Mr SYMON (12:23 PM) —I rise to speak in support of the Higher Education Support Amendment (VET FEE-HELP and Providers) Bill 2009. This bill makes some minor changes to the operation of the FEE-HELP and VET FEE-HELP schemes. The changes are a continuation of the government’s refining of these schemes and will ensure that government assistance to students is better targeted by ensuring that assistance under VET FEE-HELP is limited to units which are essential to a student’s course of study. Under current arrangements, it is possible that a student may receive VET FEE-HELP assistance for a unit of study even where that unit of study was additional to and not directly required for the completion of that course. The amendments in this bill ensure that assistance under the scheme is available only for VET units of study which are essential for the student to receive their diploma, advanced diploma, graduate certificate or graduate diploma.

Due to skills reform being undertaken in Victoria, a greater number of VET providers will soon be offering access to VET FEE-HELP assistance to their students. It is therefore important that such assistance is targeted so that it can reach those who need it the most. This is a common-sense amendment to the Higher Education Support Act 2003 that does not stop students from accessing assistance or increase their contributions to their education. It simply ensures that VET FEE-HELP does what it was designed to do, which is to provide loans to students to help pay for all or part of their tuition fees.

The VET-FEE HELP scheme was introduced by the Howard government in 2007; however, the original legislation had a number of shortcomings that have since had to be corrected by the Rudd Labor government. Without these changes, the scheme could potentially have gone far beyond what it was originally designed to do. Those opposite do like to parade around claiming that they are always required to fix up mistakes that they inherit in government. It is a story we hear time after time from them but which is always shown to be not so.

But, whilst we are on the subject of education and skills, we should examine the record of the previous government in this area. Even a cursory glance will show the mess that was left behind by the last two ministers for education in the Howard government: both the member for Curtin, who is now the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, and the member for Bradfield, who of course went on to become a short-lived opposition leader. Under the direction of these two former ministers, the previous government allowed Australia’s skill base to run down and, when introducing the VET FEE-HELP scheme, as I have said, lazy drafting on their behalf has since required a number of amendments to fix their mistakes.

By contrast, the Rudd Labor government has since introduced trade training centres to develop vital skills and talents, strengthened the role of the industry skills councils and established the statutory body Skills Australia to provide advice to the government in this important area. We are committed to improving Australia’s skill levels, and an increase in the number of completions at diploma and advanced diploma levels is a key part of this commitment. The Council of Australian Governments has committed to doubling the number of such completions by 2020. The student services bill that was introduced into the House earlier this year included amendments to allow for future expansion of the VET FEE-HELP scheme. That bill also corrected another significant wrong of the Howard government, a legacy of the member for Bradfield—that is, the stripping of a funding stream worth around $170 million from Australia’s universities, under the guise of offering students greater choice.

But I dwell on that a little bit too long, I suppose. The bill before the House also improves the protections that are in place for students and the government by ensuring that, if a VET provider does not meet certain standards, they can be required to cease operating as a VET provider. This is a simple safety precaution that is in line with the objectives of the bill to properly target assistance under the scheme.

Amendments in the bill also remove some of the delays in the higher education and VET provider approval process. These changes will allow higher education and VET providers to operate sooner, which will in turn give eligible students faster access to FEE-HELP or VET FEE-HELP assistance under these providers. Under current arrangements, notices of approval to operate as a provider do not take effect until the parliamentary disallowance period of fifteen joint sitting days has elapsed. This can sometimes take up to two sitting periods and, looking at today’s list, it stretches right back to February this year, thus creating long delays and leaving students without access to assistance during this period.

The amendments will allow providers to operate on the day immediately after the notice of approval is registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments. This will not result in a reduction in accountability, as a notice of approval must still be tabled in both houses of parliament and the usual disallowance period will still apply. No student can be disadvantaged by the amendments to the approval process. In the event that a notice of approval is disallowed and the provider in question has already allowed students to access assistance, those students will be able to access whatever rights had accrued under the Higher Education Support Act 2003 prior to the disallowance.

Whilst the changes made in this bill are relatively minor, they are part of a broader range of measures that consolidate the Rudd government’s commitment to higher education and skills. They make changes that improve the system for students, providers and the government. I commend this bill to the House.