Sue Lines (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to make a few short statements given the time constraints of the report. Unfortunately, I did not hear all of Senator McKenzie's speech so I cannot really make any comment about what was said.

It is true to say that across the country we heard from a range of witnesses—teachers, academics, TAFE directors, parents, students, the Australian Education Union, the Australian Human Rights Commission and business groups. So it is fair to say that TAFE is an important provider of vocational education and training. Indeed, it is the most significant provider of vocational education and training in the country. Its role is critical.

But what was very clear to us was that, right across the country, the role of TAFE is under threat. It is being undermined. All the people who gave evidence—they were experts in their fields, whether they were teachers, people in the business community who rely on TAFE, students, academics or TAFE directors—put significant expert evidence before us.

The contestability market is clearly not working for TAFE. Certainly a number of independent witnesses suggested that there be more of a controlled market, and that there are some areas that TAFE should not be competing in. One of the areas of excellence that TAFE provides is in the absolutely solid support for students with disability. We heard from an amazing young man in Sydney, who was representing the Deaf Society. He was incredibly articulate. Help with the cost of Auslan interpreters and note-takers and all the other services and supporters that, in particular, deaf students need is under threat. In Wollongong a young man gave us evidence. He had completed a whole range of diplomas but he physically needed quite a lot of support. That is at threat, too.

Clearly, TAFE is a provider of excellence in terms of supporting students with disability. It is clearly a leader in second-chance education. It is a leader in terms of providing younger students who have dropped out of school with the opportunity to come back. We heard evidence from a young woman in Perth who told us that TAFE was the difference between life and death for her. It was that serious. Her life was so far off the rail but through doing a youth diploma in TAFE she is now working in that field and her whole life has changed.

I am sure that those opposite—in particular, Senator McKenzie—would appreciate that education can turn people's lives around. Clearly TAFE is expert in that.

TAFE sits within a political space. There were very disappointing issues that arose in Perth and Wollongong. In Perth particularly, the state government threatened the employment of witnesses who were giving evidence. The committee had to send a very strong letter to the WA government outlining the fact that parliamentary privilege extended to witnesses. There was a similar issue in Wollongong. So this is obviously getting to be political.

I hope that COAG takes our recommendations seriously. We need to ensure that TAFE survives. It is not just another registered training organisation. It is clearly much, much more than that. At risk right now is the further education of students with disability and second-chance education, of which TAFE is such a strong providers, particularly in relation to mature-age people who have become redundant and need to change their skills.

We heard a lot of evidence like that and it was rather surprising that only two state governments have a clear definition of the sorts of roles that TAFEs play. We heard evidence of where TAFE was expanding. There were partnerships with universities. One TAFE in particular is looking at working with a big private health provider to look at how they can do courses of mutual benefit. Those are all positive outcomes, but clearly both the federal and state governments, through the COAG process, need to be very clear about TAFE. It does need to remain a provider of excellence and a benchmark against which we hold all others accountable.

This competitive market it sits in now needs to be looked at as a matter of urgency, because TAFE is a great provider of vocational education and training in our country. I seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted.