Sally Sitou (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The benefits of higher education are clear. University graduates are more likely to be employed compared to their non-graduate counterparts. Seventy-two per cent of bachelor's degree graduates are in full-time employment within four months of completing their studies, compared to 58 per cent of people with a high school qualification. Australian workers with a university degree earned 55 per cent more than those who only completed year 10.

Higher education is good for the individual and good for our economy and society, and the future of work demands it. To support the growth of the Australian economy, education, skills and training are the most critical components. Of the 1.2 million new jobs projected to be created over the next five years, nine out of 10 of those jobs are forecast to require post-secondary education.

But, when I think about those statistics and the insatiable need for skilled labour in this country, it does give me pause for thought. Why? Because of my own family story. My parents came to this country 45 years ago. They fled their homeland and were lucky to call Australia home—a country that gave them refuge. But, when my parents came here, they had limited formal education and spoke very little English. They worked hard in factories, where they were able to find secure work with good conditions. They were able to go on to give my brother and me the work and education opportunities they never had, and my family was able to thrive here. I went on to have the most incredible career, working in international development in the Asia-Pacific and then in international education. Now I'm a federal member of parliament.

That was only possible because of two key opportunities this country gave my parents. The first was that they were welcomed here in the late 1970s. The second was the opportunity to get good, secure work with good conditions despite the limited education and skills they had. So, when I hear that the vast majority of jobs of the future will require post-secondary qualifications, it does give me reason to reflect. Would people like my parents be left behind in this new world, where there is an ever-increasing demand for skilled workers?

When we talk about the future of work, we need to make sure we are opening opportunities for all, regardless of their background, the postcode where they grew up or the school they meant to. But, for too long, those opportunities have been closed for some. In 2008, about 15 per cent of undergraduates came from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Fifteen years later, that proportion has not budged. It is sitting at around 17 per cent now. We must do better.

The doors of opportunity that higher education can provide must be available for all because higher education is transformative for an individual and transformative for a society. It makes me think of someone like Professor Rae Cooper from the University of Sydney—the first in her family to go to university. Moving to Sydney to study was a big adventure for a country kid from Merriwa in the Upper Hunter. The adjustment for a country kid studying at one of Australia's leading universities in Sydney can be overwhelming. That was something Professor Cooper experienced, and she dropped out in her first semester. She returned the next year, and she not only survived university but thrived, majoring in industrial relations at the University of New South Wales. Professor Cooper was awarded the university medal, and a lifelong love of research in work, employment and women began. She went on to complete her PhD at the University of Sydney, and she's been there ever since, and we are all the beneficiaries of that.

Professor Cooper has gone on to become one of the most influential researchers and thinkers on women in the workplace. She is the co-director of the Women, Work and Leadership Research Group at the University of Sydney Business School, an initiative studying gender and work, women's careers and flexible employment. Such has been the invaluable contribution of her research that she was awarded an Order of Australia in 2019. However, her contribution extends far beyond research and its application. Professor Cooper has been a mentor for so many students who needed extra support at university. In her own words, she said she spent 20 years identifying and seeking out students who looked lost in class. Down to the last one, they were first-in-family students, usually from the country or outer suburbs.

Professor Cooper was also my university supervisor, so I experienced firsthand how invaluable her mentorship can be. I am thankful to Professor Cooper for her support of me, the child of migrants from the western suburbs of Sydney and a first-in-family student. And there were so many other students. She changed lives in more ways than one. Professor Cooper's story is just one example of the transformative power of education. I'm proud to be part of a government that recognises this and values our universities.

This bill implements the priority recommendations of the Australian Universities Accord interim report. We are creating university study hubs in our regions and outer suburbs. These study hubs have been successful in helping students, particularly those from rural and regional areas, adjust to universities, because they are located closer to home, closer to family support and networks. We think students shouldn't have to leave their community to succeed at university. We are scrapping the 50 per cent pass rule. It has disproportionately affected First Nations students, those of low socio-economic status, those who are first in family, and other underrepresented cohorts of students. We should be helping students to succeed, not punishing them when they fall behind and forcing them to quit.

So that universities can target their support, we'll require better reporting on how students are progressing that identifies students who are struggling and connects them with support services. We will extend demand-driven funding to all Indigenous students. Currently an Indigenous young man has a higher chance of going to jail than to university, and that's just not right. Those young people are missing the chance to develop a career and, with that, a brighter future. And Australia is missing out on their untapped talent. We will provide funding certainty to higher education institutions during the accord process by extending the Higher Education Continuity Guarantee into 2024-25, with funding arrangements that prioritise support for equity students. Stronger higher education is good for the individual and good for our economy.

