Alison Byrnes (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Since coming into government, the Albanese Labor government has been working hard to make our education system better and fairer. We have passed legislation to make early childhood education and care more affordable for all families. We have introduced legislation to increase the wages of thousands of early childhood educators and help attract and retain more people to the profession. We have introduced legislation to increase funding for public schools, enabling states and territories to fully fund public education and implement reforms to help students catch up, keep up and complete their schooling. We have also introduced legislation to help university students, by capping HELP debt increases to the lower of CPI or WPI, reducing debt growth for students. We've introduced Commonwealth prac payments to support students in fields like teaching and nursing with mandatory placement costs, and we've provide free uni-ready courses to boost access, especially for underrepresented groups.

With all of this investment in early childhood education and care, public schools and universities, we are strengthening our commitment to education by further investing in TAFE. The Free TAFE Bill 2024 is not just about boosting our education system; it is about ensuring that every Australian, regardless of their background, has access to the opportunities that they need to build a better life for themselves and their families.

Australia is currently facing one of the most significant skill shortages that we have seen in decades. The need for skilled workers in critical sectors such as construction, health care, early childhood education and heavy industry has never been more urgent. Nine in 10 new jobs over the next 10 years will need post-school qualifications, and half of those jobs will need vocational education and training.

Regional Development Australia Illawarra Shoalhaven is in the middle of a two-year research project that aims to identify the current and future skill demands in the Illawarra region. This project is currently collecting region-specific data which will help to develop strategies for local employers and businesses to help attract and retain their skilled workforce. The first survey that the RDA conducted for this project, which included responses from 185 employers, highlighted significant challenges. Fifty-six per cent of the respondents reported experiencing high or extreme levels of skill shortages. Sixty per cent of participants are also anticipating a worsening shortage of skilled workers in the near future. However, despite the very clear demand for these critical skills, too many Australians face barriers when it comes to accessing vocational education and training.

By eliminating the financial barriers to TAFE education, this side of the House aims to empower more Australians to take up vocational training, equipping them with the skills that they need to secure good, well-paying jobs. This will help to open doors for young people, for women, for First Nations Australians, for jobseekers and for those living in regional and remote areas, who have traditionally been underrepresented in the workforce.

This bill is designed with a very clear objective: to make vocational education more accessible, more affordable and more relevant to the needs of our economy.

Fee-free TAFE, which began in January 2023 and ran through to 30 June 2024, has far surpassed expectations, with over 508,000 enrolments in priority courses. This includes 131,000 enrolments in care sector courses, such as disability and aged care; 48,900 in digital technology; 35,000 in construction; and 35,500 in early childhood education and care.

These impressive national enrolment figures highlight how important the free TAFE initiative is, and in Cunningham we have seen more than 5,500 enrolments to date. And these aren't just numbers. They represent real people gaining valuable qualifications. Each enrolment tells a story of someone taking a step toward a brighter future for themselves, for their families and also for our community. In Cunningham, some of the most popular course enrolments were: the cert III in information technology, which equips students with essential digital skills; the cert III in individual support, which prepares workers for vital roles in aged and disability care; and the cert III in early childhood education and care, which is helping to address the growing demand for qualified childcare professionals.

However, the current fee-free TAFE program is set to end on 31 December 2026. Between now and then, we expect that even more people will take advantage of these fee-free courses, boosting our skilled workforce. The new free TAFE legislation will secure at least 100,000 fee-free places each year across Australia, starting in 2027, ensuring that access to vocational training remains a priority for years to come.

Last time those opposite were in government we saw the damage done by their disregard for the vocational educational training system and for skilling Australians. They ripped $3 billion from vocational education and training, decimating TAFE. One of the dangers of electing a Dutton Liberal government is that many communities across Australia would see further cuts to vocational education and TAFE. We cannot afford to let those opposite undermine access to vocational education, shutting down pathways into essential industries that are facing skill shortages.

