Jason Clare
Blaxland · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“I thank the member for Kooyong for her question and for her passion in this area of higher education. Like me—like all members of parliament, I think—she understands the power of education to change lives.”
“I've said work on fixing it is unfinished business, and I have said—and you all know—that the Australian Tertiary Education Commission has also pointed out the work they're doing on the cost of teaching and learning that they will finalise next year. They are the facts.”
“I thank my friend the big-hearted member for Blair for his question. As he knows, tomorrow, every Australian worker will get a tax cut and three million Australians will get a pay rise, and that includes hundreds of thousands of childcare workers right across the country.”
“It's good for the workers because they get paid more, but it's also good for parents because the centres have got to cap their fees to get the money. For the average family with a child in child care, it'll save them about $1,500 over the next two years.”
“The reforms also include the legislation that we passed through this parliament last year, which means that if you don't meet the standards, you can have your funding cut. That wasn't an idle threat. I can tell the House that we've now issued notices against 115 centres.”
“These are the schools that do a lot of the heavy lifting, that play an outsized role in educating the most disadvantaged children in this country, the children who are the most likely to start behind or fall behind. The children who need our help the most.”
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“I thank my friend the magnificent member for Macnamara for his question. He knows, we all know, that when the Liberals were last in power they ripped the guts out of school funding. Thirty billion dollars was ripped out of schools. They were so proud of it that they set it all out in this document: the budget 2014 overview—not so much a smoking gun as a chainsaw. We're still dealing with the consequences of that budget ripping $30 billion out of schools today, because over the last 10 years the number of students finishing high school has dropped from 83 per cent to 73 per cent. That's in public schools, where that funding was ripped out. Remember that this is happening at a time when it is more important than ever before to finish school. It's more important than when we were kids. This is what we've got to turn around.”
“When the opposition leader was asked about this just two weeks ago at a press conference in Goulburn, he said this about this $1.6 billion a year: 'It's quite an efficient use of taxpayers' money.' Government members interjecting—”
“That means if Labor wins they'll get almost six grand wiped off their debt. It also includes 31,000 people in the electorate of Griffith. There, the average debt is more than 30 grand. If Labor wins, more than six grand will be wiped off their student debt. We think that's good. We think that's a good idea. The Liberals think it's terrible. They've described this as a terrible idea. We want to cut your student debt. What do they want to do instead? They want to cut the cost of lunches for bosses. We're looking to the future; they can't see past lunchtime. If we win, five grand comes off your debt. If they win, 20 grand comes off the boss's lunch. That's it, and that's a lot of croquembouche. That's $1.6 billion each and every year. That's a lot of croquembouche. That's a lot of caviar. That's a lot of deductible degustation.”
“I thank my friend the absolutely sensational member for Swan for her question. If Labor win the election, we'll cut student debt by 20 per cent. Government members: Hear, hear! That will help three million Australians right across the country, including 21,000 Australians in the member for Swan's electorate. The average student debt there is $28,000. That means, if we win the election, on average they'll get more than 5,600 bucks wiped off their debt. Incidentally, it also includes more than 20,000 Australians in the Leader of the Opposition's electorate. The average debt there is almost 26 grand. If we win, they'll have more than five grand wiped off their debt. It also includes more than 25,000 Australians in the electorate of Sturt. There, the average debt is almost 30 grand.”
“I move: That this bill be now read a second time. This bill is part of a package of two bills which together will implement the National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence in universities. This bill makes consequential amendments necessary to implement the measures in the main bill, which I just introduced. Full details of the measures are contained in the explanatory memorandum. I commend this bill to the House. Debate adjourned.”
“When this parliament passed legislation late last year to set up the National Student Ombudsman, they put out this statement: End Rape on Campus Australia has now permanently closed … Almost 9 years to the day since our founding, we've done the thing that organisations like ours should be aiming to do—we've advocated ourselves out of business. We're incredibly thankful to everyone who has supported us over the years. End Rape on Campus didn't close because the work to rid our campuses of sexual assault and harassment is complete. It is not. It was because the government was finally listening—and we were bringing together the resources needed to make a real difference. That's what the National Student Ombudsman is. And that's what these bills and the draft national code are. I commend these bills to the House. Debate adjourned.”
