Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is really good to be in a parliament where I can talk about money going to education and maximum payment amounts for other grants and Commonwealth scholarships, as opposed to being back in my electorate where I have to deal with many, many complaints from parents and TAFE students about the massive cuts to education in my state. I will first concentrate on the bill and then I will refer to the issues confronting me within my electorate.

The Higher Education Support Amendment (Maximum Payment Amounts and Other Measures) Bill has two schedules that amend the Higher Education Act to update the maximum payment amounts for other grants and Commonwealth scholarships to reflect actual legislation and to add the next year's funding. It is good to see a government delivering on funding. The amendments also allow the minister by legislative instrument to determine these maximum payment amounts for 2013. Schedule 2 of the bill amends the Australian Research Council Act 2001. The ARC receives significant administration funds through a special appropriation via the act. Bills to amend the ARC to receive administration funding must occur each financial year to apply indexation to existing appropriation amounts and add the last year of the forward estimates. Schedule 3 allows disclosure of information obtained on or created for the purpose of HESA, the Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency and the Australian Skills Quality Authority for the purpose of national vocational education and training and higher education vocational training, and it conducts Australian funded surveys.

Schedule 3 allows the disclosure of information created for the purposes of HESA to the Tertiary Education and Quality Standards Agency, the Australian Skills Quality Authority and higher education and vocational education and training providers and tertiary admissions centres for use in research relating to the provision of higher education and vocational education and training and to conduct Australian government-funded surveys. This is all very good, important legislation—legislation that basically comes up on a yearly basis and that I, as a member of parliament, am really happy to stand up in this place and support.

Unfortunately, back in my electorate I have been confronted by parents, principals and regional educational bodies who have raised with me the fact that Barry O'Farrell is ripping $1.7 billion out of our education system in New South Wales. This will have a massive impact on all areas of education. It will affect public schools. I was talking to a teacher on Friday who was working at a very disadvantaged public school in my electorate, and already that school has had to make the decision to cut one of their special-ed classes—a class that deals with students who have behavioural problems—and put those students into mainstream classes. This is a very significant decision by the school and will have a very significant impact on students who attend that school and are already fighting a degree of disadvantage. This will further jeopardise their education. It is just not good enough.

In the Catholic system—I have been contacted by the Catholic Education Office both on the Central Coast and in the Hunter and spoken to both groups—it means the loss of frontline staff. It means teachers losing their jobs, it means bigger class sizes and it means the stopping of the provision of special-ed assistance to students within the Catholic system. I have been working with Catholic education within my electorate over a long period of time, trying to prioritise needs of Catholic education in the Shortland electorate. The one issue that they have raised time and time again is the need for better funding to provide support and services for students with disabilities, learning difficulties and behavioural problems. On the one hand we have the Commonwealth recognising that that is needed, and we will be making some very big funding commitments in this area over the next few years and continuing funding through this legislation we have before us today; while on the other hand we have in New South Wales a government that is jeopardising the very education of all these children. And that is reflected when they leave school—they cannot read, they cannot find work. I just think that Barry O'Farrell and his merry bunch of Libs down in Macquarie Street really need to think carefully about the implications of this change.

I have spoken a little about one aspect of Catholic schools. The other aspect of Catholic schools is that, in the Central Coast part of my electorate, we have an excellent Catholic primary school, and Catholic education had made a commitment to build a high school in the northern part of the Central Coast. Currently, students who wish to attend a Catholic primary school have to travel to Gosford, and that is a long journey for students on a daily basis. Unfortunately, that means that planning for the school has been put on hold—very, very disturbing. It will also have an impact in independent primary schools—massive impacts within the public sector.

I have consulted widely with my community on this issue and have written to most constituents. I have received in excess of 2,000 responses by mail in under a week since the people in the electorate received correspondence from me. Those people were overwhelmingly supportive of the fact that we need to stop Barry O'Farrell's cuts to our education system and we need to be mindful of the fact that we have got to invest in education because by investing in education we are investing in the future of our nation. By ripping money out of education, we are saying that education is not important. Education is the highest priority of this government.

