Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks, Senator Tyrrell. As I said, I'm not aware, as the representing minister, of whether the accord review had anything specific to say on that point. But I would surmise that the reality is that, while students do undertake that kind of practical training outside the university environment—it might be in a classroom, it might be in a hospital or it might be in another environment—there's still a requirement on universities to supervise. That's not on a day-to-day basis but to check in, to moderate the course and to assess the student's performance. So there is still a requirement on universities to deliver some kind of service to the students and to the employer who is hosting that student in a practical environment.

I recognise the point you're making, but it's not without cost to universities. Of course, you would have seen in our announcements this week that we do expect universities to provide a high-quality education to students at an affordable price. Some of the measures that we've undertaken will help to deliver that.