Robert Simms (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I want to take this opportunity to put the Greens' position on these amendments on record, and we certainly welcome the government coming to the table and putting forward some amendments that will improve the protections for students within this space. We welcome that. Like Senator Carr from the Labor Party, we do have some frustrations around the process. It would have been useful to have had more of an opportunity to consider these amendments. Given the significance of these to the sector and given the community interest in this issue, it would have been very beneficial for us to have the opportunity to consult with the community around that and to have more of an opportunity to consider what the government has put forward.

Nonetheless, we do welcome the fact that the government has finally recognised that there is a need to act on this issue. Of course, we know this is a system that the Labor Party put in place. They set the ball in motion for what has been a complete calamity, but the government have sat on their hands for the last two years and have really failed to take action. So we do welcome the fact today that finally it appears that we might be about to introduce more rigour into this sector and ensure that there are better protections for students.

From the Greens' perspective—and we have made this point throughout—we do not support public funding going to for-profit providers. That has always been our view. So, whether it is the Labor amendments, the Liberal amendments or the whole bill, we do not believe that, fundamentally, this is going to be adequate in terms of addressing the needs of students in this space, because when you have for-profit providers that are focused simply on making money—that is their business model—you are setting up a recipe for disaster in terms of preying on vulnerable students, and we are very concerned about that. We would like to see public money being redirected to our TAFE system. It is a quality education provider in this country. It is accountable to the taxpayer, and we know that it is able to deliver quality outcomes. But, unfortunately, we recognise that that is not the space we operate in, because of the position of the Labor and Liberal parties, so we do welcome the opportunity to strengthen the protections for students within the VET FEE-HELP model.

I also have a few questions for the minister. I have heard talk today—and certainly the minister has talked a little bit about this—about this idea of a new model for VET FEE-HELP that will come into effect in 2007, but I am still very unclear about what exactly will be the characteristics of this new model. What will it look like, and what consultation will the government conduct with the sector and the community in developing and shaping this new model that will take effect from 2017?