“I want to thank everyone who has been involved in bringing them to the parliament today, from the Universities Accord panel, to the working group, the expert reference group and the education ministers across the country, to my colleagues and our respective departments and officers who have worked together to make today possible and most importantly to the advocates and the victims-survivors who have fought for this for so long—organisations like End Rape on Campus. End Rape on Campus was founded in 2016 by Sharna Bremner. She ran it with a small group of committed volunteers, working for free, working to make the lives of students safer—incredibly important work.”
“That's why the bill provides for annual reporting on the gender based violence unit's operations and performance which will be tabled in both houses of parliament. The introduction of the code is part of the Action Plan Addressing Gender-based Violence in Higher Education, agreed to by all education ministers in February last year. That action plan was recommended by a working group of Commonwealth, state and territory governments which my department convened as part of our response to the Australian Universities Accord interim report. The Universities Accord interim report underlined the importance of moving immediately to address sexual assault and sexual harassment in our universities. That's what I have done. The Student Ombudsman is now up and running. And these bills are the next steps.”
“These powers include issuing requests for information, compliance notices, infringement notices, and powers to require enforceable undertakings and to seek civil penalties and injunctions through a court. As I mentioned earlier, vice-chancellors and CEOs will be directly accountable for the compliance of their university with the code, including requirements that they report every six months to their governing body. The bills provide for significant civil penalties where a provider fails to comply with the national code or a compliance notice from the secretary, or fails to keep records or meet their reporting obligations. Compliance with the national code will also become a quality and accountability requirement for providers under the Higher Education Support Act 2003. Transparency is important here too.”
“Monitoring and e nforcement The code contains critically important standards and requirements which all higher education providers must follow. That's why these bills also establish a new regulatory framework with robust compliance monitoring backed by strong enforcement powers. To monitor and enforce the code, a new specialist gender based violence unit will be established within the Department of Education. The unit will provide guidance, education and advice to support universities and other providers in understanding their legal obligations under the code. The unit will also be able to exercise a significant range of powers to monitor, investigate and respond to noncompliance with the code and the measures that are in this bill.”
“Where the discloser or respondent is a student or staff member of the university, the code will require that the university take action, including to provide trauma informed support and to investigate where necessary. The code has been the subject of broad consultation over the past eight months, including with victim-survivor advocates, students, the higher education sector, gender based violence experts, states and territories and relevant Australian government agencies. Detailed consultation has taken place through an expert reference group comprising 19 leaders from higher education, gender based violence and the student accommodation sectors and victim-survivor advocates. I table a copy of the draft code for the information of colleagues.”
“And, for accommodation which is affiliated with a university but not controlled by it, the university will be required to seek that accommodation provider's agreement to meet the requirements of the code or lose the benefits of their affiliation with the university. And universities will have an obligation to investigate formal reports of gender based violence even where they occur at student accommodation which is operated by a third party. If you want to know why that's important, you just have to look at the accounts of sexual assault and mistreatment at university colleges and other on-campus accommodation. Universities will not have the option of saying a disclosure of gender based violence is a matter for a private college.”
“The code will also include an enforceable requirement that providers implement the recommendations of the National Student Ombudsman. This gives the findings and recommendations of the ombudsman real teeth and will make sure that they are put in place to improve our universities and other providers. University is not just a place where people learn. For many students, it's where they live. That's why the code will also have specific requirements to help ensure that student accommodation is safe for students. The code will require that, following a disclosure or formal report, measures are immediately put in place to prioritise residents' safety and arrange urgent support services.”
