Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to indicate that Labor will support these government amendments. They will allow for a VET ombudsman to be established and for increased transparency and accountability through public reporting of the loan scheme every six months. These amendments reflect the amendments that Labor moved in the House, and we are pleased the government has come on board with them.

Shadow minister Ellis has written to the minister and received an assurance that the VET ombudsman will be up and running by 1 July next year and that further bills to establish the ombudsman under the Ombudsman Act will be brought forward next year. We will hold them to that commitment.

The amendments will allow the minister to make more effective rules to ban brokers. These are necessary because of the evidence presented to the Senate committee about brokers circumventing the rules in the bill or dodgy practices like kickback and commissions moving in-house providers. Labor wants to stop the terrible trail of student victims. We want brokers to be effectively and totally banned and the predatory marketing to stop. We support these changes and will be watching carefully to make sure the government keeps the promises they have made to shut brokers down.