Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Trade Support Loans Amendment Bill 2023 and the Student Loans (Overseas Debtors Repayment Levy) Amendment Bill 2023. I advise the Senate that the coalition will be supporting these bills, and the reason we will be supporting these bills is that they actually implement sensible reforms which the former coalition government developed whilst in office.

The Trade Support Loans Amendment Bill 2023 causes the Trade Support Loans Priority List to lapse; it amends the act to empower the minister by legislative instrument to determine, having had regard to any relevant advice given to the minister by Jobs and Skills Australia, a new Australian Apprenticeships Priority List; and it also amends the act to provide that a qualifying apprenticeship is, amongst other things, an apprenticeship through which a person is undertaking a qualification that leads to an occupation or qualifications specified on the Australian Apprenticeships Priority List. What these changes actually mean is that the skills minister can then expand the program's access to people who, through their apprenticeship or traineeship, are undertaking qualifications that lead to occupations experiencing skills shortages, such as occupations in the aged-care, disability care and childcare sectors.

We know that apprentices and trainees are doing it tough right now. Why are they doing it tough? Well, there is a cost-of-living crisis, and, as such, we see their groceries, fuel and electricity all going up. The reality is also, unfortunately, that under the Albanese government their real wages are not keeping pace.

In terms of the main bill that we have before us, as I said, it actually picks up a very good policy that the coalition government had developed while in government. It enables more students to access this support, and this will be critical to more apprentices completing their studies. That's what we want to see. We don't just want to see apprentices commencing; we also want to see apprentices who actually complete their studies.

In terms of the Student Loans (Overseas Debtors Repayment Levy) Amendment Bill 2023, it updates references in the Student Loans (Overseas Debtors Repayment Levy) Act 2015 to 'Trade Support Loans Act 2014' with 'Australian Apprenticeship Support Loans Act 2014'. What it does here is align with the broadening of trade support loans to Australian apprenticeships support loans. As I said, these are sensible reforms which improve the operation of the scheme. The coalition commenced this scheme when we were last in government, and we also commenced these important reforms. That is why, as a former minister in this area, with the help of very dedicated team who were in my office at the time, I'm very pleased that we are seeing these reforms come through the Senate today.

Some stakeholders, unfortunately, have raised concerns about the consultation process which the relevant minister's office conducted in relation to this bill. The stakeholders themselves remain broadly supportive of the amendments, and they want the passage of the legislation. However, they did comment that, in so many areas, this particular minister's office did no external consultation at all and, indeed, the government's own explanatory memorandum seems to admit that they did no further consultation and that they have broadly accepted the coalition's reforms without amendment.

Again, I am very pleased that the bill that we have before us and that, as I said, the coalition will be supporting implements work that we had already commenced whilst we were in government. In fact, to look at the record of the former coalition government: we had committed more than $13 billion to the skills sector, including a record $7.8 billion in our final financial year in office. This was obviously also post the COVID-19 pandemic. In doing so, we also protected more than 530,000 apprentices and trainees through our wage subsidies, announced since the COVID-19 pandemic hit Australia, with total pandemic apprenticeship wage subsidy support reaching more than $7.9 billion. More importantly, we delivered a record 240,000 trade apprentices in training. That number was actually the highest number since 1963.

We are very proud of our record in the skills space. It is a proud record to stand on. Again, as I said, the coalition will be supporting the bill that we have before us today because very much it does pick up sensible reforms which the coalition developed whilst in government, and I therefore do commenced the bill to the Senate.

Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the Trade Support Loans Amendment Bill 2023. The bill amends the Trade Support Loans Act 2014 to rename the current Trade Support Loans scheme to Australian Apprenticeship Support Loans. It removes the current Trade Support Loans priority list and instead allows the minister to determine via legislative instrument a new Australian apprenticeships priority list on eligible priority occupations. Currently, non-trade apprentices can't access trade support loans, and this bill would effectively enable the minister to expand eligibility for these loans to students completing early childhood education and care, aged-care and disability-care courses. The explanatory memorandum to the bill states these changes will mean that, amidst a cost-of-living crisis, more people can access immediate financial support to help them complete apprenticeships and traineeships that lead to work in sectors experiencing skills shortages.