I want to contrast what we are doing on this side of the House with what those opposite did when they were in government. What did the previous coalition government do? Who was the education minister? Not sure? I don't even think the Morrison government knew who the education minister was for much of their time. Was it the former member for Aston, Alan Tudge? Yes, until he was benched. Was it the former member for Fadden, Stuart Robert? Yes. He was acting education minister for a short time. Neither of them is in our parliament today, which is probably for the best. Let's look at their legacy. What did they do for higher education when they were ministers for education? It's not a great legacy. They actively undermined the sector and oversaw the highest number of job losses this sector has ever seen. There are estimates of around 12,000 jobs lost during the pandemic.

We on this side of the House see higher education as integral to the future of this country. Whether it's transforming our economy to clean, reliable and affordable power, rebuilding our manufacturing capacity through the National Reconstruction Fund or providing the essential workforce required by defence industry in the years ahead, a robust and high-performing higher education system is fundamental. We need a post-secondary education sector that deliver the better skilled, better trained workforce Australia needs.

The Minister for Education, Jason Clare, has appointed Professor Mary O'Kane to lead the team that has developed the interim report for the Australian Universities Accord. The accord will build on a long-term plan for Australia's higher education system. It is the first broad review of the higher education system since the Bradley review, almost 15 years ago, and is long overdue. It provides an opportunity to examine the system as a whole. The university accord process provides an excellent opportunity to explore how our higher education institutions can deliver quality education and training that meets the needs of students and develops the skills needed now and in the future.

I am particularly interested in how the process can assist in improving the student experience, fostering lifelong learning by enabling students to develop transferable skills and move more easily between sectors. The accord will drive lasting and transformational reform in the higher education sector. We on this side of the House want to make sure that we are opening the doors of higher education and all the opportunities that come with that—open for all, regardless of their background. I welcome some of the key findings from the interim report and look forward to seeing the final report, which is due in December, later this year.

I worked at the University of Sydney for almost a decade, so I got to see firsthand the transformative power of education. I saw that through the teaching that was happening with so many of the students who came to the University of Sydney. Many were first in family, many were from regional and rule areas of Australia and many were Indigenous students. We are better for it. I also saw the transformative power of higher education through the research that was happening there. There was incredible expertise, incredible researchers doing important work and looking at the grand problems that we as a society face. I saw what they were able to do during the COVID pandemic. They were providing expert advice at a time when we as a society needed it the most.

Our higher education system changes lives, changes families and changes our society. We on this side of the House want to make sure that the doors of higher education and opportunity are open to all, including for people like me, a kid from Western Sydney from a migrant background, and someone like Professor Rae Cooper, a kid from country New South Wales.

Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm really pleased to talk on this Higher Education Support Amendment (Response to the Australian Universities Accord Interim Report) Bill 2023, which amends the Higher Education Support Act 2003. I am looking forward, at some point, to seeing equal respect and value placed on those who have incredible skills through university education as well as on those who have extraordinary talents and skills through the vocational sector. We need to get to a point where we place equal respect on those achievements and skills.

This bill is going to implement two of the priority areas and actions from the Australian Universities Accord interim report. The objective of the accord is to provide recommendations and performance targets that improve the quality, accessibility, affordability and sustainability of higher education. It is equally as important that our universities are graduating students who are actually job ready and able to add value to whatever business, industry or sector they're actually entering. In my opinion, the ultimate arbiter of the success of our entire education and training system is the person who is employing them—the employer: 'Is this person capable of and up to the job that I'm paying them to do in my business or sector?'

I want to focus, in my speech today, on one of the recommendations of the accord and raise my concerns. The first recommendation is to extend visible, local access to tertiary education by creating further regional university centres. This is a very good measure. The government also announced an additional 34 regional study hubs. However, 14 of these will be located in suburban and metro areas. That is a change that really concerns me. Every one of these takes away another opportunity for young people living in regional and remote parts of Australia.

The regional study centres were an initiative of the coalition while we were in government. It's an initiative that I'm very proud of. It has been a very effective way of enabling aspiring students from regional and remote parts of Australia to access higher education and be supported in their communities while they're actually studying by distance with any Australian tertiary provider. It was and is an innovative model. There is no doubt that these centres make a real and practical difference to our students and their families.

