Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Human Services, Senator Payne, representing the Minister for Education. I ask: will the minister advise the Senate how the government's higher education reforms will increase opportunities for all Australians?

Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Back very much for the question and for his extensive interest in this particular area of policy. The government is clearly of the view that every Australian will have better opportunities in life if they can gain the skills and knowledge that equip them best for the career that they want. That is why we are committed to expanding opportunities for Australians, which this higher education reform package and other associated measures will do. For the first time ever, all Australian undergraduate students in registered higher education institutions will be supported for all accredited courses, from higher education diplomas to advanced diplomas, associate degrees and bachelor degrees. This is going to support Australian students in choosing the course that is right and best for them.

As I have previously said to the chamber, this means that over 80,000 additional students a year will be supported by the Commonwealth by 2018 as a result of these reforms. In fact, the private returns that students receive from higher education have been written about in a number of places, not least of which was the book Battlers and Billionaires by Dr Andrew Leigh, the shadow assistant treasurer. I want to quote very briefly from that book. It says:

It's easy to see why education is the great equaliser when we look at individual benefit.

…   …   …

Compared with someone who finished Year 12 but has no post-school qualifications, a diploma boosts earnings by nearly 20 per cent, while a bachelor’s degree boosts earnings …equating to more than a million dollars over a lifetime).

Higher education will often be the best investment that a person can make in themselves and, most importantly, in their future. We welcome the opportunity to work with this new Senate to increase opportunities for all Australians in this area.

Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the minister. Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Will the minister advise the Senate how extending support beyond bachelor degrees will provide more pathways into higher education for Australian students?

Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is a very important aspect of the reforms that Senator Back has asked about, because the government has accepted the recommendation to expand the demand-driven system to higher education diplomas, to advanced diplomas and to associate degrees. These qualifications, in many cases, are stand-alone qualifications, but they also equip students for the jobs of the new economy. Some of them also help students to study in areas which are very important to promote—the uncapped support for diplomas of modern languages, for example, which help to promote language study, which we all know is so important to Australia's future. Perhaps most importantly, higher education diplomas and other sub-bachelor qualifications provide thousands of students with a pathway into university they currently do not have. That enables them to enter a degree course and prepares them to do their university degree studies as well as they possibly can. Those pathways into university can truly transform the lives of those Australians. (Time expired)

Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Minister, how will expanding government support to non-university higher education institutions increase options available to Australian students?

Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

(—) (): As I was saying before, for many Australians that path will cover those students, often from low SES backgrounds. In relation to expanding the options available to as many Australian students as possible, both the Bradley review and the more recent Kemp-Norton review recommended that the government should be extending Commonwealth support to non-university higher education students, whether they are TAFEs or private colleges. That supports Australian students in obtaining the higher education options that are best for them. So we support them in gaining the skills and knowledge which opens opportunities for them wherever they choose to study. It is about choice for students; it is about treating all Australian students equitably, flexibly and fairly. It is about making more flexible pathways possible—partnerships between TAFEs, colleges and universities. I can only imagine that in their submission to the House of Representatives inquiry on TAFE— (Time expired)