The Greens support changes to expand fairer access to financial support, especially for feminised professions, but we can't ignore the elephant in the room: student debt. Student debt is out of control. After student debt was hiked by a whopping 7.1 per cent in June, countless students reached out to us angry, fearful and anxious, many of them having debt which increased by the same as or more than they had repaid over the past year. One student worked tirelessly to pay off $1,000 of student debt over 12 months, only for the same amount to be added back after indexation. That student described indexation as 'breaking their soul'. Another worked a second job to pay $15,000 off their student debt only for $7,000 to be added back after indexation. Student debt is rising faster than it can be paid off, and we need urgent action to address this right now.

Trade support loans are yet another loan category, like HECS, which are indexed annually in line with inflation. Like HECS, trade support loans were increased by 7.1 per cent this year after being increased by 3.9 per cent last year. Like HECS, trade support loans are estimated to be indexed at 3.9 per cent yet again next year. This would mean that, in just two years of a Labor government, trade support debts would rise by a whopping 15 per cent. This is just ridiculous, and it's harmful. The rising burden of student debt is causing harm every single day. Soaring student debt is locking people out of the housing market. It is crushing dreams of further study and making the cost-of-living crisis worse. I will be moving amendments in the committee stage to end indexation on trade support loans to prevent these loans trapping people in a debt spiral and to raise the minimum repayment income for these loans to the median wage so that people only have to start repaying these loans once they are earning a decent income. This will help many young people who are struggling to afford food and rent on a shamefully low youth allowance rate to avoid the added pressure of needing to pay off their student debts before they are capable of doing so while still living in dignity. The reality, though, is that, instead of forcing young apprentices and trainees to go into debt to fund basic living expenses, Labor should lower the age of independence for youth allowance from 22 to 18 and raise all student social security payments above the poverty line to at least $88 per day. That is the way to alleviate a cost-of-living crisis.

Right now in this country, people are struggling to afford groceries, to pay for medicine or period products, to afford train or bus tickets and to pay weekly bills. We can't just sit here and do nothing about that. People are struggling to keep a roof over their heads. They are facing rent hikes which are out of control. Students are surviving on instant noodles and lining up in queues for free food.

The situation gets even worse for students who are required to work for free as part of the courses for which they will be paying off debt for decades. It should be the other way around, really. Degrees should be free and students should be paid for the work that they do. In what world does it make sense to not be paid for weeks and months of work that students are required to do as part of their degrees? Inflation is increasing because of corporate profits, but wages clearly aren't. Students are working multiple jobs and cutting back on necessities but still barely scraping by.

It is an absolute travesty that the Labor government is allowing this to go on. An education system that pushes students further into inequality is a completely broken system, and a welfare system that doesn't lift people above the poverty line to ensure that they are living in dignity is an utterly cruel one. Something needs to be done right now, and the government has the power to do it. With the progressive majority in the Senate, Labor has the power to lift people out of poverty immediately. Instead, they're choosing to plunge people further into debt.

It is short-sighted for the government to be addressing education affordability by extending access to loans in the way the government is doing through this bill. This just isn't good enough. There are so many more meaningful things the government could be doing. Like I said earlier, they could lower the age of independence for youth allowance from 22 to 18 and raise all income support payments above the poverty line to at least $88 per day. They could take meaningful action for renters by implementing a national rent freeze and rent caps. They could wipe student debt, pay students a living wage for placements and make uni and TAFE free. There is much more to be done, but, as a start, the government could scrap indexation and raise the minimum repayment income to the median wage and reverse the coalition's fee hikes and funding cuts. It is very disappointing that Universities Australia Accord's interim report does not make any recommendations to take these actions that are urgently needed.

There is absolutely no doubt that the government can afford measures to give much needed cost-of-living relief to students. It's just a matter of priorities. Labor is choosing to splash around $313 billion in tax cuts for the wealthiest and $368 billion on dangerous war machines. Labor have been boasting about their $20 billion surplus, but, despite all of this, apparently it is too costly to support struggling students and those doing it the toughest. That is a real shame.