These are the young people we actually need. They live hours and hours from tertiary institutions, which are, in many instances, hundreds and hundreds of kilometres away from their homes. They're the ones who can't get on buses and trains to have access to a tertiary education. They simply live too far away. This is the gap that the regional university centres were specifically designed to fill. These great young people no longer have to leave their families, their friends or their local communities to pursue their higher education. They can actually stay at home while they're studying. At the same time, their skills can be available to and boost their local communities and economies, which are sometimes really small local communities and economies.

The centre provides them with study spaces, videoconferencing, computer facilities and internet access as well as administrative, academic and wellbeing support for those studying in that method at any Australian university or vocational education and training provider. That's a fantastic, practical option. It is one that clearly works, and I am very proud of it.

We know that people in regional Australia are less than half as likely to complete a university degree compared with people who live in cities. Our regional university centres are actually helping communities right across Australia to reverse this trend. This was part of our determination and focus while in government—that all Australians, no matter where they live, particularly those in regional and remote areas, deserve access to high-quality education. These centres offer the facilities and support they need to access their tertiary education so that these young people can live at home and get the care and support they need from their families while they study. These issues are critical for regional and remote students, which is why I want to make sure that the new hubs are in areas that will benefit regional and remote students the most. This means study centres located in their own community, where they can pursue those study dreams.

I want to acknowledge all of my coalition colleagues who've worked with me constantly over the years to improve access to higher education for these wonderful young people who live in our regional, rural and remote electorates. We've been relentless on their behalf in the parliament, and we'll continue to do so whether we're in opposition or in government. This has been and still is an absolute passion and priority for us. We are committed to our young people being able to pursue their higher education or their training and their work dreams and ambitions.

In my very first campaign, this was a priority issue raised with me by families right across the south-west of WA, but when I came into this place I found that successive Labor governments failed to understand the lack of access and the disparity between rural, regional and remote students and those in metro and suburban areas. In fact, the Rudd government excluded young people who lived in areas defined by the ASGS classifications as 'inner regional' from accessing independent youth allowance, which is the financial help from Centrelink that they so badly needed to help with accommodation costs and higher costs from living away from home. That decision excluded countless young people from my electorate, and my colleagues' electorates, who live well and truly over an hour and a half from Perth based universities. Those young people had no choice but to move to Perth to be able to do the courses they needed to do for their education and career ambitions.

I'll never ever forget the conversation I had with one really distressed mum in a Busselton supermarket who had to decide which one of her children she could afford to send to university at that time. She could afford to send only one, and she was so hurt at having to choose one of her children. What hurt even more, I found when I visited the schools at the time, was those great young people who were self-selecting alternative courses at high school because they knew their families simply could not afford the cost of their university education while they had to live away from the family home. These are the critical young people we need to keep in our regional and remote communities to keep them thriving. It's their new young ideas, their energy and what they'll bring that we need. It's also the equity of access for them.

Besides the significant changes we made to the conditions around accessing independent youth allowance for regional and remote students, one of the things we did in government was to initiate the independent review by Emeritus Professor Dr John Halsey. We as a government accepted all 11 of those recommendations, and that saw the first cohort of the 16 regional university centres located in all states and the Northern Territory announced in the same year, with a further eight added in 2022. The National regional,rural and remote tertiary education strategy built on the Halsey report's initiatives.

I am pleased that the current Australian Universities Accord has prioritised more regional university centres, but, as I said, I'm particularly concerned that the focus has shifted to extending these into suburban and metro areas. The RUCs, as they're known, have been very successful in those regional and remote areas. You only have to look at where they're located on a map to know why they're so important and that so many more students in similar areas desperately need these centres. The accord itself notes that RUCs have been effective at improving student participation, retention and completion rates in regional and remote areas, and I believe that should be the continuing focus because that need is still there. There is no doubt that regional and remote areas are the ones most in need of regional university centres. But the actual centres need an enduring community framework around them to be able to be sustainable. We've seen them often supported and prioritised by their Regional Development Australia committees and local governments, established in places like Geraldton, Taree, Mount Isa, the Pilbara, the Bass Coast and Albany in Western Australia, for instance—all locations where young people would have had to move away from home just to go to university. They can't take buses or trains to get there. They live hundreds of kilometres away from these universities.

