Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to rise and speak on the Higher Education Support Amendment (Response to the Australian Universities Accord Interim Report) Bill 2023 because the reality is that education is a foundational pillar of our society. It impacts and improves so many lives. It is important and crucial that we get the legislation right, because, if we get it right in this House, we're impacting so many people across society. What's so important about education is not only the benefits that it delivers today, for those students that receive that education, but also the benefits that flow on through their whole life and, importantly, to the next generation. We know from lots of statistics and data. The legislation that we get right in this House makes a big difference.

For myself, it's also personal. As I said in my first speech, education was the foundation for me to create a life for myself and my family. That experience underpins my belief that a crucial element of lifting people out of poverty and enabling them to build a better life for themselves and their communities is a strong education system—a system focused on delivering tangible education outcomes for students, setting them up for long-term success and providing parents with choice in their children's education. A robust education system focused on educational outcomes and opportunities is the foundation of our society and of the individual, and it needs to be a priority of government policy. As I said, I benefited greatly, from primary school through to secondary and tertiary education. It has made a big difference to the person I am. I understand the opportunity and responsibility that I have, in this House and in this role, to give other young Australians the same education opportunities that I received. I will continue to support and speak on bills and support any measures that improve the higher education sector.

Really importantly, we also need to make sure we focus on an education sector that is about more than just providing university places. It has to be about ensuring that students finish their degrees and gain benefits from their degrees. Too often—in many policy areas, but particularly in education—we focus on the money we spend or the people that start. That's important because it flows through, but it's also about delivering those outcomes. Are students getting value for money? Is the community and society getting value for money? Are we making a difference in those students' lives? When we read that only 41 per cent of undergraduate students complete their degrees within the first four years, we have to seriously question whether those students are getting the benefits that they deserve and whether we're getting the benefits, as communities and as a society.

There is an obligation on universities to do a much better job at ensuring that students complete their courses and that it leads to meaningful employment outcomes. It was a few years ago, but I do remember my university time. It was very much a sink-or-swim attitude at that time, and there's nothing wrong with that. We need to take responsibility for ourselves and take control of our own educational outcomes. But when students are going to university and they have challenges at home—their parents might not have had a higher education opportunity—there is an obligation on the organisations to provide wraparound services and a little more guidance. I question whether we're getting that right, with only 41 per cent of undergraduate students finishing their education. We need to make sure that we're getting that right.

Access to physical campuses is an important part of getting it right. We're in a new digital world, and COVID accelerated a lot of online learning, but being in a physical location is a very important part of that wraparound service that we can provide, enabling people to speak face to face. It is positive to see that an additional 34 regional study hubs have been announced, which is an extension of the coalition policy. For regional and remote students, that is one of the biggest challenges they have—the distance they have to travel to get to a facility—but it's important that we get the locations of those hubs right. Casey is an outer-urban area. I would definitely be looking at where these hubs are, making access possible for all students. They can't be in the inner city, or 30 minutes from an existing university campus; we have to get them into areas that are going to make a difference. I'll be looking closely at the 14 hubs that are in metropolitan areas and making sure that they are accessible and in the right locations to make a difference.

I have a concern in this bill around removing the requirements that students must pass 50 per cent of the units they study to remain eligible for the Commonwealth supported places and FEE-HELP assistance. This was introduced under the coalition's job-ready graduates program to make—

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