“Bill Shorten’s announcement tonight again demonstrates Labor’s impulsive and ill thought through approach to the VET FEE-HELP scheme,” Minister for Vocational Education and Skills, Senator Scott Ryan said.
“It was exactly this impulsive approach that has created the VET FEE HELP disaster the Coalition has been cleaning up,”
“The dodgy providers that Bill Shorten referred to tonight in his Budget Reply, arose as a direct consequence of Labor’s 2012 expansion that was demand driven, uncapped and had insufficient student protections in place. Labor’s policy opened the floodgates to shonky training providers and predatory brokers to take advantage of students and taxpayers.”
The Redesigning VET FEE-HELP Discussion Paper released last week details the consequences of Labor’s failure with comprehensive anaylsis of the impact upon students and taxpayers.
“Continuing Labor’s impulsive and ill-considered approach to vocational education and training is no solution to these problems,” Minister Ryan said.
“Tonight Labor has effectively signalled to every VET provider that they can now charge each student at least $8,000 per year.
“Again, Labor has demonstrated that they are not interested in serious policy in vocational education, let alone cleaning up the mess they created.
“Whether it is expanding the scheme and creating the scandal in 2012, or tonight’s proposals to impose a unilateral cap, Bill Shorten demonstrates that he isn’t interested in educational outcomes, just soundbites,” Minister Ryan said.
LABOR PROPOSES UP-FRONT FEES
Tonight Labor threatened thousands of Australians with upfront fees in order to access vocational education and training.
A randomly-imposed numerical cap does not consider the impact on students’ access to education nor the behaviour of providers.
There are multiple examples of reputable providers and courses where an $8000 cap will limit access to those with the ability to find the money to pay upfront fees.
Some examples of single-year courses that cost more this a
| Provider | Course | Total Cost | Cost per year | Labor’s up-front fee |
| TAFE SA
|
Diploma of Digital and Interactive Games | $11,281 1 Year |
$11,281 | $3,281 |
| Holmes Institute | Diploma of Software Development | $12,950 1 Year |
$12,950 | $4,950 |
| Navitas Professional Institute Pty Ltd | Diploma of Community Services | $14,355 1 Year |
$14,355 | $6,355 |
| BCA National Training Group | Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care | $14,980 1 Year |
$14,980 | $6,980 |
Source: mySkills website
Is Bill Shorten saying that these students should have to pay upfront fees due to his ill-thought through announcement?
Or he is proposing that these courses should now take students more than a year to complete simply in order to make the courses affordable?
Again, no criteria for raising the cap were outlined, continuing the approach of “pay first, think later” that has characterised Labor’s VET policy.
THE COALITION RECORD
“Since coming to office, the Coalition Government has taken a comprehensive approach to restoring confidence in the sector. We have already taken more than a dozen measures to crack down on vocational education providers who are flouting regulations and acting unethically,” Minister Ryan said.
“The Coalition is committed to cleaning up Labor’s mess and redesigning the VET FEE-HELP system for 2017 to better serve the needs of all Australians in all types of training providers.
“This redesign needs to be comprehensive, and address the profound flaws that became so apparent in Labor’s scheme. This proposed cap is nothing more than an attempted diversion from Labor’s record of failure.
“The Discussion Paper released last week underpins the comprehensive VET FEE HELP reform agenda the Government has committed to, and that involves consultation with stakeholders across the sector and detailed consideration of the potential implications of each measure.
“Labor’s latest thought bubble will only create further incentives for courses to be designed around funding from government, rather than the interests of students.”
While Bill Shorten claims to oppose upfront fees for university students, he continues Labor’s neglect of vocational education by threatening to impose them on students undertaking VET.
(ENDS)