Daniel Mulino (Fraser, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Education policy is central to any federal government—education at all levels: high school, vocational education and training and TAFE, and higher education. Today we focus on higher education. It is only one part of education, but it is a central part of education policy.

Of course, while higher education policy is a story of individuals and their dreams and aspirations to fulfil their career opportunities, it's also a story about the macroeconomy and about society as a whole. In that sense, higher education policy is both a story of equity and access and a policy that relates to participation and our investment in human capital. These are interrelated because if we wish to achieve higher rates of participation and higher rates of investment in education then we, as a society, need to do better in giving those from more disadvantaged backgrounds a realistic chance of fulfilling their dreams. So we need to achieve both equity and access and, at the same time, higher rates of participation and higher rates of investment in human capital.

This budget and the government's ongoing work in relation to higher education starts with our broader goals—our long-term goals. I want to say that the goal of achieving 80 per cent attainment in higher education by 2050 is a very important long-term vision around which all of our policies are framed. I want to look at that in the broader sweep of what's gone on in the last 20, 30 and 40 years.

The Hawke-Keating government in the 1980s came to power when we saw year 12 attainment rates in the mid-30 per cent range and higher education participation rates in the high teens. By the time we got to the mid-1990s, we saw year 12 completion rates in the high 70s and tertiary completion rates in the high 30s. They had essentially doubled. That saw so many more people having the opportunity to finish year 12 and so many more people, in parallel, having the opportunity to finish their tertiary education. So many of the senior ministers from that time in a government which achieved so much policy reform—across the economy, across microeconomic reform and across health—point to these higher rates of year 12 and tertiary attainment as some of the greatest achievements, if not the greatest.

That's why it's so important that this government has set the goal of lifting tertiary attainment rates further from the rates that we saw back then. It's no coincidence that the productivity growth rates we saw in the two decades following the Hawke-Keating government were so high because tertiary achievement rates flow through to the skills level across the economy. They flow through to the research and development across the economy. They flow through to innovation. They're really important, of course, for individuals and what they have in terms of lifetime opportunities to fulfil their career dreams. They flow through to individuals in terms of their lifetime earnings, but there's also that macro story which is so critical.

Business as usual is not going to get us to 80 per cent or anywhere near it. It's absolutely critical that we see those key recommendations out of the University Accord acted upon. A key element of that is to reduce barriers to participation. There is HECS and HELP. HECS was a key reform of the 1980s which saw us increase funding to higher education but in a way that didn't create barriers for those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and other groups that are disadvantaged. In the reforms coming through in the budget, we are removing disincentives to participate in higher education from the indexation of HELP. So we are seeing that HELP will be indexed in a way now which is the lower of the wage price index or the CPI in such a way that is fairer and more sustainable and doesn't create inordinate debt for those who are participating. We also see that prac payments of $319.50 a week are going to reduce barriers for those wanting to participate in areas such as teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work. It is a really significant payment for those who otherwise would have found this kind of training a significant barrier to their participation. We're also going to see fee-free uni-ready courses right across the country significantly increased. So this is about individuals and their opportunities. It's also about the investment in skills and human capital across the economy and the long-term productivity boost that's going to give.

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