You only have to listen to members, as I did yesterday, running down the BER to know that they really do not support education. I know that schools in the Shortland electorate were very appreciative of the money that went into providing them with classrooms. I mentioned in my contribution yesterday new classrooms are replacing demountables that had mildew on the carpets and mildew running up the walls. A school principal went in on his Christmas holiday and painted classrooms because they were in such an appalling state. We all know how important the educational environment is to your ability to learn, so this government invested massively in the educational environment and in the quality of the buildings in schools. Now we are moving towards investing massively in the delivery of quality education.

All I hear from the other side is negativity. All I hear from the other side is opposition to investment in schools. What we should be hearing is support for education and condemnation of Barry O'Farrell for what he is doing to the schools in New South Wales, which he says is only a freeze for four years. A freeze for four years will have massive impacts on all educational institutions. I think it is an absolute disgrace and I really believe that he needs to revisit it. It just shows what Liberal governments do when they are in power. It is all about cutting and taking money out of communities. We have much more of a big-picture approach to issues and we can see that if you do not invest in education then you are not investing in the nation's future.

The other area of education I need to mention is vocational education. Vocational education and training providers are mentioned in the legislation before us. I would like to highlight the fact that Barry O'Farrell has not only gone after schools but he has gone after TAFEs. He has taken $115 million out of our TAFE system. In my area it means TAFEs closing down and it means that students that are trying to do a vocational course in conjunction with the HSC now have to travel great distances to be able to access a TAFE college. It is just ridiculous that, in an era when we should be investing in training apprentices, when we should be investing in giving young people the skills that they need to access employment in the areas where employment exists, we have a government in New South Wales slashing and burning.

I think most members of this House would be aware that there is a skills shortage in Australia and much of that is in the area of apprenticeships. If a government is taking money out and not supporting apprentices, that shortage will be exacerbated and as a nation we will struggle to fill jobs which in the past have been filled by tradespeople who gained their qualifications through the TAFE system. I have talked extensively about New South Wales but we can also look at Queensland—and the member for Moreton is sitting to my left—and Victoria. Yesterday Victorians spoke at great length about the devastation that has taken place there and how their TAFE system is in tatters. I am not going to sit quietly and allow Barry O'Farrell to do that to us in New South Wales; I am going to fight him all the way. I think most members on this side of the House think this is a fight worth winning, and it is one that I am going to embrace wholeheartedly. I am going to continue to work with my community to try and turn around Barry O'Farrell's decision to cut education and jeopardise the future of our nation.

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am proud to rise to speak on the Higher Education Support Amendment (Maximum Payment Amounts and Other Measures) Bill 2012 and I commend the member for Shortland for her contribution to this important debate. The Gillard Labor government strongly believes in education's power to transform lives. It is in the Labor Party DNA, and most of the Labor Party people elected here understand and value the transformational power of education. This government, and the Rudd government before it, has a very strong track record that we can be very proud of when it comes to investing in education.

Since 2007 the federal Labor government has doubled funding to Australian schools compared to the Howard government. It is not esoteric support; it is practical support. We have doubled the funding compared to the Howard government and we have modernised facilities in nearly all of the 9,800 schools across the country—from the smallest communities right through to the big superschools, some of which are in my electorate.

The coalition's 3,000 flagpoles during their 12 years in office was commendable and noteworthy but I would rather look to our record of 3,000 libraries, not to mention all the halls, classrooms, computers et cetera which I will go through in some detail. We have 3,000 flagpoles on the one hand and 3,000 libraries on the other. That shows the difference between this party's commitment to education and the opposition's small-time politics. With the flagpoles, it is my understanding that local members were not even allowed to go along to the opening.

Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It had to be a government member.

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It had to be a government member even if it was in an opposition electorate. That is just petty politics. Thankfully, we have been nothing like that—and it has been great to see the opposition lining up outside of Canberra to get into the photos of the openings of the buildings, libraries et cetera.