“The code will also ensure that when the worst happens, students and staff have access to the best response possible—a response that's trauma informed and puts people first, a response that ensures people are heard, have agency in what happens next, have access to the support they need and are supported by their institution to achieve their educational outcomes. Providers will be required to train staff and student leaders on how best to respond to disclosures. And nondisclosure agreements will be prohibited, unless requested by a victim-survivor. Providers will also be required to report de-identified data and measure the changes that their policies are securing, informing compliance, ensuring accountability and contributing to the national evidence base to help us build an understanding of what works best.”
“This includes requiring vice-chancellors and CEOs to make a whole-of-organisation plan, and report to their governing bodies every six months on the actions they are taking to implement it. They will be required to provide evidence based prevention education and training to staff and students and consider any history of gender based violence in the recruitment and promotion of staff. They will be required to consult with students, staff and people with lived experience, and their approach must be informed by evidence of what works.”
“But this is just the first step. These bills that I introduce today are the next steps. They provide for the establishment and enforcement of a National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender Based Violence. The c ode The code will be made by the minister as a legislative instrument and it will set out best practice requirements that all higher education providers will be required to meet. It'll hold all higher education providers to consistently high standards to proactively prevent and respond to gender based violence. These standards will be backed by monitoring and enforcement to ensure that we build a culture of compliance in this critical area. Under the code, higher education providers will be required to take evidence based steps to prevent gender based violence on their campuses.”
“I move: That this bill be now read a second time. This week the new National Student Ombudsman opened its doors. It has the powers similar of a royal commission to investigate complaints made against a university. This is a national first. And it has been a long time coming—too long. For too long students have been let down by their universities and inaction by previous governments. Advocates have been ignored. And they shouldn't have been. The evidence is overwhelming. One in twenty university students reporting being sexually assaulted on campus. One in six reporting being sexually harassed. And one in two reporting that they felt they weren't being heard when they made a complaint. That's why I acted. That's why this government has acted, introducing legislation to create the first National Student Ombudsman.”
“This is a classic example of extra funding to help children from poor backgrounds and from regional Australia to get the support they need not just to start a university degree but to finish it—real, demand driven, needs based funding to help more students not just start a degree but finish it so that we get the doctors that we need, the teachers that we need, the nurses that we need, the psychologists that we need, the social workers that we need and all of the skilled workforce that we need to build Australia's future.”
“In December, we released the mid-year economic update, where we allocated additional funding to university to help more young people get a crack at going to university, including—and I know this is important to the member, because she's contacted me on a number of occasions about young people being able to study far away from capital cities—the announcement we made yesterday around a university study hub at Kangaroo Island.”
“I thank the member for her question. As she would know, in the budget two years ago, we allocated extra places for medical studies at university. That's something we did in consultation with the Minister for Health and Aged Care. That's something that's always under consideration by this government. As I've said in this chamber many times, I want more people to get a crack at going to university or going to TAFE. That's why we're making the changes that we are, whether it's making TAFE free, which the opposition are opposed to, or whether it's cutting the cost of university by cutting student debt by 20 per cent.”
“That's a lot of help for a lot of young people who are just out of uni and just getting started. What do you think the Liberals think of all of this? They're opposed to that. Government members: No! Really? Surprise, surprise—they say that's a terrible idea. They think it's a terrible idea that we should cut the debt of Aussie workers and Aussie students. Well, I'll tell you what I think a terrible idea is: making these same students and workers pay for their boss's lunch. I'll give you 1.6 billion reasons why, because that's how much it'll cost: $1.6 billion a year—at least.”
“I thank my friend the hirsute member for Hawke for his question! If you want a good example of the difference between Labor and Liberal then this is it. We're cutting HECS debt for three million Australians, and they want to cut the cost of lunch for bosses. That's it in a nutshell. We've already cut HECS debt by more than $3 billion for three million Australians. We passed those laws late last year, and over Christmas the ATO made this change, cutting the debt of three million Australians. But there's more to do and there's more that we will do. If we win the next election, we will cut all student debts by a further 20 per cent. That means that somebody with an average HECS debt of 27 grand today will see that debt cut by more than $5,000. If they've got a HECS debt of 50 grand then that will be cut by $10,000.”