There is also an additional cost involved in sending young people to university and supporting them while they are there. Rent and accommodation alone at the moment is a massive cost. It's hundreds of dollars a week. Of course, these young people have to work and study as well, and they have to be able to cope with life away from their home. Recently, I was talking to a family in Margaret River with two sons. The father actually has to leave his job and move to Perth to be able to fund his son's access to university. This is common story if you live in regional or rural areas. There is no doubt at all that regional country kids simply don't have the same opportunities as students in cities or suburban or metro areas. Those of us who live and work in regional and remote areas know exactly what the challenges are for both the young people and their families in trying to access higher education.

There is a real need and commitment from the community to support the establishment and ongoing presence of a regional university centre. This cannot be underestimated. I saw this in practice at the Albany centre. There were whole wraparound supports there and a community commitment to that centre, because they actually understood, as did the local Regional Development Australia committee, how important this opportunity was for their young people. Some issues need to be considered. Does this RUC align with the community's needs and aspirations? Is there physical capital in the community to do so? They are really important to the sustainability of any of these. Other factors include no existing local campus for them to go to, and the distances from other campuses as well. As I said, there is a real need for the community to engage, support and extend these regional university centres.

I have met some fabulous young people who have attended these. They are just extraordinarily empowered. They've had the best experience and now have opportunities as a result. Edith Cowan University in my part of the world, in Bunbury, has itself opened several regional learning hubs around the south-west, and one in the Peel region. They're actually in the process of refurbishing their Busselton learning centre, which will open soon. I think there is no doubt that flexible learning options are what is needed both now and into the future.

The accord review itself states:

… a high-quality and equitable higher education system is now essential.

It is, but it is certainly that for kids and young people who live in regional and remote parts of Australia. As I said early in my speech, given the great young people I get to work with and the value they add to our regional communities, I hope we get to a point in this country where, through any of the education and training pathways, there is the same amount of value and respect for a person who has come through the vocational education process and added significantly to their area of expertise. Some of these people are absolutely brilliant. If you want a problem solved and you want something fixed, they are the people who will do it. Many of the jobs ahead will be in that space. I would say there should be far more equal respect and value placed on those talented young people with skills who come through the vocational sector, as well as those that do university, study and training. All of them are able to add the skills that we need to take Australia forward.

Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Bennelong is home to Macquarie University. With over 40,000 students and 3,000 staff, and a rich tapestry of academic disciplines, Macquarie University is a hub of knowledge and innovation and an incredibly important part of our local economy and our local community. Yet even at Macquarie University the impact of funding constraints, job uncertainty and increased workloads has not been overlooked. The challenges faced by our educators within the walls of the university reflect the broader narrative of the academic community nationwide.

The last 10 years have seen our higher education sector grapple with storms of uncertainty, funding woes and policy changes. It was a period marked by challenges that have deeply impacted students, academics and the very fabric of our educational institutions. Tuition fees have surged, and the burden of student debt has weighed heavily on the minds of our aspiring scholars. A decade ago the average debt of a university graduate was around $15,000. Today it has surged to a staggering $28,000, and the number of people with debts in excess of $100,000 has tripled in the past three years. This has left countless young minds grappling with the burden of financial uncertainty as they embark on their academic life. Academics and educators in the higher education sector have grappled with funding cuts totalling more than nine per cent in real terms since 2011 that have strained their ability to engage in groundbreaking research and deliver high-quality education.

The last decade has been marked by unprecedented uncertainty for university educators, casting a shadow over the stability of their roles within our institutions. This uncertainty has been fuelled by the casualisation of the academic workforce, a troubling trend that has seen a significant portion of educators trapped in precarious short-term contracts. In fact, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the proportion of university employees on casual contracts has surged to nearly 40 per cent, making the lives of these dedicated individuals a constant struggle to secure stable employment. This precariousness is intricately linked to the burgeoning workloads our academics face.

As we all know, quality education requires time—time for research, time for mentorship and time of innovation. However, over the past decade the academic workforce has experienced an alarming increase in workloads. According to the Higher Education Statistics Agency, academics in Australia have experienced an average increase of nearly 20 per cent in teaching hours over the past decade, a trend that compromises the quality of both teaching and research. This surge in workload is not merely a numerical statistic. It is a real burden that our educators bear day in and day out. The pressure to juggle research, teaching and administrative duties often comes at the expense of one or more of these essential components of academia. As educators strive to provide meaningful and impactful education, their ability to dedicate time to nurturing students, engaging in research and contributing to the intellectual discourse has been severely hampered.