The Albanese Labor government is reversing the damage of a decade of neglect and cuts from those opposite, and we are rebuilding TAFE for communities across Australia. We can't afford not to have people equipped with the skills our nation urgently needs. We can't afford not to have plumbers, electricians, aged-care workers, early childhood education and care workers, nurses, construction workers, and so many more professions that require a TAFE education. Our government knows we must invest in TAFE, because the future of our economy, our communities and our nation depends on it. TAFE graduates are critical to so many essential industries, and their contributions ensure that our hospitals run smoothly, our infrastructure projects are completed on time, and our elderly and our children are cared for with dignity and compassion.

The Illawarra is so fortunate to have strong TAFE institutions that are providing top-quality training to many of our local workforce. These institutions have shaped countless dedicated and passionate individuals across a wide range of fields, from beauticians and hairdressers to healthcare professionals, aged-care workers, early childhood educators and hospitality experts. TAFE has been the starting point for so many successful careers in our community.

In addition, we have a thriving network of skilled tradespeople across the Illawarra: builders, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, boilermakers and fitters, who are the backbone of our local heavy industry. This excellence continues with cutting-edge facilities like the $2.5 million renewable energy training facility at Wollongong TAFE, ensuring that our tradespeople are not only prepared for today's jobs but also equipped for industries of the future, particularly in renewable energy. And the Illawarra has a proud history of trades, with BlueScope at its heart. From electricians and fitters to boilermakers and mechanical technicians, the range of trades involved is vast, with each playing a crucial role in ensuring that the plant runs smoothly, safely and efficiently. These tradespeople have attended TAFE for the trade or further qualifications needed to complete their jobs.

As Australia and the world moves to clean energy, we need these tradespeople to be able to upskill and complete courses in clean energy technologies. More and more tradespeople will need to expand their skills and qualifications to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving clean energy sector. As Australia moves towards renewables, TAFE will play a vital role in equipping our electricians, plumbers, builders and engineers with essential knowledge and skills in solar panel installation, battery storage systems, wind turbine maintenance and energy-efficient building practices.

We cannot afford to fall behind here or in any other industry that relies on a TAFE qualification. We need a workforce that is skilled, adaptable and ready to meet the challenges of tomorrow. The demand for skilled workers in sectors like aged care, nursing and the renewable energy industry is set to skyrocket in the coming years. By making TAFE courses free, we are encouraging more Australians to consider these career paths which are not only rewarding but also essential to a thriving economy. Access to education should not be determined by one's financial situation.

For too long, the cost of TAFE courses has limited many capable Australians in pursuing their dreams. This bill is a step towards levelling the playing field, giving everyone, regardless of their background or financial situation, a fair chance at securing a stable and fulfilling career. In regions like the Illawarra this bill will make a huge impact, allowing more people to gain qualifications needed for our region. TAFE is an essential pathway for many people seeking to change careers, upskill their current roles or take their first steps into the workforce. By creating more free TAFE places each and every year we are investing in our local communities, supporting local businesses and equipping individuals with the skills they need to thrive. A more skilled workforce leads to increased productivity, better wages and a stronger economy. By addressing these skill shortages through this bill we are not only supporting Australian and Illawarra businesses but also enabling them to innovate, to expand and to excel in the global market. I commend the bill to the House.

Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was interesting to listen to the comments from the member for Cunningham and, earlier, the member for Gorton. I can say there is much in those comments I agree with, having seen firsthand the benefits of TAFE education and skills education for my brother, who is a ceramic tiler, and for many others across my electorate of Forde who are tradespeople of great excellence, skill and talent and do a tremendous job in our community each and every day. If we don't have tradespeople, we don't have buildings like this. So a trades and vocational education training regime is critically important to the future of this country. None of us on this side of the House have an issue with that; we recognise the importance of that. We did much in our term of government to encourage and build on that.