The BER program has been a $16.2 billion investment in the nation's future, especially in our productivity in years to come. As all economists would know, sadly, for too long, during both the previous government and this Labor government, productivity had been flatlining. But it is starting to trend north now. Obviously productivity is the greatest measure of the health of an economy and we need to improve. The Labor government's investment in education has been the single biggest investment in Australian schools in our nation's history—with daylight second. In my electorate of Moreton, 45 schools received over $92 million in investment in education infrastructure. These projects are over 99 per cent complete, which means schools and their communities are using better and more modern facilities, giving schoolkids a flying start as they grow into young adults and contemplate their workplace choices.

And you see it in your schools when you visit them: the spring in the step of the kids, the pride that the parents have, the joy of the teaching staff and other staff in having something as simple as a fresh coat of paint, new buildings, new libraries, new classrooms. It just increases the pride in these places. These exciting educational facilities are an investment in our future and will deliver better education outcomes for students in our community. Sadly, things had been slipping slightly compared with other OECD nations. These investments are changing the way our students learn and are giving teachers and staff much more enjoyable places to work. The bricks and mortar of these buildings are merely the foundations on which long-term educational and economic benefits will be built and will continue to flow to Australian students and the broader community for years to come.

The libraries are the thing I am particularly proud of, because the modern library engages. When I think of Sunnybank Primary School in my electorate, or Robertson State School, these new libraries are much more engaging, instead of just boring shelves full of books—not that I ever thought books were boring; I was an English teacher! The modern facilities, being a part of the digital revolution, engage with students in so many different ways.

The BER program fits hand in glove with our other education investments in innovation—for example, computers in schools and the national curriculum. We have been a federation for 111 years, and it took that long for us to finally say, 'We are one nation; we should be teaching all of our children much the same thing.' It is not enough to mention the 80,000 or so kids who move every year from one state or territory to another. It took us that long to get it right. The Labor government has done it; we have brought in a national curriculum. This is in addition to developing national teachers standards, giving more decision-making power to principals and providing more information to parents through the MySchool website—surely one of the most clicked-on websites in Australia. I know I do it myself when I am going to a school, particularly for a speech night or to talk to an assembly, to look at where the strengths in the school are—and the challenges as well, but particularly the strengths, so that I can give praise where praise is due.

So MySchool provides greater transparency and accountability regarding school performance. These initiatives are complemented by the National Broadband Network, obviously, in that further educational innovation and new curriculum directions are now possible, linking up Cunnamulla with the rest of the world, linking up Coolangatta with the rest of the world, or the Cape—all those parts of Queensland and the rest of Australia interconnected. That is the digital revolution. All of these advances will combine to improve Australia's productivity in the long run.

As a former teacher, with 11 years experience in the classroom and another few years working for an education union, I particularly value education and the opportunities it creates for our children's future. Also, as an education ambassador, as a member of the parliamentary education committee and as a parent of two young boys, one of whom is at school, I feel I am well-placed to see the importance of education in the Australian community.

The bill before the House amends the Higher Education Support Act 2003 to update the maximum payment amounts for other grants and Commonwealth scholarships to account for changes in indexation and to add to the next funding years. The bill also amends HESA to allow the minister, by legislative instrument, to determine maximum payment amounts for other grants and Commonwealth scholarships for 2013. There have been annual amendments to HESA since its enactment in 2003 to provide for annual indexation. The continual cycle of amendments is not the most efficient method of updating the appropriation amounts under HESA. Allowing the maximum payment amounts to be determined by legislative instrument will avoid the need for recurrent amendments to HESA. The Australian Research Council Act 2001 is the source for administering funding which enables the Australian Research Council to provide funding to underpin high-quality Australian research, which is both fundamental and critical to the Australian national innovation system.

Education gives us all the opportunity to become more efficient and innovative in the future, and that is obviously what we must do. Labor has always seen that the high-skills, high-wage approach is the way to go, and not just by pulling out the wages of workers—that is not the way to compete with the rest of the world. We will never be able to compete with India and places like that when it comes to labour costs.

