Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's a real shame to hear things going on the Hansard record that are not true, as the previous speaker just did. I want to make it really clear that our new initiative, which is the Key Apprenticeship Program, will deliver $10,000 in instalment payments to trainees in housing, construction or clean energy, including bricklayers, electricians, plumbers, carpenters and joiners.

In addition—that means as well as—we will also increase the allowance paid to apprentices living away from home. It is very disappointing to hear those opposite claiming things that are untrue when they have left this system crumbling. Everything that we are doing around apprentices—apprenticeships and supporting both them and their employers—is to try and get that pipeline back and happening. That is what the Free TAFE Bill 2024 does. It increases that pipeline by saying to young people: 'We're not going to hit you with a huge debt on the work that you're doing. We're not going to hit your employer. You are going to have access to free TAFE courses.' I saw this in action late last year when the Minister for Skills and Training, Andrew Giles, joined me at Richmond TAFE. Richmond TAFE offers a whole range of fee-free courses. We took a look at many of them: animal studies, companion animals, agribusinesses, arboriculture, certificate III in horticulture and certificate III in landscape construction. Those are just some of the fee-free courses that are available in my electorate of Macquarie specifically at the Richmond campus. These are really important for my region, which is semi-agricultural right through to really dedicated rural communities. There are also urban communities with lots of horticultural and construction workers where we really want to incentivise these kids. I want to see the students at Bede Polding, Richmond, Colo, Windsor and Hawkesbury high schools really reach out and say, 'I'm going to do a trade.' We're making it easy for them.

I was really grateful to have the opportunity to talk to some of the head teachers at the Richmond TAFE about the benefits that they are seeing from the existing fee-free courses. Kate MacDonald, who is the head teacher of animal care, has been there for nearly a decade. Steve Rixon is one of the head teachers. And Leo was put on the roster. He has been at TAFE for decades and was there over Christmas to look after the animals we got to see.

I spoke with students like Fiona, Bridget, Caitlin and Amanda. Amanda, along with her family, runs the very proud Bowen Mountain Limestone Cottage goat breeding business. I first met her when she was selling the produce that they make at one of the markets, and there she was when I turned up at TAFE. She just thought: 'I'm going to learn more about it. I'm going to take up one of these TAFE courses.' They are animal lovers and really having a crack at the whole urban hobby minifarm journey.

I also talked to people like Caitlin. Caitlin is 21-year-old from Leonay, down right in the foothills of the Blue Mountains, and she was studying certificate III in nursery operations. She's actually one of those people who adores growing things—just loves her plants. She probably loves them more that she does some people! You can understand that when you've got green fingers. I know I get a lot out of being in my garden in the moments that I get. You can see the opportunity that's being created for Caitlin and her fellow students. I really want to pay tribute to the work that Richmond TAFE is doing. It isn't every day that I get to hang out with cows and talk to students about fertiliser and how much they love having green thumbs.

This is the stuff that goes on in our TAFE every single day—the beautiful displays that they do. These are courses that can change people's lives, and that's not me saying that; that's what the students tell me about how it transforms their future. It is one of the most beautiful things to do. For those opposite who haven't been to a TAFE, who haven't taken advantage of the incredible educators who are in their community, I really encourage you to go and speak to them face to face about what free TAFE is doing and why this bill is so important to ensuring that that is carried forward for the next generation of students.

By removing the financial barriers, free TAFE is a cost-of-living relief measure. It's actually making it affordable for people to pursue their dreams and it's saving Australians thousands of dollars. Whether it is nursing, where you're talking about a large fee that would otherwise be levied—it could be up to $17,000 or $18,000, depending on what they're doing. Whether it's early childhood education—and I have certainly been to many early childhood education centres and talked to the young people who are doing their courses now for free. Throughout the Blue Mountains and the Hawkesbury, there are people whose lives are just a bit easier because they're not incurring a debt or having to pay out. That can be a saving of up to $5,000; it varies from state to state given how TAFE operates. Another example in New South Wales is that students who are doing a Certificate III in School Based Education Support can save nearly $2,000. All of these things make a tangible difference. That's what we're doing; we are making a practical difference in people's lives. And, what's more, we're setting them up for an incredible future.

