(1) Given that the demand in the Lilydale region for the higher education places has not been met, and given the fact that the over enrolment subsidy provided to Swinburne provides for marginal costs only, what action does the Government plan to take to address the need for further higher education places in Melbourne's outer eastern suburbs.

(2) Will the Government convert Swinburne, Lilydale's `over-enrolment' equivalent full-time student unit (EFTSU) to fully-funded EFTSU and increase the campus' total fully-funded load to 2000 EFTSU.

(3) In order to achieve efficiency and economy in higher education provision and to ensure that universities meet specific needs of other parts of the economy, will the Government reintroduce a scheme similar to the Commonwealth Industry Places Scheme.

(4) Will the Government introduce funding matching schemes to encourage sponsorship by industry and other extra-institutional agencies and organisations of undergraduate places in targeted areas such as information technology, e-commerce, tourism and teacher education.

(1) The Government has increased flexibility for higher education institutions, enabling them to open up additional study opportunities and to diversify their income sources through a range of measures. For instance, universities are able to generate revenue by offering fee-paying courses at the undergraduate and post-graduate level and by linking up with industry.

(2) No. The Government's view is that institutions should aim to meet load targets as closely as possible, though it accepted that a small over-enrolment margin is warranted to ensure against under-performance. Any over-enrolment above this margin is entirely at the discretion of universities. With regard to the Outer Eastern Planning Council's request that the number of funded places at the Lilydale campus be increased, no additional funding is available for higher education at this time. You should note that the Commonwealth has already taken action to improve the University's funding rate per fully funded student.

(3) The Government has no plans to re-introduce the Commonwealth Industry Place Scheme (CIPS). The decision to abolish CIPS was made as part of the 1997 Budget in recognition of the fact that the Government had introduced other measures to enable institutions to provide additional student places and meet employer demand for higher education courses. Since 1998 the Government has paid institutions the minimum up-front HECS payment for all HECS-liable undergraduate students enrolled above target load. Employers may also fully fund award courses or buy places in award courses under the current fee-paying arrangements.

(4) In addition to the action identified in (3) above the Government will continue to encourage collaboration between industry, universities and other providers in terms of places, infrastructure, and Research and Research Training.