Indexation adjustments and adding a forward estimate are purely administrative in nature. The proposed amendments change only the administered special appropriation; they do not alter the substance of the act or increase departmental funds.

Nevertheless, this is important legislation as it ensures that the ARC can continue to support high-quality research in Australia. It is not enough to change these schools if we do not give them opportunities at university.

Through the National Competitive Grants Program, the NCGP, the ARC supports the highest quality research and research training. Ongoing funding for the ARC is essential to the vitality of the Australian higher education system and our commitment to strengthen Australia's research workforce. Through a range of initiatives under the NCGP the ARC is helping us to reduce research career barriers and ensure the nation reaps the benefit of all its research talent. The ARC is not only supporting quality research and research careers through the Excellence in Research for Australia Initiative; the ARC is helping the government measure our research investment and ensure we are receiving value for money.

Through this important legislation the ARC will continue to advance our efforts to build a fairer and more prosperous Australia through innovation and education. The bill will also remove the provisions that prohibit the disclosure of personal information. This information is required for a range of regulatory, quality assurance and planning purposes. Currently HESA does not allow the disclosure of such information outside of the department as it can be used to identify individuals. This legislation will allow the department to disclose personal information to the following bodies: TEQSA, the national regulator established to ensure the quality of the higher education system is maintained—TEQSA requires access to detailed data on the functioning of universities obviously—and ASQA. ASQA, the national vocational education and training regulator, requires access to personal information to be able to assess vocational education and training providers whose students are eligible for VET FEE-HELP loans.

The legislation will include strong provisions to ensure that the personal information of students and staff is not misused or released publicly. Personal information will be disclosed only to organisations that have a legitimate need for access. Recipients may use the personal information only for the purposes outlined and they will not be permitted to on-disclose the information. Recipients will also remain bound by information privacy principles in the Privacy Act 1988 and by the higher education data protocols administered by the department. In addition, higher education and vocational education and training providers will need to amend their privacy agreements to ensure that their students and staff are informed and give consent to their personal information being used for quality assurance and planning purposes.

This bill is another example of the Labor Party investing in education. As mentioned by the member for Shortland, that is not the case necessarily in every state led by a conservative Premier. It was horrifying to hear of what is going on in New South Wales and in Victoria from the member for Shortland. I can assure her that, sadly, that is the case in Queensland as well. The Liberal National Premier Campbell Newman has cut 405 jobs from education, training and employment at a time when we should be investing in education. That is not to mention all of the casual jobs and the other attacks on the education system as well.

Thankfully at this time in my political life I am proud to be part of a campaign to implement the Gonski reforms. At this time in our nation's history we can transform our approach to education. Sunnybank State School invited me along the other day for a Gonski event and many other schools are lining up to do the same. I want to mention two people connected with that campaign—Brendan Crotty and Sam Pidgeon—who are wonderful educators. I wish them well for their wedding on the weekend. I commend the bill to the House.

Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too support the Higher Education Support Amendment (Maximum Payment Amounts and Other Measures) Bill 2012. This bill adjusts the Higher Education Support Act 2003 to adjust the maximum payments for Commonwealth scholarships and other grants to reflect indexation and other funding for the coming year as determined by the minister. In effect it allows $1.24 billion extra in higher education funding between 2013 and 2016. This important bill also amends the Australian Research Council Act 2001 to apply indexation and to add to the last year forward estimates to ensure appropriate funding for the Australian Research Council. This will increase the spending of the ARC from close to $830 million for the period from 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2016.

The ARC conducts high-quality research essential to our nation's ability to be innovative and also to increasing our competitiveness in the global arena. The ARC, to that extent, is a major source of the Commonwealth's funding in investigative-driven research, and many of our nation's world-class research facilities are a direct beneficiary of the work of the ARC and its funding. These facilities are conducting groundbreaking research into technologies such as the bionic eye. They also perform the important tasks of strengthening the diversity of our research workforce and ensuring that more Indigenous Australians are attracted into academia and more women are encouraged to keep research careers in that field.

