Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Lambie for her question and her interest in this area. The answer, in general, to her question is: yes. Choice is important for Australian students, school leavers and others, in terms of their educational opportunities. It is important to ensure we have the skills mix that we need for our economy, and it's important that both the higher education sector and the vocational education and training sector are responsive to the employment opportunities of students—what jobs they will be able to secure when they leave and that those sectors are training people accordingly for those jobs of the future. Certainly, in terms of our higher education reforms—performance funding for universities—we have sought to better gear funding and university behaviour to ensure that they enrol students in courses that have the greatest potential for employment success.

In terms of the agreements we have with states and territories around vocational education and training, we provide funding directly to the states and territories for the administration and support of vocational, education and training systems. Again, Minister Cash, now in the skills and vocational education area, works to make sure that states and territories are more responsive in the utilisation of that funding, so that students enrolled in those vocational education courses—be they apprenticeships or other areas of vocational training—are actually enrolled in courses that have the greatest job prospects for the future and that every dollar of Commonwealth funding that flows, such as the $162.8 million dollars provided to Tasmania over five years through the National Agreement for Skills and Workforce Development, is targeted to support skills development in the areas that have the greatest economic need and the greatest employment prospects for those young Australians.