Alan Tudge (Aston, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank all honourable members for their contribution to this debate on the Higher Education Support Legislation Amendment (2016 Measures No. 1) Bill 2016. In summing up the bill, I emphasise that it has two distinct purposes with two distinct benefits. Firstly, amendments aim to improve the way we assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to participate in and graduate from university. Secondly, the bill makes administrative amendments to ensure the Department of Education and Training can collect tax file numbers to improve the administration of the VET FEE-HELP scheme and the VET Student Loans program, which will replace it, and improve data management arrangements for the HELP scheme as a whole.

There is no doubt that access to university is an issue for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. However, as the year 12 completion rates of Indigenous students rise and university enrolments increase rapidly, the way we support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students must mature. It was never good enough just to get inside the university door. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have given us that message loud and clear. Universities recognise this too. The reforms that have been developed in partnership between the Minister for Indigenous Affairs and key stakeholders demonstrate that we all understand that the real outcome is graduating. The real outcome is taking up a profession. The real outcome is making the contribution to community, family and the knowledge of our country. Just as the government has worked with Indigenous communities on the development of this policy, universities need to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to ensure students have the right academic and pastoral support to successfully complete units and graduate.

The new Indigenous Students Success Program, developed in close consultation with universities and facilitated by this bill, combines three interrelated programs under a single set of guidelines. The time and effort universities previously spent preparing multiple applications, meeting multiple eligibility requirements and preparing multiple reports can now be devoted to supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students through their studies. This government recognises that those working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students are best placed to understand the needs of these students. Increased flexibility in the new arrangements allows universities to tailor their supports to the needs of their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in collaboration with the ATSI academic community. First Australians should be entering university and graduating from university at a rate better than or equal to other Australians. Until that is the case, we have work to do.

This bill is quite routine and administrative on the surface of it; however, it is an important step in creating a new way for universities and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to work together to meet the real here-and-now needs of each Indigenous student. We have seen broad support for the reforms across the university sector as well as an appreciation of the expectation that is being placed on the sector. This government is committed to working with Indigenous communities to deliver better outcomes for our First Australians, and this bill delivers on this important task.

The bill also introduces administrative amendments to the Higher Education Support Act 2003 and the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 to allow the Department of Education and Training to access the tax file numbers of VET FEE-HELP students. Accessing the tax file numbers of VET FEE-HELP students will improve the efficiency of data exchange with the Australian Taxation Office and improve data quality. These amendments provide consistency across all five loan schemes and build on existing administrative processes already in place for trade support loans and for the other four higher education loan programs. Through this bill, more efficient and effective administration of the Higher Education Loan Program and, importantly, improved HELP data will be possible.

The amendments will also make it possible for students to use a new digital Commonwealth assistance form that is managed by governments, not providers. This will allow the Department of Education and Training and the Australian Taxation Office to efficiently exchange loan data using the common identifier that is a student's tax file number. Importantly, these amendments increase the government's ability to be responsive to the issues of student loan debts that were incurred in an unconscionable way and to remove these debts with speed and certainty, reducing stress on people who had never intended to incur a debt. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students were among those targeted by unscrupulous providers that did not always have the best interest of these often vulnerable students in mind.

This government recognises that it is vital that the HELP scheme remains sustainable so that it can continue to be accessed by future generations of students. These amendments authorise the use and disclosure of tax file numbers between Commonwealth offices, specifically to improve available data on the HELP scheme and to assist in its future administration. To summarise for honourable members, to put all of this in context, the changes proposed in this bill improve support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. The VET student loans bills are consistent with the changes proposed in this bill, ensuring that future loan arrangements are robust and sustainable and, above all, have the interest of students at their centre. On that note, I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation announced.