Importantly, schedule 3 of the bill also allows for disclosure of information on staff and students for purposes of Higher Education Statistics Agency research to measure the quality of and the satisfaction with teaching and learning standards within the Australian education system. This will undoubtedly have an effect on improving the quality of and satisfaction with tertiary education provisions across the nation. In order to ensure that there is not a breach of privacy, those who have gained access to the personal information of staff and former and current students will be bound by the Privacy Act 1988 and the Higher Education Data Protocols. This will ensure that staff and students are informed of and are able to give consent to their personal information being used for the purposes of conducting surveys et cetera. Organisations such as the Tertiary Education and Quality Standards Agency and the Australian Skills Quality Authority, their peak bodies and state and territory governments all require access to detailed information for the purposes of planning quality assurance.

This bill is yet another example of the government's commitment to Australia's youth and to the country in general in building a world-class education system. This year alone, it is important to note, the Gillard government will invest $13.6 billion in our schools, which is almost double the spending of the former Howard government in its last budget. In addition, this government has worked hard to renew old facilities and refurbish others in various schools around the countryside to ensure that our kids have access to language centres, science centres, computer labs, libraries and early learning centres. As a matter of fact, in my electorate alone this government has spent $108 million on 115 projects that have benefited 46 schools under the Building the Education Revolution program. If you think about that, my electorate is one of 150; replicate that and you will see the dimensions on which this government has worked with the education system to give our kids the best start possible through education.

We are moving to ensure that our students keep step with their peers from the most advanced nations around the world by investing in technological literacy through the Digital Education Revolution, which has delivered computers to every student from year 9 through to year 12. Again, in Fowler alone, that is equivalent to 8,500 computers that have already been installed to make sure that the young people in my electorate are not left behind.

We are also making sure that the youth have the best options, whether they decide to pursue an academic path or to engage in a trade through vocational education. I recently had the honour of attending the opening of the trade training centre at Bonnyrigg High School in my electorate. Thanks to $1.5 million invested by the Gillard Labor government, aspiring young chefs and people—

Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! As a result of the House being suspended for the election of the second Deputy Speaker, I will now suspend the Federation Chamber, to resume after the vote has been conducted.

Sitting suspended from 11:10 to 12:29

Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before we suspended, I was explaining to the House that I had the honour of attending the opening of the trade training centre at Bonnyrigg High School. It is a $1.5 million investment of the Gillard government. It provides opportunities for aspiring chefs and local people who want to work in the hospitality industry to work in and access a kitchen of an industrial standard. It delivers a pathway to Certificate III in Hospitality and Commercial Cooking. That is something very good for young people in my electorate. This is one of 370 trade training centre projects across Australia, addressing skills shortages in our traditional trades.

We are also increasing support for students with disabilities and we are committed to increasing opportunities for Indigenous students through the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Action Plan. We have based our commitment on increasing the funding that flowed from the first national review, in almost 40 years now, with respect to education.

This government is not afraid to commission or to seriously address the recommendations that flowed from the Gonski report. As a matter of fact, we made a commitment to implement them. This is not a political position. This is a position of investing more money in education, because we know investing in education is investing in our future. Our government has listened and made the commitment to work in partnership with state and territory authorities to build a world-class education system.

Some might say this stands in stark contrast to the commitment made by the New South Wales Liberal government, which has shown a complete disregard for the young people of New South Wales and for their futures. The New South Wales Liberal government saw the federal government's historic investment in education not as an opportunity to join us and contribute to building a world-class education system but rather as a green light to take away from students and to jeopardise their futures.

The federal government increase in school funding should not be seen as an incentive for state governments to decrease the funding commitments which have traditionally belonged to those states. While, on the one hand, the federal government is doing all in its power to implement the recommendations of Gonski, to review and double the investment of the Howard government in terms of financing education, on the other hand the New South Wales government has decided to use this as an excuse to slash education funding by a monstrous $1.7 billion. It is an absolute disgrace in a modern economy to take away from the investment in our futures.