The Greens will be moving a second reading amendment to highlight that this bill does nothing to mitigate the student debt crisis at a time when student and training debts are increasing at an out-of-control pace. Our second reading amendment calls on the government to ensure that students and apprentices do not acquire further debt while completing their education. We want to make sure that students and apprentices are paid when undertaking mandatory vocational placements and, ultimately, we want to make university and TAFE fee free and wipe all student and training debt.

I move:

At the end of the motion, add ", but the Senate:

(a) notes that this bill does nothing to mitigate the student debt crisis at a time when student and training debts are increasing at an out-of-control pace; and

(b) calls on the Government to:

(i) ensure that students and apprentices do not acquire further debt when accessing government support to complete their training,

(ii) pay students and apprentices when undertaking mandatory vocational placements,

(iii) make university and TAFE fee-free; and

(iv) wipe all student and training debt".

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

The Albanese Labor government is strongly motivated to tackle Australia's pressing skills crisis head-on. We're doing the work of building sustainable jobs and skills across Australian communities by the establishment of Jobs and Skills Australia, which is wasting no time accomplishing this task. The Trade Support Loans Amendment Bill 2023 will only strengthen this critical work that is being done, and it will demonstrate expanding the valued trade support loan program to make it fairer for hardworking apprentices across the country. Our amendments will broaden this vital loan program to Australian apprentices in the priority non-trade sector, an historic first which will make life-changing differences to so many apprentices, particularly in female dominated industries, across countless local communities in Australia, including in my home state of Tasmania.

Debilitating skills and labour shortages are plaguing the economic livelihoods of Australians just trying to get by. These amendments directly address these systemic issues, particularly through further targeting shortages that are deeply affecting the care economy. We strongly believe in the power of trade support loans to change lives for the better and stimulate economic output in several critical industries. Being an interest-free and income-contingent government advance, trade support loans have enabled Australian apprentices to meet necessary living expenses whilst developing crucial skills in their apprenticeships. Eligible applicants are currently able to access these critical loans at needed levels, ranging up to $22,890 over the course of an apprenticeship. The total sums of these loans are then responsibly and fairly distributed throughout the complete length of the nominated apprenticeship.

Apprentices often undergo unique tough circumstances, and the Albanese Labor government deeply respect their challenging life experiences during this transitional period. This is precisely why compassionate provisions exist within the trade support program to front-load monthly transfers, respecting that apprentices sadly often face depressed wages at the beginning of their programs. It simply could not be clearer that the trade support loans are empowering everyday Australians and communities nationwide to reskill for the future, covering over 167,000 apprenticeships and distributing a total of $1.5 billion in paid advances as recently as March this year.

The Trade Support Loans Amendment Bill 2023 makes imperative amendments that recognise the ability of these programs to provide urgent relief and support to apprentices in crucial areas of our economy. I am proud that this bill makes a historic expansion to include trainees and apprentices in long-excluded, yet critical, professions, assisting them to meet their cost-of-living needs and bolstering the effectiveness of the scheme, including a variety of improvements and added benefits. These amendments specifically expand trade support loans to Australian apprentices in all priority occupations, encompassing both trade and non-trade sectors of the economy. Words cannot express how heartening it is that these sectors include female-dominated sectors in care industries, primarily aged care, child care and disability care.

In recognition of the Albanese Labor government's visionary transformation of this vital public program, these amendments rebrand the term 'trade support loans' to 'Australian apprenticeships support loans' to reflect our wideranging expansion of eligibility. As is the case time and time again, this government understands the positive impact of public confidence and making a number of necessary administrative changes because we take our responsibility seriously. As such this bill includes provisions allowing apprentices to backdate payments, providing them with commonsense support and helping them to avoid missing due fees because of errors on the government's part. By expanding access to these assistance loans for the Australian apprentices working in priority occupations and listed under a new Australian apprenticeships priority list, this scheme will improve on its urgency and relevance to sectors universally considered to be of current or future skills needs. We know that when those opposite were in government, they allowed Australians to lose the skills—and not develop the skills, in fact—for the jobs of the future. This initiative, for the occupational category of eligibility, will be kept relevant and future-proofed under our proposed amendments by being continuously tied—

Debate interrupted.