Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the Senate for the debate on the Higher Education Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2015. It is not my intention to take a long time in the summing-up speech, prosecuting arguments, as Senator Polley was just doing, on measures that are not actually relevant to this bill nor reflected in this bill. But, at the outset, I will make very clear that the government's commitment is to a strong higher education system in Australia, one where access is equitable and fair, and one in which we are providing the type of higher education system that skills Australians for the jobs of the future and supports research and development and the knowledge that can facilitate Australia's success into the future.

This measure amends three pieces of education legislation to achieve important and worthwhile changes but, largely, are minor and modest in nature. The government has chosen to group together a suite of six education legislation amendments that expand eligibility for funding support, resolve uncertainty in some places, streamline requirements and secure funding.

The passage of this bill, to go through those six measures, will amend the Higher Education Support Act 2003 to allow certain New Zealand special category visa holders to access the Higher Education Loan Program scheme from 1 January 2016. This will assist a number of New Zealand citizens who moved here as children and provide the same support as Australian students to undertake higher education. This has been the subject of discussions between the current Prime Minister, Mr Turnbull, and the New Zealand Prime Minister, as indeed it has been for some period of time, including under the previous government, who never moved to legislate this measure.

The second area of amendment in this bill is to add Torrens University to the list of table B providers in the Higher Education Support Act. This will enable Torrens University Australia to be eligible to apply for the same funding support as other private Australian universities, including for research block grant funding.

The third measure will ensure that the Higher Education Support Act reflects the change of the name of the University of Ballarat to the Federation University Australia. The fourth measure confirms the relevant heads of constitutional power that part 2-3 'Other Grants' of the Higher Education Support Act relies upon in addition to the effect that part 2-3 otherwise has.

The fifth measure will amend the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 to streamline and clarify the reporting responsibilities of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Authority, following the passage of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013, and indeed applying similar measures, I believe, to other agencies, the ARC.

Finally, it will also provide amendments to the Australian Research Council Act 2001 to add funding for the financial years starting on 1 July 2017 and 1 July 2018, and also to apply indexation against appropriations for existing schemes. This amendment, importantly, will provide certainty and security of funding for the Australian Research Council through until mid-2019.

The measures in this bill have generally been welcomed by higher education institutions, the Australian Research Council, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency and other key stakeholders in the higher education sector. I also thank and acknowledge the opposition for their support of this legislation and the support that Senator Kim Carr, as the relevant opposition spokesman, has provided to this legislation, where he has noted that all six measures are 'non-controversial measures that enjoy bipartisan support'. Senator Carr also noted, quite rightly, that the measures would provide certainty to researchers and scientists across the country, which indeed I concur with.

It is important that this bill be passed without further delay, and I am pleased that the Senate has dealt with it so swiftly today. Some of the measures are time critical because they change eligibility for funding support for the 2016 calendar year. This is especially important to those New Zealanders who are expecting additional support for their status. These are people who, because of their visa status, do not currently have a practical pathway to Australian citizenship and therefore are caught, in a sense, out of current arrangements.

The bill will also, as I mentioned, enable Torrens University, which is a successful university in Australia with a proven track record, to be considered for research block grant funding and funding to award Commonwealth postgrad scholarships to its research students. Torrens has established its track record as a quality provider of higher education and will join other successful private institutions, such as Bond University, on table B of the Higher Education Support Act. In listening to Senator Simms, I gathered that the Greens intend to move an amendment to this bill that would remove this particular measure. This amendment is unwarranted. The bill merely extends to Torrens University the same right to bid for research block grant funding that other private universities like Bond University already enjoy. As our smaller, regional and newer universities would attest, research funding should not be reserved for universities with a lengthy track record. It plays an important role in expanding their research capacity. It will also put Torrens University on a level playing field in terms of improving access and choice for PhD and research masters students to have some coverage of tuition fees and/or receive scholarships through, for example the Australian Postgraduate Awards. The passage of the Higher Education Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2015 will ensure that this promising young university in Australia, a very credible institution, can further develop its research footprint and its postgraduate opportunities.

Finally, as I indicated, the bill provides certainty to the ARC by publishing the funding caps through to the end of the 2018-19 financial year. It allows for a further two years of funding, worth more than $1.5 billion in total. This vital recurrent funding stream supports the council's highly regarded National Competitive Grants Program, which builds our national research capability, creates and sustains momentum in research partnerships, and enables promising careers to thrive.

Overall, this bill is an important contribution to providing that certainty to our research providers to ensure that our research sector can continue to thrive into the future, and to expanding access to university places in a number of different but important ways. I commend the bill to the Senate.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.