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

Senator Simms, what the government is proposing is that we will look at how we would reconceive of VET FEE-HELP as a means that provides for a higher quality of training outcomes, is more directly relevant to likely employment outcomes and has mechanisms in place to try to drive efficiency in the cost and pricing of delivery of those courses.

We are committed to consulting with the sector. I note that both TAFE Directors Australia and ACPET, representing private providers, welcomed the government's additional amendments that were introduced this week. We would work with them along with community colleges and all other providers. We would consult with the states and territories as we would with industry, employers and students to make sure that the system applied in future is one that people can have confidence in.

The principles behind an income-contingent loan scheme are sound principles of equity. That is why the Howard government proposed to apply the expansion of income-contingent loans to students in this vocational education sector, but it did so in a cautious way that required courses to have an articulation agreement with universities. The previous government, as has been well canvassed in this debate, removed that requirement and opened up some of the other measures of access to it, which has led to the very rapid rate of growth. That does not change the fact that income-contingent loans are good, equitable means of avoiding people having to pay up-front fees.

While noting the Greens' philosophical objection to private education, I would encourage Senator Simms, over the Christmas break, to have a look at the total VET activity reporting data released in the last few weeks. It is quite striking. If you have a look at the fee-for-service VET market—those providers outside of VET FEE-HELP and those providers operating outside of state government subsidy arrangements—some of the strongest completion rates and some of the strongest employment outcomes are derived by private providers and evidenced by the total VET activity reporting.

There is a challenge, Senator Simms, as to how we make sure we get those high-quality outcomes for training and employment—that those private providers have demonstrated they deliver—expanded in areas where the government wants to apply a subsidy but without the type of rorting we have seen to date. TAFE does an outstanding job, in many instances, but there have been widely acknowledged problems over the years that without some semblance of competitive pressure, without some degree of contestability, TAFEs may not be as driven to change their ways—to focus on delivering good value-for-money outcomes—as they should be. Equally, the sorry saga of the VET FEE-HELP episode demonstrates that without appropriate safeguards in place you will see profiteers, shonksters and fraudsters stepping into the mix and ripping off the taxpayer.

It is knowing all of those lessons the government embarks upon—saying we want to try to reconceive this scheme in 2017. We will consult with all the relevant stakeholders in doing so, and we will do so very well aware of the problems. In my changed capacity, over the last couple of months, in having responsibility for higher education, I have acknowledged, in talking at higher education fora, that I have been somewhat burnt by the VET FEE-HELP saga and the experiences I have seen here on how you might expand access and structure arrangements. They are lessons that, equally, I take in contemplating where higher-education reform might go. They are lessons that we, the government, have at the forefront of our minds when reconceiving the scheme in 2017. I welcome your contributions and inputs, just as I will Senator Carr's. I know Minister Hartsuyker will be happy to hear from all those who have ideas.

Senator Kim Carr interjecting—

Senator Carr, as I have said in this debate before, has been big enough to acknowledge the mistake that happened in 2012 and where things went wrong. He, at least, acknowledges some of the mistakes and lessons that need to be learnt as well. We may not agree on all the benefits of some of the competition that, perhaps, we should find ways to preserve in any new model but, if he has innovative ideas in that space, I am happy to hear them.