AHISA SUBMISSION

Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee

9 September 2020

Inquiry into the Higher Education Support Amendment (Job-Ready Graduates and Supporting Regional and Remote Students) 2020 Bill 

AHISA’s submission to the Senate inquiry expands on points made in AHISA’s submission to a departmental consultation on the Job-ready Graduates Package draft legislation conducted in August 2020.

In its submission to the inquiry, AHISA points to actual and potential adverse outcomes of elements within the legislation, including:

Disruption to the further education and/or career plans of school students currently enrolled in Years 10 to 12

Inequity in raising the student contributions of some courses to offset higher Commonwealth contributions in other courses

Devaluation of the importance of the Humanities disciplines and their contribution to Australia’s economic and social wellbeing

Potential perverse effects on Australia’s teacher workforce

Potential adverse effects on women and equity groups aspiring to a tertiary education.

In addition to the two recommendations set out in its previous submission, AHISA supported a recommendation proposed by the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education, to:

Examine the impact of changes to course cluster groupings and course funding allocations on equity group undergraduate enrolments, and consider measures to minimise adverse effects. This would include exploring how these funding changes impact longitudinally on diversity in affected disciplines.

Job-ready Graduates Package legislation – Senate inquiry