Monique Ryan (Kooyong, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move amendments (1) to (6), as circulated in my name, together:

(1) Clause 2, page 2 (after table item 6), insert:

(2) Schedule 1, page 4 (after line 6), after item 1, insert:

1A Paragraph 140-5(1)(b)

Omit "1 June", substitute "1 December".

1B Subsection 140-5(1) (method statement)

Omit "1 June" (wherever occurring), substitute "1 December".

1C Subsection 140-10(1)

Omit "for 1 June in a financial year", substitute "for 1 December in a financial year".

(3) Schedule 1, page 6 (before line 1), before item 6, insert:

5A Section 140-20

Omit "before 1 June", substitute "before 1 December".

(4) Schedule 1, page 6 (after line 3), after item 6, insert:

6A Section 140-20

Omit "that 1 June", substitute "that 1 December".

(5) Schedule 1, page 7 (after line 26), after item 17, insert:

17A Application of amendments

The amendments made by this Part apply on and from 1 December 2025.

(6) Page 28 (after line 10), after Schedule 1, insert:

Schedule 1A — Maximum student contribution amounts for places

Part 1 — Main amendments

Higher Education Support Act 2003

1 Section 93-10

Omit "The maximum student contribution amount for a place", substitute "(1) Subject to subsection (2), the maximum student contribution amount for a place".

2 At the end of section 93-10

Add:

(2) The table in subsection (1) has effect in relation to a place in a unit of study included in the Society and Culture *funding cluster as if the amount specified for the cluster was instead the amount specified immediately before the amendments made by Schedule 2 to the Higher Education Support Amendment (Job-Ready Graduates and Supporting Regional and Remote Students) Act 2020 commenced.

Part 2 — Application provisions

3 Application provision

The amendments made by Part 1 of this Schedule apply in relation to a unit of study that has a *census date that is on or after the commencement of that Part (whether the unit of study is part of a course of study commenced before, on or after that day).

The Morrison government's Job-ready Graduates scheme more than doubled the cost of degrees such as arts, commerce, accounting and business overnight. Arts and law degrees now cost $51,000, double degrees $85,000—more for postgraduate courses. The cost of these degrees increased purely because of the Morrison government's wish to dissuade students from undertaking courses which, in its infinite lack of wisdom, it felt to be of limited value. This is while other courses—nursing, foreign languages et cetera—cost less than $5,000 a year. We've seen the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive university courses increase to more than $10,000 every year. The indexation of these fees rubs further salt into the wounds of impoverished students.

The reality is that in this post-truth world we need more, not fewer, graduates with high levels of literacy. We need graduates with the capacity for nuanced thought and debate and the ability to communicate complex ideas. We need graduates from varied ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds such that the thought leaders of tomorrow reflect the diversity of Australian society. The architect of HECS, Professor Bruce Chapman, has called the Job-ready Graduates scheme the biggest mistake that he has seen in the education sector. Virtually all economists agree this is a flawed and ineffective policy and should be dismantled immediately. The government has previously spoken to this and acknowledged the issues with the system. It has acknowledged that the Job-ready Graduates scheme should be dismantled but has kicked that can down the road for the moment.

One of the amendments that I'm moving would dismantle the Job-ready Graduates scheme to the extent that the cost of arts degrees would return to where it was prior to the scheme's inception. I ask the minister to consider this in all certainty because this is a really problematic issue for many Australian students, as he knows.

HECS loans are interest free, but they are indexed annually on 1 June. We use a formula based on the CPI for the previous year to ensure, theoretically, that debts retain their real value over time. As the House knows, though, and as this bill is addressing, recent high inflation has resulted in significant levels of indexation over the last couple of years. In the last five years the total amount owed by graduates has increased from $66.6 billion to more than $81 billion.

Insult is again added to injury by the fact that the tax office collects HECS payments throughout the year but doesn't adjust the balance owing until a tax return is filed. That means it doesn't adjust the balance to reflect the payments made by graduates until after indexation is applied. Students end up paying more than they expect, and it's not fair. They have seen their debts increase, despite their best efforts to pay them off. My understanding is that, through this means, the government is accruing as much as $1 billion a year in additional income. This is at the expense of graduates. It's not fair or reasonable, and my amendments include the suggestion that the government change the timing of indexation, applying it after payments have been accrued to graduates' balances, to redress this inequity.

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