In the regions, where educational access is even more of a challenge, the difficulties have been particularly pronounced. In the past decade, rural and regional areas have witnessed a decline in higher education enrolment by rates of nearly 20 per cent. The promise of a university education, which should be a beacon of hope for every young Australian, has seemed distant for those residing outside metropolitan areas. The stress and pressure on the higher education sector is why the Albanese government was elected with a commitment to reform the industry and ensure that education is accessible to all who seek it.

The Higher Education Support Amendment (Response to the Australian Universities Accord Interim Report) Bill 2023 amends the Higher Education Support Act to implement priority recommendations of the Australian Universities Accord interim report, released by the Minister for Education on 19 July 2023. Professor Mary O'Kane AC, Professor Barney Glover AO, Ms Shemara Wikramanayake, the Hon. Jenny Macklin AC, Professor Larissa Behrendt AO and the Hon. Fiona Nash showed tireless commitment through their roles in the accord team to deliver a report that would provide key recommendations to empower students, support universities and drive the engine of progress in this sector.

Central to the bill's objectives is the commitment of the Albanese government to widen the doors of opportunity for every Australian to pursue higher education if they seek it. This is not just a promise. It is a reflection of our belief in the transformative power of higher education. The bill resonates with our government's commitment to action, as evidenced by its resolute implementation of priority actions outlined in the Australian Universities Accord interim report. As we delve into the provisions of the bill, we unearth a tapestry of reforms that hold the potential to reshape the landscape of higher education, not only in Bennelong but across the nation.

Firstly, the bill sets its sights on creating university study hubs, not just confined to sprawling campuses but strategically situated in regional areas and outer suburbs. Imagine for a moment the power of knowledge reaching beyond the boundaries of cities, touching lives in regional and rural areas. These hubs are not merely bricks and mortar. They symbolise the democratisation of education, a leap towards more-equitable access. By bringing the university experience closer to home, we tear down geographical and logistical barriers, empowering individuals who may previously have been held back by our tyranny of distance.

Secondly, this bill will remove the 50 per cent pass rule. We know that academic success is a journey with diverse trajectories. We recognise that students are not just statistics but unique individuals, each with their own rhythm of learning. The pass rate requirements were originally introduced in January 2022 by the former coalition government as part of its Job-ready Graduates Package to dissuade students from continuing courses they are not academically suited for. The proposed removal of this rule is more than a policy shift; it's a declaration that learning is not defined by rigidity but by potential.

Furthermore, this bill brings with it a new era of holistic support in higher education, ensuring that universities stand ready to identify struggling students and offer them tailored assistance, whether academic or non-academic. Our commitment to equity echoes in the extension of demand-driven funding to embrace all Indigenous Australian undergraduate students. Fifty-six per cent of Australian kids today are assessed as being ready to start school, but only 34 per cent of Indigenous kids are. Ninety-six per cent of Australian 10-year-olds today meet the minimum literacy and numeracy standards, but only 77 per cent of Indigenous students do. Eighty-two per cent of young Australians finish high school today, but only 57 per cent of Indigenous Australians do. Almost one in two young Australian adults have a university degree today, but only seven per cent of young Indigenous Australians do.

By expanding the eligibility of demand-driven funding to include metropolitan First Nations students studying bachelor and bachelor honours courses, we directly support efforts towards achieving Closing the Gap outcome 6, which is to increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 25 to 34 years who have completed tertiary education to 70 per cent by 2031. This week in the House we heard the education minister state that if you're a young Indigenous man you're more likely to go to jail than to university. This is a harrowing statistic that this measure will seek to overcome.

In tandem with these improvements, the bill enshrines the principle of funding continuity, securing the pathway to higher education for those who seek it. By extending the Higher Education Continuity Guarantee, we stand as a bulwark against financial uncertainties that could obstruct the dreams of students. This guarantee serves as a testament to our resolve: education should not be compromised. The extension of the Higher Education Continuity Guarantee into the years 2024 and 2025 is not just an administrative decision; it's a lifeline of assurance—a beacon of hope for those who dare to dream.

