Page 3561 - Week 11 - Thursday, 23 October 2014
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At a time when we are seeing increasing levels of youth unemployment and underemployment, and proposed measures that could see young people left stranded without any social welfare support for some extended period, we need to work together to make sure that we provide certainty for young people in the education and training sector but also, with government working with the education sector in partnership, to ensure that we continue to provide accessible, quality training opportunities for our young people. As I said, the Greens will be supporting the bill today.
MS BURCH (Brindabella—Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Disability, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Racing and Gaming, Minister for Women and Minister for the Arts) (11.56), in reply: I am pleased to speak once again on this bill. The amendments in this bill revise the ACT legislation in response to reforms to the vocational education and training and higher education sectors at a local and national level. I want to thank members for their words of support in this chamber this morning. The reforms have included nationalising regulation of providers, increasing quality vocational education and training provision, reducing red tape in the higher education sector, harmonising the Australian apprenticeship system and engaging more directly with stakeholders for the provision of advice to government.
Reforms to the regulation of vocational education and training and higher education providers have resulted in the establishment of national regulatory bodies. These bodies are established under commonwealth laws which effectively override ACT legislative provisions for the registration of vocational education and training and higher education providers. In response, this amendment aligns ACT legislation to those changes to commonwealth legislation.
Provisions in ACT legislation dealing with the registration of training providers and accreditation of VET training courses have been repealed or updated to align with the commonwealth’s National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011. Provisions in ACT legislation dealing with the registration of higher education providers and accreditation of their courses have also been repealed or updated, in this case to align with the commonwealth’s Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011.
The bill repeals the ACT Accreditation and Registration Council, as the council’s major functions were the registration and accreditation of VET higher education providers. Consequential amendments are also made to provisions in other legislation that refer to the registration and accreditation powers of the council. Likewise, the Construction Occupations (Licensing) Regulation 2004, which deals with the conditions under which an individual without a licence may provide construction services, refers to an obsolete definition of an accredited course.
This bill will make similar consequential amendments to a range of other legislation. The bill clarifies the long-held role of the Education and Training Directorate in ensuring that government funding is directed towards quality VET training. This role has been carried out in conjunction with the council’s registration and accreditation functions and the director-general’s regulatory powers over apprenticeships and traineeships.
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