Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I think that an amendment to the motion of Senator Smith on the Selection of Bills report amendment has been circulated in the chamber. I move:

That in respect of:

(a) the Australian Education Amendment Bill 2017, omit "9 August 2017", substitute "14 June 2017"; and

(b) the Higher Education Support Legislation Amendment (A More Sustainable, Responsive and Transparent Higher Education System) Bill 2017, omit "9 August 2017", substitute "16 June 2017".

The opposition is moving two amendments to this report to ensure that the two education bills which deliver the government's latest policy announcements on funding for schools and higher education receive the appropriate scrutiny by Senate inquiries.

The two bills are the Australian Education Amendment Bill 2017 and the Higher Education Support Legislation Amendment (A More Sustainable Responsive and Transparent Higher Education System) Bill 2017. The schools package is a large and complex arrangement which covers all schools in Australia. The funding agreements the Commonwealth has released are only for the Commonwealth. States will be required to have to look at the arrangements and make their own commitments. At this stage, state governments have not been provided detail about funding in this complicated package.

There is also a COAG meeting scheduled in June to discuss the school funding issue, bearing in mind this meeting has been delayed several times. The only information available to stakeholders and parents is a website which outlines funding arrangements based on the government's new policy.

There needs to be sufficient time to assess the impact of these measures across the system. Committee meetings across the winter break will ensure that all parents, teachers and stakeholders can have their say. It will also ensure that states and territories are not blindsided by a rushed legislative package from the Commonwealth.

The higher education bill contains the government's latest higher education reform package, which represents a wholesale cut to universities and an impost on students. The nature of this package is also complex. There are $3.8 billion in cuts. Students have to pay more and faster, and a significant amount of analysis needs to be done. This includes measuring the impact of how repayment changes for HELP impact young Australians, especially at a time when they are entering the workforce, trying to save for a house and start a family.

The package also flags around $500 million a year, or 7.5 per cent of the Commonwealth grants to universities, being pulled for performance funding. It is unclear how this will work. Universities are concerned about the implementation of this with its potential to be a 7.5 per cent cut. Further, the impact of the efficiency dividend and changes to postgraduate courses will have a significant impact on Australia's nearly 900,000 domestic university students.

We believe greater scrutiny is required, and this is required through a considered committee inquiry. The government has had a year to devise this package. We believe the sector should have more than four weeks to allow the Senate to analyse it. So, in terms of our amendments, we would seek that both of those bills were referred to the education and employment legislation committee for a reporting date of 9 August to allow those proper consultations and scrutiny to occur.