Government’s higher education reforms set to pass the Senate
The federal government’s controversial Job-ready Graduates package, which will restructure university fees and push up the cost of some, is set to pass the Senate after being backed by the Centre Alliance party.
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The federal government's controversial higher education reforms are set to pass the Senate after receiving support from the Centre Alliance party.
The government needed the vote of Centre Alliance crossbencher Stirling Griff for its Job-ready Graduates package which will mean some courses will increase by as much as 113 per cent.
This is deeply flawed legislation that forces students and the university workforce to wear the cost of the pandemic. Research will be undermined, students will graduate with tens of thousands of dollars of debt into a job-starved economy. Reconsider, Senator @Stirling_G
— Alison Barnes (@AlisonBarnes25) October 5, 2020
The course fee restructure will make nursing, health, agriculture and engineering courses cheaper but push up the cost of many arts and humanities courses.
But Centre Alliance spokeswoman Rebekha Sharkie said the party would support the changes because it provided financial certainty to the embattled higher education sector.
“These legislative reforms are by no means perfect but overall Centre Alliance recognises what the government is trying to achieve and what the university sector is calling for which is funding certainty following the 2017 indexation cuts,” Ms Sharkie said.
Higher education reforms deliver financial certainty to the uni sector.https://t.co/tDOVdLfdQ0
— Stirling Griff (@Stirling_G) October 5, 2020
“We also appreciate that there may be increased costs for students studying the humanities but we recognise that these reforms will provide a significant increase in university places from 2021.
“It is ridiculous that year after year we churn out thousands of law graduates, many of whom will never work in law, and yet we import engineering graduates. Something has to change.”
Ms Sharkie said the emphasis on fee-paying international students providing funding for Australian universities needed to change.
The Government’s proposed #University fee hike for arts and creative arts will disproportionately affect women. #auspol https://t.co/ejcGJshNHG pic.twitter.com/R3JePNUPtl
— Rebekha Sharkie MP 💧 (@MakeMayoMatter) June 26, 2020
Ms Sharkie’s comments come after she said in June that the changes meant the higher uni fees in arts would disproportionately affect women.
It’s believed some concessions have been made, especially for universities in Ms Sharkie’s home state of South Australia.
In June, Senator Stirling Griff said the reforms made “no sense” in making some degrees more expensive when their job markets were suffering worker shortages.
“It’s just crazy that they are bumping up the price of an area (social work) in which there is a shortage of people working in it. It makes no sense,” he told The Australian newspaper.
“Social work is an area of community need which makes a mockery of the government statement of wanting to focus on areas of need.”
But on Tuesday, Mr Griff told the Herald Sun that social work would now fall under Allied Health studies which negated the “crazy” cost.
“This degree will now have a maximum student contribution of $7,950 (Unis can opt to charge less if they wish). The government has committed to support social work in becoming an official Allied Health field,’’ he said.
I will be forever grateful to @Flinders for #MyArtsDegree. It took me ten years to complete while working and raising three children. I would not have had my career or the privilege of sitting in the #HoR without it. #auspol
— Rebekha Sharkie MP 💧 (@MakeMayoMatter) June 19, 2020
The Herald Sun emailed Ms Sharkie’s office a series of questions, including whether the Centre Alliance sought changes to the reforms that would disincentivise students from degrees in areas of jobs shortage and growth, or if it had any modelling on the reform’s anticipated jobs market impact.
Her office said she would not be making any further statements.
Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan has said that the Job-Ready Graduates package aimed to address skill shortages, and would also provide an extra 100,000 uni places over the next 10 years.
But the reforms are expected to create shortfalls in key Victorian job areas that face future growth.
Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie said she would not back the reforms.
“It’s a bill that creates no new uni places, makes them more expensive, gives 10 per cent off coupons to rich kids and tells poor kids to go dream elsewhere,’’ she said.
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