The New South Wales government fails to understand that education is a direct investment in our nation's future. Education is not a spending item that does not yield returns. It is a way for us to ensure that we remain internationally competitive in the world, a world becoming increasingly dependent on technology and innovation. Decreasing investment and funding in education will decrease our competitiveness on the global agenda and affect our productivity into the future.

In short, this slashing of funding will cause job losses in the front offices and classrooms. If schools are forced to reduce numbers of teachers, class sizes will inevitably grow, sacrificing our students' ability to gain the knowledge and skills that will best equip them to meet the challenges of the future. It will also undoubtedly have a negative effect on the fees and the ability of schools to provide extracurricular activities for students.

State schools, independent and systemic Catholic schools will all feel the effect of this decision. The Catholic Education Office recently advised me that, after 190 years experience of providing high-quality, affordable education, the systemic Catholic schools sector is now facing the real prospect of dramatically increasing their fees or, regrettably, in some cases closing down if not reducing the sizes of schools that come under their domain. That is just one sector.

Since the state government announced its appalling decision I have consulted widely in my community with principals, teachers, parents and the community at large. I have now had the opportunity to speak to every single principal of every school in my electorate, and they have echoed a very strong response that I have also received from the community. All of those people are appalled by this decision.

My electorate is the most multicultural electorate in the country. I have the highest proportion of refugees in my electorate. People who live there by and large understand that success or otherwise in a country such as Australia is dependent on a good education. These people work day in, day out, with multiple jobs, to fund not only their kids' education but also after-school tutoring. They want the best, and they see this as working directly against them.

People who believe in education and believe in what it gives to a society are not prepared to see these cuts in staff numbers or the imposition of higher fees. My electorate, apart from being the most multicultural, is the second-most disadvantaged electorate in the whole country. They cannot afford to have additional impositions of cost. This is a dreadful situation facing those who believe in education.

Education, in my opinion, next to health, is one of the most important areas that a government can be involved in. It is an area that should not be seen as one that you can skimp and save in by making budgetary cuts—and certainly not in the way that the New South Wales government is doing in making these cuts to fund the north-west rail link. This is going to take money, in my case, out of one of the most socially disadvantaged electorates to fund an election commitment of the state Liberal government. It is a pity they did not tell them that before the election.

I remain committed to standing by my local schools—with the principals, students, teachers, parents and the rest of the community alike—by fighting these shameful and inexcusable cuts. I call on the New South Wales Premier, Barry O'Farrell, and his Minister for Education, Adrian Piccoli, to listen to the people, to rethink their plans in respect of education and also to review their decision. I also hold out the olive branch to them and say, 'Join with the Commonwealth, join with the federal Gillard government, in helping build a world-class education system.'

Our children certainly deserve more support and respect than the New South Wales Liberal government is currently giving them, but in the meantime I fully support the Higher Education Support Amendment (Maximum Payment Amounts and Other Measures) Bill 2012 before us. Any investment in improving the quality of the nation's education system, whether it be primary, secondary or tertiary, is a good thing. The bill before us is also an investment in our future. I commend the bill to the House.

Sharon Bird (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Higher Education and Skills) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the members who have spoken on the Higher Education Support Amendment (Maximum Payment Amounts and Other Measures) Bill 2012 and the member for Fowler for the tone of his contribution about the importance of education, which is certainly reflected in the broad agenda of the Gillard Labor government. This bill sits within that context.

The bill before the House amends the Higher Education Support Act 2003 to update the maximum payment amounts for other grants and Commonwealth scholarships. It also authorises wider use of disclosure of personal information collected for the purposes of the act. The bill also amends the Australian Research Council Act 2001 in order to provide administered funding to allow the ARC to continue their support for highest quality fundamental and applied research and research training.

