Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak in support of the Universities Accord (National Student Ombudsman) Bill 2024, a significant step towards addressing a critical gap in Australia's higher education system, ensuring students have an independent, robust mechanism to hold Australian tertiary institutions to account. The establishment of the National Student Ombudsman is not just about handling complaints; it represents a long-overdue reform to safeguard student welfare, uphold the integrity of our education system and protect future generations.

While supporting this bill, it's important to outline it was the coalition that first championed this cause. Whether it be student safety, deficient courses or a lack of enforcement of university policies, an ombudsman with the power to investigate and resolve student complaints is long overdue. It will protect and safeguard domestic university students when higher education providers disregard student complaints or fail to provide appropriate support or justice. This includes refunding students for deficient courses. The Minister for Education's botched Support for Students policy, following a reckless decision to abolish the 50 per cent pass rule, left university students with too few safeguards. The new National Student Ombudsman must have adequate powers to function efficiently and to throw the book at universities when required.

Long before this bill reached this place, the coalition was sounding the alarm on the accountability failures within Australia's universities. In August 2023, at the Australian Financial Review Higher Education Summit, the shadow education minister, Senator Henderson, made it clear universities must be held to account for the products they sell. She said that it is unacceptable that students often find themselves burdened with incomplete courses, excessive fees and no proper mechanism to seek redress. Students must be armed with the full suite of information about the courses they enrol in, including completion rates, out-of-pocket costs and employment outcomes. Crucially, the coalition argued that students must also have access to an independent mechanism, such as a national student ombudsman, which can act decisively when institutions fail to deliver. The ability to investigate historical complaints, especially concerning past incidents of sexual harassment and assault, is a vital provision in this bill.

In recent years, evidence has shown that sexual violence and harassment continues to occur in university communities at significant rates. According to the National Student Safety Survey in 2021, one in 20, or 4.5 per cent of students, had been sexual assaulted in the past 12 months, and one in six, or 16 per cent, had been sexually harassed since starting their studies. Of those who reported sexual assault in 2021, only 29.7 per cent were satisfied with their university's processes, and more than half of the students who participated in the survey knew very little or nothing about their university's sexual assault and harassment policies. Almost half knew nothing or very little about where they could seek support or assistance within the university.

A Senate inquiry last year into current and proposed sexual consent laws in Australia highlighted the need for universities to take much stronger action to combat sexual assault and harassment on their campuses. There have been significant advocacy campaigns focused on addressing sexual violence in university communities by Fair Agenda, End Rape on Campus, the Hunting Ground Australia Project and the National Union of Students since 2017, and their contributions deserve recognition. As part of the government's response, education ministers agreed to and released an action plan addressing gender based violence in higher education. The action plan recognises the unique role which higher education providers can and must play in driving the broader social change needed to address gender based violence as well as the distinct responsibilities they hold in relation to creating safe study, work, social and living environments.

A new national higher education code to prevent and respond to gender based violence will be developed as a new form of regulation, with the Minister for Education noting in his second reading speech that this is expected to be finalised by the end of 2024. These measures are welcome, but they've been a long time coming. It is why the National Student Ombudsman must hit the ground running if it is to sufficiently address complaints, which, under this bill's definition, can include complaints from both prospective and former students. With no time limit on the definition of 'former students', we expect there will be a significant number of historical complaints submitted, particularly for cases of historical sexual harassment and assault where former students do not feel their historical complaint was addressed.

The National Student Ombudsman will also provide an important avenue to keep Jewish students safe. Within the higher education sector, and perhaps more widely in the last 12 months, we've witnessed the clearest failure of the Albanese government to act. Since the attacks by Hamas on October 7, which shocked the world, the Albanese government has, regrettably, not shown the strength of leadership to hold universities to account when they have failed to ensure they discharge their obligation to keep safe all on campus, including Jewish students and staff. This is best illustrated by the government's tone-deaf decision to engage the Australian Human Rights Commission to conduct a university racism study in which Jewish organisations have no confidence or faith, as they have made abundantly clear, particularly in light of recent controversies over the Australian Human Rights Commission's failure to address antisemitism.

In its dissenting report on the Commission of Inquiry into Antisemitism at Australian Universities Bill 2024, the coalition called for a person with experience in antisemitism to be part of the National Student Ombudsman team, ensuring this vital issue is given the attention it deserves. This is not just a symbolic gesture. Yesterday marked a poignant and deeply painful anniversary for Jewish Australians, and the commemoration services held around the nation clearly showed that more must be done to protect those of Jewish faith. The rise of antisemitic incidents on university campuses cannot be ignored. By ensuring that the National Student Ombudsman has access to an expert in antisemitism, the government is, at the very least, taking a long overdue stand in defending the rights of all students, with a view to our universities being places of learning, free from hatred and discrimination. It is not enough to establish an ombudsman. We must also ensure it is equipped to deal with the specific challenges students face, including those related to antisemitism and other forms of bigotry.

While the coalition support this bill, it would be remiss not to use this opportunity to highlight Labor's deeper failings when it comes to providing Australian students with the education they deserve. The Albanese Labor government has talked a big game but has delivered very little when it comes to outcomes for Australian students and the brilliant professionals charged with teaching them.

The education minister's deal to increase Commonwealth funding for schools in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Tasmania has only sparked a funding war with his own Labor counterparts in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and the ACT, all of whom have refused to sign up because they want a better deal.

In the meantime, tertiary students, battling to make ends meet because of Labor's homegrown inflation, are left to contemplate crippling HELP debt. Under this government, student debts have increased by 16 per cent since June 2022. Even with the government's bill to correct their economic mismanagement, student debts will still increase by 11.1 per cent, driving up the average loan by $2,800.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Education continues to preside over declining school standards, with no National School Reform Agreement. Literacy and numeracy standards are a national crisis which demand immediate action, yet Labor has failed to prioritise what matters most: ensuring every child can reach his or her highest potential. Let us not forget the ongoing impact of a deepening teacher shortage, which Labor has failed to adequately address.

This bill is a step forward. It's important to recognise that it was the coalition which laid the groundwork for such crucial reform. The National Student Ombudsman will provide students with an important safeguard to ensure voices are heard and concerns addressed. While the coalition ultimately support this bill, we do have concerns about the lack of transparency concerning the availability of the National Student Ombudsman rules. These concerns are noted in the second reading amendment, which I now move:

That all words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:

"whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House calls on the Government to urgently release the National Student Ombudsman Rules before passage of the Bill through the House of Representatives".

The coalition supports this bill and will continue to champion reforms that ensure our universities are held to the highest standards. Together let us make our higher education system one of which we can all be proud.

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