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

My question is for the Minister representing the Minister for Education, Senator Watt. This week's budget announced payments for students doing mandatory practical placements in teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work courses. Students have told me how hard it is for them to take on these mandatory placements, which can see them do months of work for no money. They're forced to choose between finishing their degree and paying their rent. But this policy doesn't do anything to trim the amount of government money going to universities for placement units. Minister, why does your paid placement policy ask taxpayers to pay for student training yet doesn't put any of the responsibility on the universities?

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

Thanks, Senator Tyrrell. I'm glad you asked this, because this is an issue that so many younger Australians are facing when undertaking their university studies. We know that many university courses do require students to undertake a placement as part of their degree. The types of courses I'm particularly thinking about are nursing, teaching, social work and like courses.

The Universities Accord review that the government commissioned—which Minister Clare commissioned—made recommendations that we fund students to undertake those practice placements. That's exactly the recommendation we followed. I'm not aware of the accord review having recommended that the responsibility be put on universities in the way that you're suggesting. Really, in the end, the reason we have followed this recommendation is that what happens in practice is that students who, for instance, give up their part-time job or their full-time job in order to undertake that practice placement end up out of pocket. In many cases, that's deterring them from undertaking those courses. I'm sure you'll agree with us on this, Senator Tyrrell: Australia needs more people with more qualifications. We need more people with university degrees and we need more people with TAFE qualifications, because the jobs of the future, increasingly, are going to require formal qualifications like those. And we don't want to see a system going on that actually deters students from undertaking really important courses like nursing, teaching, social work et cetera simply because they can't afford to undertake that practical component.

I think this is a really great measure contained in this year's budget, and I commend Minister Clare for acting on that recommendation. I'm very confident that it will encourage more of those students to pursue those careers into the future.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Tyrrell, a first supplementary?

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

Universities charge students full course fees for placement units, despite the training taking place off-campus and out of university classrooms. If the intention is for the government to help struggling students, does the government believe it's fair that universities are piling money onto student HECS debts for training being delivered by someone else?

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to 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.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Tyrrell, a second supplementary?

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

Practical placements are especially hard on rural and regional students, who often have additional travel and accommodation costs, and many of them won't get a cent under your paid placement policy. What does the government say to Tasmanian students who need to undertake a practical placement but who aren't completing the four that you have put into this policy?

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

Sorry, Senator Tyrrell, I didn't hear the last part of your question but what I think you were talking about was the fact that rural and regional students, obviously, incur other fees in their living costs while undertaking that kind of training. That's exactly what this payment which will now come through the federal government—

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister Watt, please resume your seat. Senator Tyrrell?

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

President, a point of order. If I may redirect this a little: my question was, basically, what are you saying to the people of Tasmania—the students who are not completing nursing and midwifery?

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Tyrrell. Minister Watt.

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

Thanks for clarifying that, Senator Tyrrell. As I may have said in my answer to your primary question, the Universities Accord review did recommend that government should fund support for students undertaking nursing, care and teaching professions courses, and employers—public and private—should provide funding for other fields. We do expect employers to be able to provide funding towards students who are undertaking other courses, but, really, this comes back to the recommendations of the Universities Accord review. As I understand it, the reason for their recommendation was that training to enter care and teaching professions needs to be accessible. (Time expired)