Tammy Tyrrell (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) Share this | Hansard source

The National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Amendment (Strengthening Quality and Integrity in Vocational Education and Training No. 1) Bill 2024 is a good attempt to rein in a sector that has, from time to time, proven to be a cowboy industry. I've worked for an RTO and in employment services, but I've also been on the other side, unemployed and looking to RTOs to get back into work. In my 15 years working in employment services, I've witnessed countless long-term unemployed people getting back into work all because of an RTO. I've seen how RTOs help people pick up the skills they need to jump back into work and find their spot in the job world. As someone who was unemployed, an RTO gave me the opportunity to gain more skills and a job where I wanted to be—doing business admin.

Unemployment is deflating, and in Tasmania services to help people bounce back into employment can feel like they're hard to come by. Trust in the RTO system is essential. It gives people the confidence that they can get a skill and get back to work doing a job they want. In my time, I have also seen shonky RTOs that put profits first and people second. From where I stood all those years ago and from where I stand today, this is entirely amoral and undermines the integrity of our VET sector. People go to an RTO for one of two reasons: either they need to go for their apprenticeship or traineeship or they want to get some skills under their belt to get a job of their choice.

In Tassie, RTOs are even more important. They service regional and rural areas that our crippled TAFE system can't reach. Where I'm from on the north-west coast of Tassie, more people are trained through vocational training than through universities. Over eight per cent of people on the north-west coast of Tassie are trained by a VET provider. I have always backed RTOs and said they have a spot in our education system, and, if you've ever talked to me about skills and training, you know that I sing the praises of RTOs a lot. RTOs give people like me, people who didn't go to university, an opportunity to fit into the workforce, and when we talk about vocational education—

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