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I move that the Bill be now read the second time.

Mr Speaker, Tasmania’s vocational education and training system provides a

wide range of education and training opportunities for Tasmanians. It also

provides the skills required by our economy, Tasmanian businesses, our

communities and the career development needs of Tasmanians.

High quality vocational education and training is a cornerstone of

Tasmania’s future, as the number of occupations requiring high level skills

increases.

We are all familiar with the role of VET in preparing people for the

traditional trades, such as in construction, the metal industries, commercial

cookery, automotive and the like – and this role continues to be a vital

cornerstone of the VET system. But VET is far more than trade training –

important as this is. Several tens of thousands of Tasmanians each year

study in a diverse range of fields such as: business; aged, child and disability

services; information technology; tourism; engineering - and so I could

continue. And for many, VET provides a second chance to gain essential

foundation skills such as literacy and numeracy and to establish a meaningful

career and a fulfilling life.

Tasmanian VET students undertake their studies through more than 100

registered training organisations including the Skills Institute and Tasmanian

Polytechnic and a significant number of not-for-profit and private providers.

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These providers are registered to operate under a national scheme so that

those registered in Tasmania by the Tasmanian Qualifications Authority are

registered to operate nationally. Similarly, a provider registered in another

jurisdiction does not need to re-register with the Tasmanian Qualifications

Authority to conduct business in Tasmania.

Unfortunately, this regulatory scheme has led to inconsistent regulation

across the nation, which in turn has resulted in the emergence of some

providers that are more focused on the bottom line than providing quality

training and assessment. We cannot afford to allow poor quality providers

registered in another jurisdiction to operate in Tasmania and undermine

the quality and integrity of our training system. And this is not an

experience that is limited to Tasmania, with evidence of quality issues in all

states and territories. An example of this problem is the adverse public

comment and scrutiny of low quality providers of VET programs to

international students in recent years and a subsequent review conducted

by the Hon Bruce Baird, AM.

Mr Speaker, this matter has been taken extremely seriously by the Council

of Australian Governments, which has agreed to introduce a new

regulatory regime for VET.

COAG has agreed to the establishment of a national VET regulator through

the referral of state constitutional powers to the Commonwealth. This

agreement is codified in an Intergovernmental Agreement for Regulatory

Reform in Vocational Education and Training. Western Australia and

Victoria have declined to cede their powers to the Commonwealth and

will, in lieu, enact ‘mirror’ legislation so that there is a nationally consistent

regulatory regime.

The key objectives in establishing the new regime are to:

training which in turn supports confidence in the abilities of VET

graduates;

activity in all jurisdictions;

jurisdictions;

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low quality providers;

VET;

servicing international students, recognising that regulatory failure in

any jurisdiction damages the reputation of providers across the

country; and

require a regulatory response.

The New South Wales Parliament provided the initial referral of state

powers to the Commonwealth, which, then, using those powers, enacted

Commonwealth has established a new national VET regulator – the

Australian Skills Quality Authority - or ASQA - as a Commonwealth

statutory authority. Subject to passage and proclamation of the Bill

currently before the House (which will adopt the Commonwealth laws),

ASQA will open offices in Hobart and plans to commence operations in

January 2012.

There will be no cost to Tasmania in the establishment and operation of

ASQA, as the Commonwealth will underwrite its establishment and

provide transitional funding for four years. In fact there will be a small

saving to Tasmania as a result of the transfer of the VET regulatory function

from the Tasmanian Qualifications Authority to ASQA. While there will

be fee increases associated with the regulation of training organisations and

courses, I would anticipate that most providers will absorb this cost or

minimally increase their prices. There is absolutely no case for providers to

use fee increases to implement significant price increases.

Mr Speaker it is vitally important that Tasmania has a high quality vocational

education and training system. Increasingly, our economy and business

enterprises rely on more highly skilled workers in occupations that require

complex use of technology, industrial processes and business systems. The

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low-skill/no-skill jobs of the past are rapidly disappearing and are being

replaced by new, high-tech industrial and business applications across all

industries. We cannot afford to be left behind and we certainly must

ensure that skill development through our vocational education and training

system delivers the high level of skills required, which in turn will require

high quality training providers – an objective that I am confident the new

regulatory scheme will deliver.

I commend the Bill to the House.