NEWS
campusreview.com.au
Birmingham
touts VET plan
Caps on loan amounts and tighter reins on
providers are parts of the government’s proposal,
which AEU argues doesn’t go far enough.
By James Wells
T
he education minister plans to
tackle dodgy training companies
that rip off students and taxpayers
by smashing their business model.
The education minister, Simon
Birmingham, wants to overhaul the
vocational education and training sector,
starting in 2017, though he acknowledges
the government will have to move quickly.
“Nothing can hide that the unethical
behaviour of some training providers and
their agents has tainted the reputation of
the industry,” Birmingham told the recent
Australian Council for Private Education and
Training conference.
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“Our redesign of Labor’s flawed VET
FEE-HELP scheme will seek to smash the
business models of anyone ripping off
taxpayers or targeting vulnerable people,
whether they be VET providers, brokers or
data miners,” Birmingham said.
Soaring student numbers and course
fees that have tripled on average have led
to a blow-out in loans, from $325 million in
2012 to $2.9 billion in 2015.
At the same time, completion rates
have dropped – lower than 1 in 10
at some providers – so students find
themselves saddled with debt but with no
qualifications to help them get a job.
The government has indicated that it
will probably place caps on how much the
government will lend students to cover fees.
“We’re confident that if we set … loan
amounts that reflect what we believe a
reasonable cost of delivery is, we’ll see
courses offered within those loan caps,” he
Birmingham said.
Federal opposition leader Bill Shorten,
previously proposed a similar policy, with
an $8000 cap per student, per year, on
VET FEE-HELP. TAFE Directors Australia
and ACPET have both previously criticised
Labor’s policy.
Birmingham is also looking at which
providers can be trusted with government
loans, which courses are likely to lead to
improved employment outcomes, what
course costs are reasonable, and what
acceptable completion rates should be.
“Vocational education in Australia
should never be viewed as a ‘second-best’
option, or anything less than a highquality education and training experience,”
Birmingham said. “It is incumbent on us all
to ensure that is the case.”
Meanwhile, the Australian Education
Union said this latest crackdown wouldn’t
help the sector. The union called for VET
FEE-HELP to be suspended, for public funds
going to for-profit providers to be cut, and
for the federal government to ensure 70 per
cent of public VET funding goes to TAFE.
“Birmingham admits we have massive
problems with VET FEE-HELP but isn’t
serious about fixing the flaws that are
allowing private providers to rip off
students and taxpayers,” said Pat Forward,
AEU TAFE secretary. “Tinkering at the
edges has done nothing to stop the
massive rorting that has gone on, and
the drop in the quality of training being
delivered to students.
“We need to immediately cut off funds
to for-profit providers, because they are the
ones that are driving the practices lowering
the quality of training, ripping off taxpayers
and damaging the reputation of VET as a
whole. The VET FEE-HELP scheme should
be suspended immediately while a full
review is carried out.”
Professor Peter Noonan, a Mitchell
Institute VET expert, said that while VET
FEE-HELP does need serious review and
redesign, the AEU’s guaranteed funding
proposal is “unworkable”. However, Noonan
did say TAFE needs more funding. ■
With AAP.