The maximum amounts for other grants under section 41-45 and Commonwealth scholarships under section 46-40 of the act are being updated to provide for indexation and other variations to funding amounts, and to include the next funding year. The bill will allow the minister to determine, by legislative instrument, the maximum payment amount for other grants and Commonwealth scholarships from 2013 onwards.

There have been annual amendments to the act since its enactment in 2003 to provide for indexation. The continual cycle of amendments is not the most efficient method of updating these appropriation amounts. Allowing the maximum payment amount to be determined by legislative instrument will avoid the need for recurrent amendments to the act.

The bill will also allow the departmental secretary to disclose information collected and created for the purposes of the act, including personal information, to a limited number of bodies for a limited set of purposes. Wider use and disclosure of personal information, including administrative data at the unit record level, will allow more accurate assessment and monitoring of the government's higher education demand driven funding reforms for planning and quality assurance purposes, including achievement of the Australian government targets. Consultation with higher education and VET providers and their peak bodies has consistently indicated the need to reduce the burden on the tertiary sector associated with the provision of data for regulatory and quality assurance purposes.

There were many submissions to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Education and Employment—and I acknowledge the chair of that committee, the member for Kingston, who is in the chamber with us today. I acknowledge the work of the committee in their inquiry into the bill before the chamber. The committee strongly supported the bill, since it will reduce the reporting and administrative burden on providers. The bill's authorisation for wider disclosure of personal information would facilitate the development of the department's existing data management system, creating a single reporting interface for providers and preventing the duplication of reporting burdens.

The bill includes strong protections for individual privacy which were developed in consultation with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. These protections include authorising the use and disclosure of personal information for permitted purposes only, offence provisions for breaches of the act's privacy provisions and the requirement for the consent of higher education providers prior to disclosure. These are in addition to the provisions of the department's existing data protocols. The bill will authorise wider disclosure of personal information to meet the legitimate needs of higher education and vocational education and training data users to access personal information while ensuring that the reporting burden on providers is minimised and the privacy of staff and students is protected.

The Australian Research Council is also addressed in the bill. The bill amends the Australian Research Council Act 2001 so that they can receive administered funding. This will allow the ARC to continue to support the highest quality fundamental and applied research and research training through competitive selection processes across all disciplines with the exception of clinical medicine and dentistry. The appropriation bill supports the ongoing operations of the ARC to fund the high-quality research that we need to address the great challenges of our time, to improve the quality of people's lives, to support the development of new industries and to remain competitive in the global knowledge economy.

The ARC is the major source of funding for the innovative investigator driven research that has underpinned inventions such as the synchrotron and is supporting research into tomorrow's breakthrough technologies, such as the bionic eye. ARC-funded research has played and continues to play an important role in improving the lives of Australians and addressing the big issues of our time. This includes, for example, our need to transform our manufacturing industries to create greener, healthier and more resilient processes and products. The government is proud that stronger steel and cleaner and safer cars could be soon manufactured in Australia thanks to research made possible with funding from the ARC.

Ongoing funding for the ARC is essential to the vitality of the Australian higher education system and our commitment to strengthening Australia's research workforce. Excellent researchers across all areas of the university system must be able to compete for funding if we are to keep world class academics in Australia working in our universities and teaching our next generation.

It is important to note the key role that the ARC has been and is playing in attracting more Indigenous Australians to academia and keeping more women in research careers. This includes the Discovery Indigenous scheme, the addition of two new Australian laureate fellowships specifically for women and the introduction of the research opportunity and performance evidence to enable assessors to take into account any career interruptions, including those for childbirth and caring responsibilities. Through these initiatives, and through the whole NCGP, the ARC is helping to reduce research career barriers and to ensure that the nation reaps the benefits of all its research talent.

The ARC is not only supporting quality research and research careers but also helping the government measure our research investment and assure taxpayers that their money is being invested wisely. For these reasons, I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation announced.

Ordered that this bill be reported to the House without amendment.

Sitting suspended from 12:46 to 16:01