place specific processes to identify students at risk of not successfully completing their studies. I'm sure the experience during COVID will help, and the support available to students to successfully complete their studies.

These measures are not onerous, especially for providers who are already fulfilling their obligations under the law and in line with community expectations and based on the values, the ethics and the morality of the wonderful people who run our universities in this country. These measures will ensure that mechanisms for monitoring student progress are maintained, along with appropriate support for students. Providers who do not have such processes or support in place will need to implement a quality student support policy in order to be compliant with their obligations under the Higher Education Support Act 2003.

This bill amends the Higher Education Support Act 2003 to implement priority recommendations of the Australian Universities Accord interim report, which was released in July by the minister. This government is committed to opening the door of opportunity for more students to go to university and will implement each of the interim report's recommendations and priority actions. This means that we'll create more university study hubs. We'll scrap the 50 per cent pass rule, as I said. We'll require better reporting on how students are progressing. We'll extend the demand-driven funding currently provided to cover all Indigenous students, irrespective of where they live. That's really important in places like Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide and in places like Ipswich as well. I'm really pleased that we're doing that. We'll provide funding certainty during the accord process by extending the Higher Education Continuity Guarantee into 2024 and 2025, with arrangements that prioritise support for equity students. We'll work with the states and territories to improve university governance when necessary.

The expansion of demand-driven places is estimated to cost about $34.1 million in underlying cash terms over the period from 2023-24 to 2026-27. The removal of the 50 per cent pass rule and the new requirements on higher education providers are expected to have an underlying cash impact of $1.1 million over the forward estimates. In the context of the Commonwealth government's budget, that's not a high amount, but it will make a difference. It'll make a difference to disadvantaged people, people living with disabilities and people from low-socioeconomic backgrounds—backgrounds like mine. I was the first person in my family ever to go to university. My parents didn't go to high school, and their parents didn't go to high school before that. So I know the value of higher education and what it's done for me and my two younger brothers.

The measures to support people from poor backgrounds are really critical. I don't think my dad, who was a cleaner at the meatworks, and my mum, who was a shop assistant, ever envisaged that their three sons would go to university and run businesses. I ran a law practice in Brisbane's CBD, and my brother Darrin has a huge physiotherapy practice. My other brother, Regan, was assistant director-general in the Queensland education department. We all did well from university. University helped us. One of us even got to federal parliament by some miracle and by the good consciences and votes of people in the electorate of Blair! Universities are important. They are cathedrals of learning, and they equalise opportunity. I'm a bit of an old-fashioned Labor person who believes that education is the key for redistributing wealth. I really believe that. I genuinely believe in social justice, equality of opportunity and a fair go for everyone, and education's absolutely the key.

I know these measures have great support from universities. They build on our commitment, which we announced in the campaign, to support Commonwealth supported places and fee-free TAFE. The accord comprises some of the most eminent Australians who've worked with significant experience across education, business and public policy. I'm looking forward to the next report they do. There are people like the chair, Professor Mary O'Kane AC; Professor Larissa Behrendt AO; the Hon. Fiona Nash, who made a great contribution to parliamentary life and life in this country; and the Hon Jenny Macklin AC, who many of us know in this place and who's deeply respected for her commitment to social justice. And there are others, so there are some great people on this committee who are looking at all these issues.

Following extensive consultation, the accord panel recommended a number of priority areas, including the two to which this bill refers. So it's really important that we do this. I'm looking forward to the additional report that will come down. We're committed to making sure that we have people going to university, passing their courses, contributing to Australian community life, building businesses and contributing as employees, no matter where they live. It's a social justice thing to which we're committed. I look forward to this bill going through the House and the Senate, ensuring that students can finish university. I commend the bill to the House.

See this speech in context