Here's just a cross-section, a bit of a snapshot, of the demographics, the data that shows who has taken up these free TAFE courses. Here are some numbers from January 2023 to September last year. There were 354,000 women, and we don't know how many of them would not have had the capacity to go to TAFE without this option. There were 197,000 regional and remote students. There were nearly 192,000 people aged 24 and under. There were almost 140,000 jobseekers. There were 124,600 people who speak a language other than English at home. There were 44,400 people with a disability who took the opportunity to upgrade their skills through TAFE. And there were 34,000 First Nations people. Every one of those students has something now that they didn't have before this was made available to them, and it's vital that it stays part of the offering going forward.

Recent research from Jobs and Skills Australia found that students who complete a vocational education and training course are more likely to be employed and earn more in the year following their graduation than people who don't. The report found that graduates have a median income increase of about $11,800 in the year following the completion of their courses. The same report found that 84 per cent of VET graduates are employed after completing their qualification—that's a 15 per cent increase from before enrolment. So, again, the data tells us that this works and shows how important it is.

We are committed to investing in the skills we need because we want to drive economic growth. These are the skills that we were short of when those opposite left office. There'd been no investment, no commitment to it, at a federal level and, often, at a state level. What this bill does is ensure that free TAFE continues to deliver a really coordinated response to workforce shortages in the industries that are a local priority, like in my area, and those that are a national priority so that we're building that pipeline of skilled workers that we need now and into the future. It is disappointing that those opposite simply don't share the values that we have about TAFE. You can hear, every time one of the opposition speaks, that they have no interest in supporting this. They describe free TAFE as 'wasteful spending'; they say investing in people who want to be better skilled is wasteful. No wonder they were such a mess in government, if that's their definition of wasteful. They've got their priorities completely wrong. When talking about the Free TAFE Bill in this place, right here, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition said:

… it's a key principle and tenet of the Liberal Party: if you don't pay for something, you don't value it.

Well, what a way to maintain the status quo—to exclude people from the opportunity to improve their lives and to have aspirations. That is exactly why those opposite are failing our young people by not supporting free TAFE. And it isn't just young people who take this opportunity. It is people who may have dealt with all sorts of things in their lives and now have a little window of opportunity, yet those opposite want to slam that window shut. It's not just free TAFE that the Liberal Party don't value, and we know that. We'll just add it to the list. Things like public education, Medicare, the NDIS and public hospitals, we know, are what they call wasteful spending. That's all the stuff that they want to cut to fund their long lunches and their nuclear extravaganza.

It is really disappointing that they can't come and find common ground with us on supporting people who want to do better for themselves, who want to study hard and work hard and be rewarded for that. The Liberals have essentially all but confirmed that they plan to cut funding for free TAFE, with the Liberal shadow assistant minister for education at the Free TAFE Bill Senate inquiry asking the South Australian Minister for Education, Training and Skills, 'Would the South Australian government continue to fund fee-free TAFE if the Commonwealth was to reduce its funding?' You only ask that sort of hypothetical if that's what you're thinking of doing.

Labor has a completely different view. We want to open doors through TAFE for people across Australia who are looking to gain well-paid and secure work. We want to deliver not only the training that Australians want and the skills that they need to get ahead but also the skills that we as a nation need. We're providing cost-of-living support for more Australians to access high-quality, affordable training through our TAFE system so that they get secure jobs. Then we want to see them keep more of what they earn.

We're delivering the skills and training needed to grow our economy, building the homes we need, creating a future made in Australia and ensuring all Australians can get quality care when they need it. With high-quality skills and training, we're the ones building a better Australia. Nine in 10 new jobs over the next 10 years will need post-school study, and half of those jobs will need vocational education and training. A reliable and trusted vocational education and training sector is critical for our economy, and that's what we're building.

It means people can help create and share in our national prosperity. I see that firsthand, whether it's at my Katoomba TAFE, my Wentworth Falls TAFE or my Richmond TAFE. There are dedicated teachers and educators there. There are enthusiastic students who are leaping at the opportunity. We want to make sure that those opportunities are kept in the future for those areas where we have critical skills shortages and where we know we will have skills shortages in the future unless we move people in. That is where free TAFE comes in. I commend this bill to the House.

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