Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's really good to hear that people are actually listening to my contribution not only on higher education but on housing, two of the most important issues to be addressed in this place. This bill will amend the Higher Education Support Act 2003, HESA, to establish a startup year program in our universities. The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge, of our communities and of society. We collectively know that the Minister for Education, the Hon. Jason Clare, has said that universities can change the world. Well, of course they can, and we are delivering legislation to support students going forward. These institutions are institutions of knowledge and progress. They assist society to move forward, and that is what this bill is aiming to progress.

Universities will be working hand in hand with startup ideas from concept to commercial application, through higher education based accelerator programs. Just as entrepreneurial enterprises and startups go together, so must startups and universities. A startup is a company that is in the initial stages of business, and the earlier that universities can have input into a startup business the better. In 2020 over 3,000 new jobs could be attributed to Australia's eight most successful startups. The Tech Council of Australia estimates new tech startups can contribute 30,000 new jobs and $7 billion in value by 2030. This equates to extraordinary capacity from a knowledge and jobs perspective.

As a Labor government we must support the development of the skills needed to drive startups and technologies of the future. Therefore, the Albanese government will extend up to 2,000 income-contingent loans each year to eligible students participating in higher education based accelerator programs. These will be programs which build skills in entrepreneurship and connect students with support, mentorships and facilities that are needed to develop the startup ideas, and I've seen some of those already in practice in my home state. Just recently I visited and heard some of the wonderful stories about that. Being able to mentor and give guidance is really important to new startups.

The loans will be available to final-year graduate students, current postgraduate students and recent graduates as new loan types under the government's existing Higher Education Loan Program. The amount of assistance will be tiered to the maximum student contribution amount for medicine, dentistry and veterinary science, which is set at $11,800 under funding cluster 4 of the Higher Education Support Act. The bill also provides for guidelines which will contain further detail on the operation of the loans, including the process of allocating loans and registering eligible accelerator courses under the program. As the minister stated, it is essential that places be prioritised for courses which demonstrate greater engagement with, and participation of, underrepresented groups. Among those groups are female entrepreneurs, First Nations Australians, people with disabilities and community based startups which are working on regional and rural issues.

In relation to that, I'd like to make a special note of my home state of Tasmania, which will benefit greatly from this project. Tasmania has been responsible for many successful startups, especially in the IT industry, so I welcome any collaboration which makes it easier for young Tasmanians to find meaningful employment in a field they are particularly passionate about.

Consistent with other HELP loans, Startup Year loans will be paid back through the taxation system once an individual's income rises above the compulsory repayment threshold. This means that people pay what they can afford and they don't pay more if they don't earn more. This measure ensures people are not deterred from studying, because we know the cost of living is the most significant issue facing Australians right around the country. This removes a significant roadblock to participation in accelerator programs and will encourage a broader, more diverse range of programs to be available to a larger cohort of participants. Eligible students will be able to receive a maximum of two Startup Year loans over their lifetime, and students who undertake an accelerator course and access a Startup Year loan will be able to access a range of student payments, as long as they meet the other criteria. The program will start with a pilot program commencing this year, in July 2023, with a full rollout in July 2024.

The bill will also amend the Australian Research Council Act 2001 to apply current indexation rates to funding for the 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 financial years and insert a new funding cap for the 2025-26 financial year, resulting in an additional appropriation to the ARC of just over $1 billion. As a government, we must ensure that the Australian Research Council can continue to support Australia's research sector by funding the highest quality of fundamental and applied research to deliver real cultural, economic, social and environmental benefits for all Australians. The measures in this bill will further the Albanese Labor government's commitment to supporting young Australians. Education, small-business startups and our universities are at the forefront of knowledge across the country.

Time and time again, we hear the Greens come into this place talking about education and saying, 'Everyone should have free higher education and free TAFE.' Well, in the last budget we invested in free TAFE for those areas of skills that we need in this country, because there was a complete lack of investment into skills and training by the former Morrison government. They neglected TAFE, and it's going to take some time to rebuild that. But what I really get a giggle out of is when the Greens come into this place and want to create a utopia. At a time when there's pressure on us with the cost of living, we made sure that money in the last budget was prioritised to those people who need it most. We want to invest even more money in housing because, quite frankly, if you don't have a safe roof over your head then it's very hard to go and be able to apply yourself, whether at primary school, high school, university or TAFE.

That's why it concerns me when untruths are circulating within the community about the fact that this government isn't there providing the money needed for social and affordable housing. Quite frankly, that is not true. A sign of the commitment that the Labor Albanese government made over the weekend for an immediate $2 billion to be shared around states and territories to provide social housing should convince the Greens and their supporters that we're serious about this. This is why I'm so passionate about them getting out of the way of this legislation. Ten billion dollars for a future fund for social and affordable housing is critically important. What the Greens failed to do—