Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to speak on the National Skills Commissioner Bill 2020. I'm a bit perplexed by what Senator Walsh was saying, although I shouldn't be surprised when she says she doesn't know what job making is, because I suppose Labor is just good at decimating jobs. So it is little wonder that the concept of JobMaker is something those opposite really struggle to get their head around.

To the matter at hand, I take great pleasure in standing to speak on this bill, which is very important. My background before coming into this place was all about creating jobs, getting people into jobs and, importantly, keeping them in jobs. In the environment we find ourselves in today, such a position has never been so important for our nation. As we embark on the recovery phase of the coronavirus challenge, a measure of our success will be the focus we have on workforce training and development and how our training and education systems respond to what will be a significant demand from Australian industry as they rehire, retrain, and get people back into work. I come into this place as a self-confessed 'senator for jobs'. I've spent the entirety of my working life working with people, and most have been some of the most disadvantaged Australians, those with some of the highest possible barriers to employment. I've helped them to gain meaningful employment in long-term sustainable jobs.

Before I get to the substance of this bill, let me touch on why it is so important. Prior to coming into this place, I was the chief operating officer of Generation One, an initiative many in this place would be familiar with, in that it has created over 50,000 jobs for Indigenous Australians. We turned the training and employment system upside down. Typically, someone out of work would go to Centrelink to register for payments. Centrelink would then send them to an employment services provider and they would undertake training in a particular discipline. More often than not, they'd end up with more training tickets than a raffle book, none of which usually resulted in finding a job, sadly. Then they would start the process again, all as part of their mutual obligations. Under Generation One, our model was originally pioneered by Fortescue Metals Group and trialled in Fitzroy Crossing and it became the template for the Vocational Training and Employment Centres program. We started with an employer who had a job and we designed the training around the requirements and guaranteed the individual a job, before they commenced. What was the result? When a jobseeker could see the course that they were doing was actually going to lead to something, the change in their life was immense. At the outset, it was clear the standards were going to be very high. They had to show commitment and they had to turn up on time—and, boy, did these training participants rise to the occasion. In fact, in my first speech I spoke about this. I noted that some 70 per cent of those who completed the course and started in the job were still in that job six months later. This was about three times the national average for similar programs. This is what is required. When you stay in a job for this long, you as an individual see changes not only in your life but in the lives of your family as well. Your lifestyle will change, new habits will be formed and you'll start to see the impact on families and the broader community. The change is systemic. And this is where our focus will be, because I believe that too many of the challenges we face, whether they are in our remote regional centres or communities or in our cities, stem from unemployment. We do say that the best form of welfare is a job. It's not rhetoric. It's something that we know to be absolutely true. Well, I've been privileged to see the reality and the practical effect of this on countless numbers of lives. When you lift people up so they can see over the horizon, when they earn their first pay cheque and when they see that they can independently support their family and take part in all the advantages of the 21st century that life offers, then this transformation is truly quite life changing.

Though it's true that a job doesn't change everything, without it nothing will change. This is why I'm proud to be part of a government which has consistently overseen job creation since coming into office. Now, in today's climate, our focus on jobs will be absolutely critical. As I've said, it will be our measure of success, and a new era of thinking is required. A new way of consultation with industry, our vocational education providers and our universities is absolutely critical—a new way of bringing together all the different programs and initiatives that exist around the nation and making them all work together as an effective and efficient pipeline. And that's what the National Skills Commissioner will do.

The role is a critical new piece of Australia's economic infrastructure. It will complement and support the Prime Minister's recently announced JobMaker plan, enabling us to navigate economic recovery, lifting productivity and laying the foundations for a prosperous future. It's going to enable us to get back on track. The commissioner will provide independent expert advice and national leadership on the Australian labour market, current and future skills, and workforce development issues. The functions, as set out in this bill, will support a stronger, more agile vocational educational and training system in a number of ways. Let me take you through them.

