Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Warringah for her amendments and her engagement on this important piece of legislation. As the member indicated, we had conversations this morning around these amendments. Some of them touch on matters which my department has discussed at length with many stakeholders in the sector. As I discussed with the member, the government isn't in a position to support these amendments today. However, we will consider some of these issues through the Senate and the Senate processes that are currently underway with the education and employment committee looking at this legislation.

Let me just touch on some of those amendments individually. On delaying the start of measures in this bill, let me refer to the comments I made earlier in relation to the member for Curtin's amendment. It is important, we believe, that these provisions get underway from next year. On the enrolment amendment, I know there are concerns around the definition of 'enrolment'. We all want the same thing. If an institution is provided with a level or a number of students, it is important that they can enrol up to that full number. It's about how we make sure that we do that right, whether it is through the bill or through the code. My department does have some concerns about the uncertainty the amendment in its current form might create, but, as we discussed this morning, I am happy to continue the conversation with you and other colleagues as we move forward to the Senate.

On the sunset clause, as I said in relation to the member for Goldstein's proposed amendment, the government is currently considering the transition of these powers to an appropriate independent body such as the Australian tertiary education commission when that bill is established. That was flagged in the discussion paper which was recently released. Of course, that body does not exist yet, but it is our intention, subject to the detailed discussions that we are having with the sector, to bring forward legislation to establish that body.

On the amendment concerning the date on which universities are advised, this issue is one which universities have raised with me as well. I understand that universities require certainty as soon as they can have it. That's why I'm happy to continue talking to the member about this issue and what the right way to address this in the bill is. Also, we'll look at what the Senate committee determines. Certainly, once we announced our intention to introduce this legislation, I spoke to many members of the sector about the importance of spending the next few months in getting the detailed design of this right. The response from the sector was: 'Give us the levels, the caps, in August, not September.' That is why I foreshadowed just a moment ago in relation to one of the amendments moved by the member for Curtin that it's my intention to provide that certainty and that information to the sector in the very near future.

On the amendment concerning transparency, this do not necessarily provide the certainty that universities need. However, I appreciate the member's sentiment in moving this amendment and I am happy to consider other ways in which we might be able to make these processes as transparent as possible. We had a good conversation about that this morning, so I'm giving that further thought.

In relation to removing automatic suspensions when caps are breached, it's important that the system work properly and that providers can't wilfully or accidentally exceed the limit. That's one of the risks in the design of the amendment as put to the House. That's what this provision is about. There is a mechanism for providers in the bill, as it is drafted at the moment, to contact the secretary of my department and seek that suspensions be lifted.

Just in closing, I thank the member for Warringah again for the considered and thoughtful way in which she has brought forward these amendments, and I thank all members of the crossbench who are here. This is how legislation should work: scrutinising the bill and identifying where we can make it better. As I flagged in my summing up, we're not in a position to accept all of these amendments at the moment, but I do identify, in your amendments, things where we can improve the bill, and I'll seek, through the work of the Senate committee as well as through the ongoing consultation that we're having with the higher education sector and the vocational education sector, to look at what amendments we might be able to accept when the bill is debated in the Senate, drawing on the work, the effort and the wisdom of members of the crossbench who have brought this to bear in this debate. I thank you for it.

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