We can go back to the Howard-Costello government and look at the industry skills training centres that the Howard-Costello government set up. One in particular, which is not quite in my patch but I know a number of students from my electorate of Forde certainly go to, is the Industry Trade College, formerly the Australian Industry Trade College, down at Robina. I know of students that travelled from the west of my electorate, from Park Ridge, to go down there not only to complete their education but also to start on their apprenticeships. I know a number of businesses that have taken the opportunity to engage with the Industry Trade College to train their workforce or find young, keen tradesmen and women who want to pursue a career in vocational education and the trades. The success rate of their graduates getting a job when they leave the college is extraordinary; it's somewhere in the order of 95 per cent.

What I find interesting with this bill—and many of the points have been well made by my colleagues in their contributions to this debate—is that the first and most important part of this bill is a complete and utter fiction. Why do I say that?

I say that because there is not a single dollar of funding attached to the bill—not a single dollar. And it doesn't start until 2027. This is purely a political bill, a bit like other bills we have discussed in this place recently. It's purely for political purposes in the lead-up to a federal election. It does nothing for those people graduating from the many schools across my electorate over the last couple of weeks who are maybe looking to pursue a career in the trades. It does nothing to assist them. Equally, it favours one side of the equation. Interestingly, I note, the National Centre for Vocational Education Research show in their research that generally the independent providers achieve higher qualification completion rates than the government-run providers. In 2023 the NCVER found that the RTOs outperformed public TAFE in completion and student satisfaction, with RTOs having a 54.2 per cent completion rate compared with a 43 per cent completion rate for TAFE for certificate diploma qualifications. These statistics affirm the superior outcomes offered by private RTOs in delivering quality education to those funded through TAFE.

If we want to base it on results, which is what we should be doing, we should be looking at the results of the various sectors of the vocational education training space. Why is this not being made available to those students who want to go and study at an RTO? Now, I agree with the comments from the member for Gorton that we want shonky providers removed from the system—100 per cent. You will get no argument from me whatsoever. But that does not mean you then favour entirely one side of the system at the expense of the other. That just distorts the environment. As we have seen with some of the figures that have already come out, the completion rates for some of these courses are in the order of 13 per cent. I know anecdotally of stories from the people I have spoken to in the training sector that many of the students will enrol in these TAFE courses, get a week or so in and go, 'No, that's not for me,' but the TAFE has already been paid on enrolment rather than on results. If we want to get the maximum value for taxpayer funds, we need to focus on funding the areas that actually do deliver the results.

If we look at this bill and its failures—well, the list is fairly long, and I have pointed out most of them already, but they probably bear repeating because those opposite don't seem to be listening particularly hard—the funding for these 100,000 places does not exist. The Prime Minister has misled the Australian people by saying that this is funded. It's not, because there's no money attached, so the question is: where will this funding come from, or what will be cut to fund this permanent commitment of an additional $500 million a year? Maybe he's going to use the new riding instructions for the Future Fund to tap into the Future Fund to fund his commitment. Who knows? Are they going to put it off budget and have it come out of some slush fund that we do not know about at this point in time? This is purely an election fiction.

The government's official documents submitted to parliament reveal that the government is yet to commit a single dollar. The explanatory memorandum says: 'There is no financial impact resulting from the Free TAFE Bill 2024.' Of course there's not! They haven't added any money to it! It's just a smoke-and-mirrors trick. And, for a government that in the lead-up to the last election promised openness, accountability, transparency and sound economic management—and all the other promises they made at the last election, which, as we go, day by day, are disappearing into the ether—this is just another one. It's purely for political purposes. It is the only reason I can see for this being done.

As I said earlier, we do back vocational education and training. But we don't just back one part of the sector; we back the whole sector. We have reason to back the whole sector, because the statistics from the Centre for Vocational Education Research bear that out.

As a coalition government, when we lost government in 2022, we handed the current government a skills and training system that was not just trending upwards but powering ahead on the back of record investments guaranteed by a strong economy. The coalition invested over $13 billion in skills over the final two years of government alone, representing the most significant reforms for Australian skills in over a decade. Trade apprentices in training hit record highs in the final months of the coalition government, and, as of June 2022, there were 429,000 apprentices and tradies in training, with another 277,000—nearly 278,000—commencements.

