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VET & TAFE fee payable by students who choose non-university providers. The measure is particularly welcome given students from low-SES and other disadvantaged backgrounds make up a significant proportion of enrolments with many non-university providers.
Both measures will not only address the fundamental inequity faced by about 67,000 domestic students enrolled with nonuniversity higher education providers, but also open up new opportunities for more students to undertake programs that best meet their circumstances, at a cost that is fair. Yes, student debt per qualification would be reduced.
Should the current impasse over deregulation continue, I implore the government, opposition and independent senators to act in the interests of these students and support these measures, which are entirely justified and fair. It is time to consider a staged approach to reform. The first stage would be, as proposed, to extend the CSPs and reduce or remove the unfair 25 per cent administration fee for non-university higher education students. The introduction of these measures would leave clear space to pursue the second stage – exploring deregulation and the associated funding and fee models.
Don’ t take quality for granted The $ 68 million increase for the Australian Skills Quality Authority( ASQA) to boost its regulatory oversight of the VET sector must be applauded. ASQA has a critical role in assuring quality. ACPET fully supports any measure that weeds out any provider not committed to delivering the best outcomes for their students and the industry. It is also pleasing to see that the government has allocated $ 18.2 million to support the specific measures recently announced by the assistant minister for education and training, Simon Birmingham, to restore confidence in the VET FEE-HELP program. But does ASQA have the right tools to make a difference? There are lessons from higher education on that front.
The Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency( TEQSA) has shown what a well-functioning regulatory regime can look like. It is, therefore, a concern that the funding boost could not be applied to TEQSA. Any budget savings, like the one announced last year, cannot be allowed to undermine TEQSA’ s ability to carry out its functions to the standard we’ ve come to expect. Whilst no one likes unnecessary red tape and bureaucracy, ACPET fully supports a strong and effective regulatory system.
Valuing our $ 17 billion export There has been much concern expressed recently about the performance of Australia’ s export industries, in light of economic contraction in China, in particular. However, since the troubling days a few years ago when the GFC, a rising Australian dollar, visa changes and safety concerns of Indians sent student numbers tumbling, the international education sector has recovered, and is now worth about $ 17 billion annually – about 5 per cent of our total exports. The sector is an amazing success story but this success cannot be taken for granted. Our competitors are investing in marketing their destinations. We need to escalate this also.
Government policy around student visas is also critical. We’ ve seen a raft of changes to student visas in recent years, with further alterations in train as part of the Streamlined Visa Processing( SVP) review. Whilst we wait for its outcomes, it’ s worth noting that the budget cuts the funding to the Immigration Department by $ 168 million over four years, with savings coming from a range of measures, including visa processing systems.
Whilst ACPET supports measures that cut waste and unnecessary bureaucracy, the solution cannot be that higher education providers pick up more of the task of assessing student visa applications. There are already concerns with the workload associated with current SVP arrangements. Let our educators educate.
ACPET is also concerned these cuts could undermine the integrity and quality of Australia’ s international education sector. As we have seen in the past, any damage to our reputation as study destination can result in noticeable drops in enrolments that can take years to recover. The government must ensure the resources are there to monitor visas and stamp out practices that might undermine the sector’ s hard-won quality and reputation.
Unfortunately, the budget also outlines about $ 12.7 million in cuts to international education support programs, as well as increases in student visa charges. At a time when there is real opportunity to get behind the sector, these measures send the wrong messages to providers and students.
A new era of reform As I mentioned earlier, the budget does not contain too many surprises. The big decisions in VET were taken last year to cut programs worth about a billion dollars over five years to help support the Industry Skills Fund( ISF) – which is now budgeted at $ 664 million over five years.
Yes, the ISF provides a real opportunity to lift the role of industry in determining its skill needs and driving training solutions that are flexible and tailored to business and student / learner needs. Of course, training organisations play an important role in translating skill needs into effective solutions and ACPET members look forward to working with business and industry to shape these solutions.
However, initiatives such as ISF can do only so much in delivering an innovative, contestable, and highly responsive VET sector. It is hard to ignore the turmoil and uncertainty that is afflicting the sector due to the shared responsibility the Commonwealth has with the states and territories. With several states making changes( again) to their VET market reforms, and reviews underway or flagged in others, it’ s an administrative and policy minefield for industry and providers seeking to operate nationally. It’ s little wonder that Commonwealth and state / territory skills ministers recently agreed to a review of the National Partnership Agreement on Skills Reform, given past experience in implementing student entitlements. In the interests of simplicity and efficiency, all governments need to step up and put in place a national system and not the eight different plans we now endure.
Putting young people to work Finally, it’ s pleasing to see that young, at-risk job seekers will receive increased support through the $ 212 million Youth Employment Strategy as part the budget. I know a number of ACPET members will welcome the opportunity to support this important initiative – the country cannot afford to let large numbers of young people fall behind.
Of course, a big challenge now is for the budget to pass through both houses of Parliament with little amendment or fanfare. Given the drama that has been a feature of federal politics in the last year, I will not hold out for a quick fix – and I doubt that it will be dull. n
Rod Camm is chief executive of the Australian Council for Private Education and Training.
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