Jim Molan (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's my pleasure to rise this evening to speak on the National Skills Commissioner Bill 2020. The reason for this bill is the overwhelming importance of skills in a modern post-COVID economy. We've been asked this evening by previous speakers to provide the money, the time and the detail. And that will be provided. That is provided. It's a noble objective, said Senator Pratt, and Senator Pratt will support this bill.

The National Skills Commissioner Bill 2020 will establish a new statutory position, the National Skills Commissioner, and specify the functions of the commissioner. The establishment of the National Skills Commissioner is a critical new piece of Australian economic infrastructure and a vital element of the Prime Minister's recently announced JobMaker plan, enabling us to navigate economic recovery, lift productivity and lay the foundations for a prosperous future. Vocational education and training, one of the key career pathways, can further improve our capacity to grow, compete and thrive in a global economy, particularly a post-COVID economy. The commissioner will provide independent expert advice and national leadership on the Australian labour market, current and future skills needs and workforce development issues. This role could not be more timely, as we address the critical challenges of managing the health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The commissioner and the National Skills Commission will help prepare Australia's labour market for recovery. They will establish a robust new evidence base to strengthen the Australian education and training system. The varied roles of the National Skills Commission demonstrate huge potential for it to quickly become a vital central hub, supporting and enhancing the operation and analysis of the national labour market, as well as striking through the complexity of the current VET system and strengthening the architecture of VET in Australia.

Australia's economic recovery will be particularly reliant on a highly skilled, resilient and adaptable workforce. The skills needs of the economy are likely to evolve, and the jobs that will be made as we come out of the crisis may not be the same as those that were lost. The government has identified skills and training as a priority in the recently announced JobMaker plan. We have outlined a reform agenda that will make VET work for Australians again. It will do so by providing a trusted training system that can deliver workers with high quality and relevant skills and support rapid upskilling and reskilling in growth areas to support a new generation of economic success and guarantee the essentials that Australians rely on.

The National Skills Commission will help ensure that the skills and training system supports all Australians, including vulnerable cohorts, in facing the challenge of working out how to live, work and retrain in a way that creates a sustainable COVID-safe economy. The commissioner will provide detailed labour market analysis, including an annual report, setting out the skill needs of Australia. The NSC will also publish close-to-real-time data on labour markets to flag emerging skills shortages and other labour market trends. Data from the commissioner will power the National Careers Institute to provide students with the most accurate and comprehensive data on where jobs will be and what skills and qualifications they need to get them. This will help show that trade and skills jobs are ones to be aspired to as a first-best option, not looked down upon or seen as a second-best option. It builds on our $585 million Delivering Skills for Today and Tomorrow skills package and contributes to COAG's agreed vision for VET to be a responsive, dynamic and trusted sector. Together with the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Amendment (Governance and Other Matters) Bill 2020, this bill delivers some of the key elements of the 2019 expert review of Australia's VET system led by the Hon. Steven Joyce. The Morrison government is committed to driving improvements in the quality, relevance and accessibility of the VET system, to underpin Australia's economic recovery.

Let me talk a bit about the content of the bill. The functions of the National Skills Commissioner that are set out in this bill will support a stronger, more agile VET system in a number of ways. Firstly, the commissioner will consolidate and strengthen labour market and skills needs analysis to provide an independent and trusted source of information about what is happening now and into the future. The innovative use of new data sources and advanced data analytic techniques will support the commissioner in becoming a trusted source of sophisticated labour market information, analysis and forecasting. This research and analysis will draw on emerging data sources and cutting-edge analytic techniques to ensure Australia's labour market analysis capability is world leading. It will help close skill gaps and provide confidence to employers, students, tertiary educators and Australian governments that we are investing in the right skills at the right time. This is essential to prepare Australians for the future opportunities of today and tomorrow.

Secondly, the commissioner will examine the cost drivers and develop and maintain a set of efficient prices for VET courses, to improve transparency, consistency and accessibility for students. Current VET prices and subsidies vary considerably around Australia, with students paying different prices for the same course and facing various levels of quality. For example, there is currently a difference of $11,745 in subsidies between Western Australia and Queensland for students studying a Diploma of Nursing, and it is not clear what is driving this. For the Diploma of Building Design, there is a difference of $6,855 in subsidies for students studying at TAFE NSW and TAFE Queensland, with the TAFE NSW students facing a cost of $3,600 and the TAFE Queensland students facing a cost of $10,455. And a student studying a Certificate III in Blinds, Awnings, Security Screens and Grilles will receive a subsidy of $3,726 in Queensland, $9,630 in New South Wales and no subsidy in Victoria unless the qualification is taken as an apprenticeship.