Statistics paint a stark picture of the financial burdens that higher education can impose. Over the past decade the cost of higher education has escalated exponentially. According to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the average cost of university fees has risen by nearly 60 per cent, far outpacing the rate of inflation. This surge places an undeniable strain on students, especially on those from disadvantaged backgrounds who grapple with the prospect of accumulating debt that might shadow them well into their professional careers. The Higher Education Continuity Guarantee is a commitment to alleviating these financial anxieties and a promise that education will not be derailed by economic constraints. The provision of funding certainty, as stipulated in the bill, resonates as a testament to our support for equity students. By prioritising these students in funding arrangements, we recognise the value of diversity within our academic community. We acknowledge that economic challenges should never be a roadblock to a higher education.

These measures are an important start to university reform in Australia. There is so much more to be done, but they represent a measured and principled response from the Albanese government to restore the higher education sector back to its former glory. After a decade of cuts and neglect from those opposite, this is a good start to getting universities and their students back on track. I commend the bill to the House.

Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to rise and speak on the Higher Education Support Amendment (Response to the Australian Universities Accord Interim Report) Bill 2023 because the reality is that education is a foundational pillar of our society. It impacts and improves so many lives. It is important and crucial that we get the legislation right, because, if we get it right in this House, we're impacting so many people across society. What's so important about education is not only the benefits that it delivers today, for those students that receive that education, but also the benefits that flow on through their whole life and, importantly, to the next generation. We know from lots of statistics and data. The legislation that we get right in this House makes a big difference.

For myself, it's also personal. As I said in my first speech, education was the foundation for me to create a life for myself and my family. That experience underpins my belief that a crucial element of lifting people out of poverty and enabling them to build a better life for themselves and their communities is a strong education system—a system focused on delivering tangible education outcomes for students, setting them up for long-term success and providing parents with choice in their children's education. A robust education system focused on educational outcomes and opportunities is the foundation of our society and of the individual, and it needs to be a priority of government policy. As I said, I benefited greatly, from primary school through to secondary and tertiary education. It has made a big difference to the person I am. I understand the opportunity and responsibility that I have, in this House and in this role, to give other young Australians the same education opportunities that I received. I will continue to support and speak on bills and support any measures that improve the higher education sector.

Really importantly, we also need to make sure we focus on an education sector that is about more than just providing university places. It has to be about ensuring that students finish their degrees and gain benefits from their degrees. Too often—in many policy areas, but particularly in education—we focus on the money we spend or the people that start. That's important because it flows through, but it's also about delivering those outcomes. Are students getting value for money? Is the community and society getting value for money? Are we making a difference in those students' lives? When we read that only 41 per cent of undergraduate students complete their degrees within the first four years, we have to seriously question whether those students are getting the benefits that they deserve and whether we're getting the benefits, as communities and as a society.

There is an obligation on universities to do a much better job at ensuring that students complete their courses and that it leads to meaningful employment outcomes. It was a few years ago, but I do remember my university time. It was very much a sink-or-swim attitude at that time, and there's nothing wrong with that. We need to take responsibility for ourselves and take control of our own educational outcomes. But when students are going to university and they have challenges at home—their parents might not have had a higher education opportunity—there is an obligation on the organisations to provide wraparound services and a little more guidance. I question whether we're getting that right, with only 41 per cent of undergraduate students finishing their education. We need to make sure that we're getting that right.

Access to physical campuses is an important part of getting it right. We're in a new digital world, and COVID accelerated a lot of online learning, but being in a physical location is a very important part of that wraparound service that we can provide, enabling people to speak face to face. It is positive to see that an additional 34 regional study hubs have been announced, which is an extension of the coalition policy. For regional and remote students, that is one of the biggest challenges they have—the distance they have to travel to get to a facility—but it's important that we get the locations of those hubs right. Casey is an outer-urban area. I would definitely be looking at where these hubs are, making access possible for all students. They can't be in the inner city, or 30 minutes from an existing university campus; we have to get them into areas that are going to make a difference. I'll be looking closely at the 14 hubs that are in metropolitan areas and making sure that they are accessible and in the right locations to make a difference.

I have a concern in this bill around removing the requirements that students must pass 50 per cent of the units they study to remain eligible for the Commonwealth supported places and FEE-HELP assistance. This was introduced under the coalition's job-ready graduates program to make—

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The debate is interrupted in accordance with standing order 43. The debate may be resumed at a later hour. If the member's speech was interrupted, they will be granted leave when the debate is resumed.