Coalition victory in Victoria means lower VET fees

The other recalcitrant state – from a VET perspective – is now set to become the other non-Labor state. And it means lower VET fees and different international education policies. The Coalition’s apparent win in Victoria on Saturday paves the way for lower VET fees and beefed up scrutiny of the state’s training regulator, after education and training issues made a late appearance in the election campaign last week. The Nationals upper house leader and probable new tertiary education minister, Peter Hall, last week promised to spend almost $100 million on cutting VET fees and to establish a tertiary education and training ombudsman with the power to investigate every aspect of international education – including the Victorian Registration and Qualification Authority (VRQA). Hall, who was shadow minister for tertiary education and training, also said he would immediately implement recommendations from the Victorian auditor-general’s 2010 report on the VRQA, including mandatory private college sector representation on its board. He said the increased training fees introduced under the Labor government’s skills reforms had proven a particular obstacle to those most targeted by the reforms. “At the very time the government is claiming a need to improve training opportunities, it is putting financial barriers in front of those in our community who are arguably most in need of such training.” Hall promised an extra $56 million over four years to reinstate concession fees for diploma and advanced diploma courses, reducing fees for an estimated 6000 students to a little over $100 a year. He also promised to double the $10 million Labor had promised to spend each year to provide exemptions to the ‘up-skilling’ eligibility criterion, which prevents adult students from accessing government-funded training places for study that’s not at a higher level than any previously held qualifications. In September the Labor government exempted apprentices from this criterion, but Hall’s pledge suggests students at other qualification levels may also now be exempted. He also promised to review all fee structures recently introduced by the ALP. “Families with lower incomes find it impossible to meet these fees upfront and are averse to accumulating significant debt, so they are less likely to take up this level of vocational training,” he said. In 2009 the ALP introduced fee-free income-contingent loans for diploma and advanced diploma students, whose annual tuition fees are now capped at $2000 and are set to rise to $2500 from 2012. But around half of the eligible students opted not to take them up last year, suggesting debt-aversion even amongst those prepared to pay the increased fees. Meanwhile, Hall said the new Tertiary Education and Training Ombudsman – a statutory position reporting directly to Parliament – would echo the establishment of similar offices in Queensland and South Australia. “The industry needs an ombudsman with the powers to independently investigate every aspect of operation and report the tertiary education sector without fear or favour,” he said. And he said the Auditor-General had found the VRQA had consistently failed to assure the quality of the work of its own staff, and could not assure contracted auditors complied with the Australian Quality Training Framework. “The Liberal Nationals Coalition will act immediately on the Auditor-General’s recommendations and ensure the VRQA operates with the same high standard it expects of training providers, to restore confidence to the whole sector,” he said. Hall also pledged to revamp the International Student Care Service (ISCS), a state-run advice, information, support and referral service, and to seek a permanent funding stream for it. And he said the Coalition would spend $2 million over four years to promote Victorian education and training overseas. “This would be carried out under a ‘Victoria: Leader in Learning’ banner, and promote stronger community safety policies and specific tertiary education and training policies,” he said. Hall also promised to push the federal government to make unspecified changes to the student visa regime, and said the Coalition’s “suite of law and order initiatives” would help restore the reputation of education in Victoria. However the incoming government has made no promises on a touchstone issue for international students – the lack of public transport concessions in Victoria. And it’s yet to be seen whether the change of government will make any difference to Victoria’s decision not to join the national VET regulator. Hall told an international education policy launch last week that he wouldn’t be able to assume a policy position until he’d been fully briefed on the issue. Related story: National VET regulation stalls