Eric Hutchinson (Lyons, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

As I mentioned last night in my remarks about the Higher Education and Research Reform Amendment Bill 2014, $37 billion in funding will be committed to higher education by the government over the next four financial years.

Our institutions are not just competing domestically. We should always remember this: they are competing increasingly internationally, with some of the highly-recognised universities and higher education institutions around the world—whether they be Yale, Harvard or Oxford. We are competing with these universities as well. Increasingly here in Australia we see excellent examples of universities that are offering online courses—be those at Swinburne or at Deakin University. I will talk in a little more detail about the University of Tasmania later, because it is an important institution in my state of Tasmania.

But more generally, huge opportunities exist for regional universities. Deregulation enables universities to position themselves much more effectively and attractively. For example, a regional university might appeal to students from the urban areas of Australia—the cities of Australia—to say, 'Come and do a high-quality degree with us. We have high student satisfaction, good employment outcomes and a great quality of life at a fee that is terribly good value for money.' I can assure you that in terms of quality of lifestyle there is no better in the country than the University of Tasmania.

Placing values on courses makes sense. It is what happens every day in our normal life, in everything we do in commerce. The Commonwealth scholarships fund can provide flexibility for universities to offer a range of different packages for students. It might be packages for support with living costs for disadvantaged students or it might include advantages for students who are coming from regional areas of our country: designing packages to suit the market, to suit the needs of students.

Much has been said about fees. Ultimately, the market will decide. Some fees will be low, it stands to reason, but of course some fees will be higher. If a law degree or an engineering degree at Melbourne university, for example, is priced out of the market people will simply go elsewhere. It is a fact of life; it is how markets work.

The Commonwealth scholarship fund will give students from low-SES—the brightest students from around our country—20 per cent of any fee increases that apply. One dollar in every five will go into a scholarship fund to support students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds, students who are disadvantaged. By freeing up universities to set their own fees to compete for students quality will be enhanced and make providers more responsive to the needs of students but also more responsive to the needs of the labour market.

Let us talk a little bit more about students. We have focused very much on institutions until now, and I would like to talk a little bit more about students. The single biggest reform for students is the uncapping of access for those students who do diplomas, advanced diplomas or subdegree courses. This is particularly important for regional universities. Many students go to regional universities in states like Tasmania and in regional areas of Australia, from families who have never had anybody attend university, and the first experience they have with universities is through sub-bachelor or diploma courses. Extending HECS or the Higher Education Loan Program to allow 80,000 more students over four years to access the support is indeed reformist and something that I truly support. It is estimated that the cost of diplomas and associate degrees will cost the Commonwealth an additional $371.5 million over the next three years. Funding for higher education, including the total of Commonwealth Grant Scheme funding for student places and regional loading, is actually going up—there will be $37 billion for higher education over the forward estimates.

We want to support more people to go on to university and other higher education. We want choice in the marketplace. This is, as Australia should be, about equality of opportunity. We cannot deliver in this nation equality of outcomes we can and should as a nation, as a government, be allowing every student from any background, from any socioeconomic circumstance, to access higher education, to get them to the starting line with opportunity equal to that of people from more-privileged backgrounds. Currently, taxpayers pay 60 per cent of students' fees and students pay 40 per cent. Our proposal with these reforms is to ask students, I think quite fairly, to pay 50 per cent and ask the taxpayers of Australia to pay the other 50 per cent.

It will ultimately be up to higher education institutions to decide the fees they will charge. The market will play a very important part in what they can and cannot charge. Some courses will have higher fees and some courses will have lower fees, remembering that, regardless of the student, up-front fees will be zero. From whatever background a student comes their up-front fees to go to university will be zero. On the scare campaign about what students may or may not be paying, repaying their HECS debt—this is about choice—only begins when they start earning more than $50,000. All they are obliged to pay at $50,000 is two per cent of their salary. Even when their salary goes to $100,000, the most the government will ask them to repay is a maximum of eight per cent of their salary. It is more than fair. It is more than equitable. We know also that graduates earn more over their lifetime, roughly 75 per cent more, or a million dollars, on average, over their lifetime. It is reasonable for them to make a contribution. In this case we are asking for 50 per cent. We know that graduates have access to more jobs.

With these reforms, including access to the Trades Support Loan Program which is within the industry portfolio, removing FEE-HELP and VET FEE-HELP loan fees, we are making accessibility for students, from whatever background they come from, fairer. Regional Australia and regional communities can be the big winners here by offering more courses and by competing to attract more students. Expanding diplomas and associate degrees will benefit regional institutions.

I truly believe that this reform will be good for the University of Tasmania. The University of Tasmania is one of Australia's leading research and teaching universities, ranking in the top two per cent of universities worldwide. It is renowned for the quality of its research training program. UTAS is one of the founding universities of Australia. Its long history and strength in research sees it ranked as one of the top 10 universities in Australia. Last year it was ranked, peer reviewed, as the No. 1 teaching university in the country. UTAS ranks in the top 100 universities in the world for the international diversity of its staff and students, and ranks in the top 200 universities for industry income and innovation. The university was assessed in the top 21 of disciplines rated for excellence in research after being proved to have internationally leading strengths in the disciplines of the sciences, law, history and the humanities.

Over 90,000 students have graduated from UTAS during its long and distinguished history. There are 106 Rhodes Scholars from the University of Tasmania. The University of Tasmania works with universities around the world to offer students an international experience specialising in Antarctic and Southern Ocean studies; population and community studies; national and state development in agriculture, forestry, mining and tourism; and national environment and wilderness programs. It is well regarded for law and medicine. It is important to the communities of Hobart, Launceston and Burnie. The expansion of diplomas and sub-bachelor degrees will help communities like Launceston and Burnie.

We need to allow students to choose. We need to encourage competition. 'How good is my course against the quality indicators of learning and teaching? How good are my teachers? What employment prospects will I have when I finish university?' We can lead as a nation but only if we allow our universities and higher education institutions to compete domestically, globally and online. It is a great opportunity for students, as it is for the institutions. (Time expired)

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