Core to the commissioner's pricing work will be the consideration of quality. An efficient price does not necessarily mean the lowest price but one that provides value for money. It means the price that needs to be paid to secure training delivers the skills that employers need and sets the students up for a valuable career.

Finally, the commissioner will lead research and analysis to exam the effectiveness of the VET system and advise on the public and private returns on government and investment. This means better understanding VET student outcomes, such as whether a student got a job and what they are now earning as well as public benefits such as building a strong workforce. This will enable governments to direct investment towards high-quality courses that give students the best chance of getting a job whilst strengthening our economy and society.

Those opposite have claimed the National Skills Commission is replication of Labor's policy. It is not. We are not recreating the Australian National Training Authority or the Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency or AWPA's precursor, Skills Australia. These agencies were designed for a very different time.

The National Skills Commissioner would be tasked with using the advanced data analytics real-time web based information on the labour market to build a much stronger evidence base, to inform VET investment and to better understand the outcomes students achieve with VET. The analytics and information available to the commissioner did not exist in the days of ANTA, Skills Australia or AWPA. The bushfires and the COVID-19 crisis have highlighted how much information on economic activity is actually available and the importance of having a trusted, independent authority who can synthesize that information and sort the wheat from the chaff to ensure decision-makers have access to right information at the right time.

The role of the commissioner is underpinned by the principles of independence, transparency and accountability. The commissioner is a statutory position. The commissioner will be appointed by the minister following an open and transparent merit based selection process, in line with the Public Service's merits and transparency policy. The maximum term of the appointment is up to five years to enable stability and consistency for the commission. The Remuneration Tribunal will determine the commissioner's pay and recreation leave. The commissioner will be supported by departmental staff, who, as public servants, will be made available by the Secretary of the Department of Education, Skills and Employment. Additional staff will be engaged to support the commissioner's new core functions. The minister is able to give direction by legislative instrument to the commissioner about the way in which the commissioner is to carry out the commissioner's functions, and any direction the minister gives will be tabled in parliament and made publicly available. This bill gives the minister the power to appoint one or more advisory committees to support the commissioner. This could provide an effective mechanism for industry and state and territory involvement.

The coalition has a very good record on achievement on skills, particularly on COVID-19 support. Through the $1.3 billion Supporting Apprentices and Trainees initiative, support is being provided to small businesses to retain their apprentices through a 50 per cent wage subsidy, up to 30 September 2020. As of 5 June this year, a total of 55,400 apprentices and trainees and 31,500 employers have been assisted by the supporting apprentices and trainees wage subsidy, resulting in a total of $252 million in payments—and that does not include assistance under JobKeeper. The JobKeeper payment will also support many apprentices and trainees in remaining connected to their employers throughout the pandemic. In addition, significant regulatory and fee relief has been provided to the vocational education and training sector. Fees charged by ASQA will be refunded or waived. These measures put some $100 million back into the cash flow of Australian education and training businesses so this money can be used to retain employees. New cost recovery arrangements for ASQA will also be deferred by 12 months to 1 June 2021. There'll be a six-month exemption from the loan fees associated with VET student loans in a bid to encourage full-fee-paying students to continue their studies despite these difficult times.

Australians have not forgotten what Labor did to the VET sector when they were last in government. We were accused of having a poor and coherent sector by Senator Pratt. I can almost feel Senator Pratt channelling Senator Doug Cameron, except for the accent. Labor were responsible for a fall in apprenticeships by 110,000 between July 2012 and June 2013 after they ripped out $1.2 billion in employer incentives—the largest ever annual decline.

We are working with states and territories to reform the system and clean up the mess left by Labor. The government is investing more in a better system. To commit more funding, we need to have confidence that the VET system will deliver what the economy needs. The coalition government is committed to ensuring we are equipping Australians with the skills they need for good, secure jobs. I commend the bill to the Senate.