Data released by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research confirms that Australia has lost almost 85,000 apprentices and trainees from the national training pipeline since this Albanese Labor government took office—a loss of one in five. The data shows that apprentices and trainees in training dropped to around 350,000 in March 2024. Over the same period, new training starts or commencements dropped to just 166,200, meaning there are over 100,000—bear that in mind—fewer apprentices and trainees starting a trade or a skill. There's been a drop of almost 40 per cent since the Albanese Labor government took office in May 2022. At a time when we have a skills crisis, we have a government that, under its watch, has seen a 40 per cent decline in apprentices and trainees starting a trade. Almost all the gains the coalition made in building up the skills pipeline have been squandered in just the last 2½ years.

As I asked earlier, should that surprise anyone, really? I've often said before in this place: don't look at what Labor say they're going to do; look at what they actually do—because nine times out of 10 they are two completely and utterly different things. We have seen under this Albanese Labor government that Australia is building fewer homes, that the skills shortages have worsened and that we are losing one in five apprentices and trainees across the country. This is all adding to increases in inflation and prices. If you've tried to get a tradie recently, you'll know exactly what I mean. You are paying top dollar. It's great for them—and good on them, because they deserve it—but when you're paying the bill it hurts a bit.

In summary, we support every student, not just some. We back every single student, regardless of whether they are training at TAFE or with an independent provider. The problem is the Anthony Albanese Labor government has undertaken a skills policy that directs funds to one part of the training sector rather than to all of it. The government has form in that space of trying to pick winners for its own political benefit. Once again, we've seen, in the lead-up to an election, the government roll out a half-baked policy. Overall, this bill requires greater thought and action to achieve its intended purpose to support all students in the vocational and educational training sector so that we build the skills that we need to continue to grow our economy for the future of this great country.

Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to rise today to speak on the Free TAFE Bill 2024. I believe that the 508,000 Australians who have registered across the last two years for fee-free TAFE have got it right. They've signed up to get some skills, to be trained, to take on the jobs that this country needs. Our young people and people looking for work and people looking to retrain—we need them to take up positions where we have shortages, and 500,000 people have done that. This bill is the Labor government's commitment to ensuring that 100,000 fee-free TAFE places will go on, starting in 2027.

Those opposite, in an unfathomable move, have chosen to vote against something that is about fixing a skills shortage. Let's just think about where the skills shortage is. We know that it is in early education and child care. We know that it is in aged care. We know that it is in the feminised work industries. So there has to be a missing piece, because they all want to get up and talk about tradies, but none of them actually talk about the care economy and our need for a trained, skilled workforce there. A lot of that is what is driving this, because we know where the shortages are and we know we want to address them.

There is a lot of narrative coming from those opposite round completion rates. As I've heard the minister say several times in the last week, the Victorian experience of fee-free TAFE, which is where free TAFE has been going on longest in the country and where we have something that is measurable and reportable, shows a completion rate of 54 per cent. That is higher than the university completion rate and higher than the general VET completion rate, whether that be in TAFE or in a private provider setting. That might be a shock to Australians—that people sign up to study something and do not finish it—but the fact is in fee-free TAFE the completion rate is higher. I will say it again: the fee-free TAFE completion rate is higher than university and higher than general VET training courses. Those opposite are choosing not to hear the minister when he says that.

Why would we be surprised? The Deputy Leader of the Opposition, a former minister for skills, this week said:

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

Well, I have the reverse view: if you don't pay for something, it has nothing to do with its value. And education is always an investment. Those opposite only see education as a cost. On this side of the House we see educating our population as a clear investment in the future.

If the skills shortage can teach you anything, it is that governments need to plan for and ensure that they have the structures in place to ensure that Australia has the skilled workforces that we need in the areas that we need them, and that is what this bill is all about. I absolutely wholeheartedly support the Free TAFE Bill and support this government's absolute intent to ensure that we address the skills shortage, particularly in the care economy—and that we pay the workers in the care economy what they're worth.

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

The debate is now interrupted in accordance with standing order 43.