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, importantly, 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 is critical so that we can ensure that training is matching the needs of industry so that we're not just training for training's sake but actually training people for jobs that exist and are needed for the labour market. This research and analysis will draw on emerging data sources and cutting-edge analytical techniques to ensure Australia's labour market analysis capacity 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 workforce opportunities of today and of 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. Currently, VET prices and subsidies vary considerably around Australia, with students paying different prices for the same course and facing varying 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. It's not clear what is driving this. There are a number of similar examples between other states. Core to the commissioner's pricing will be consideration of quality. An efficient price means not necessarily the lowest price but one that provides value for money. It means the price that needs to be paid to secure training to deliver the skills employers need and set the students up for a valuable career.

Finally, the commissioner would lead research and analysis to examine the effectiveness of the VET system and advise on the public and private returns on government investment. This means better understanding of 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 care 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 our society.

Those opposite like to think that they have the monopoly on jobs. They have some archaic vision in their minds that they're all about trades and skills. It's almost like they're still out on the union beat. But if there is any indication that they've lost the magic touch that they thought they had with everyday hardworking Australians, it was at the last election. The Australian people know who backs them. They know who wants them to succeed. They know who will give them the tools to do so. And it's not those sitting opposite. In fact, you haven't had their backs for a long time.

There have been some claims made in the public arena and in this debate, so let's make something clear: we are not re-creating the Australian National Training Authority, ANTA, or the Australian Workforce Productivity Agency or its precursor, Skills Australia. These agencies were designed for a different time. We are in a new era, and it is more pertinent because of the coronavirus crisis we are dealing with. The National Skills Commissioner will be tasked with using the advanced data analytics and real-time web based information on the labour market to bring a much stronger evidence base to inform VET investment and better understand the outcomes students achieve from 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 coronavirus crisis have highlighted how much important information on economic activity is available and of the importance in having a trusted independent authority that can synthesise that information, to ensure that decision-makers have access to the right information at the right time. This is just another demonstration of our commitment to Australian jobs and home-grown skills. In 2019-20 we're investing $3 billion in VET, which will include $1.5 billion given to the states and territories every year through the National Agreement for Skills and Workforce Development. There will be $1.1 billion to fund the government's own skills programs. And there'll be $175 million to the states and territories for the Skilling Australians Fund, to support apprenticeship and traineeship numbers.

Despite all the commentary from those opposite, people haven't forgotten about what they did to our skills and training system. People have not forgotten about the VET FEE-HELP scheme. I've met many people, in my career, who felt completely ripped off by that scheme and were really set back as a result of it. It was just another program in a long list of failed Labor schemes, just another example of pretending to deliver for people they claimed to represent. Under your government, dodgy providers flourished. Students were systemically exploited, signed up to accumulate huge debts for training packages that were never delivered. And we had to fix up your mess. Since 2016 over 91,000 students have had VET FEE-HELP debts of over $1.5 billion credited by the Commonwealth government.

We have introduced VET student loans so that students can access financial support to gain their qualifications, safe in the knowledge that they will not be ripped off. But that's not all. Labor were responsible for a fall in apprenticeships by 110,000 between 12 July to June 2013—after they ripped out $1.2 billion in employer incentives. It was the largest ever annual decline. And we are fixing this. The government is investing more in a better system.

The next step, as enabled by this role, will allow us to deliver more targeted funding. It is to have confidence that the VET system will deliver what the economy needs, what employers need, so that they can not only provide jobs for those people but create even more jobs. This is what this commissioner and this role will enable this economy to achieve. And that's what the National Skills Commissioner will do, along with the support of their team.

I don't think there's anyone in this place, aside from maybe Senator Cash herself, that is more enthusiastic about this bill. There may be others, but I am absolutely passionate about this, because it is absolutely necessary. We know it to be true—just ask any employer out there that has demand for people that can actually do the job with the skills, that can operate with the competence that's required and that, importantly, are safe and can go home to their families, because they have the requisite skills and the knowledge to do it. I can't wait until the office is in place, and I look forward to working with the commissioner to deliver better outcomes for all Australians, particularly those in regional and remote WA. I commend the bill to the Senate.