Nationals push back on Job-ready graduates package legislation

Minister for Decentralisation and Regional Education and Nationals member for Calare Andrew Gee unveiled the party's policy position following a series of roundtable discussions with leaders of regional universities.

He said a key concern was courses in social work, behavioural science and mental health were classified in the humanities cluster, meaning new students would pay $14,500 per year for their degrees which is an increase of 113 per cent.

"Given country Australia has been devastated by bushfires, floods, drought and the COVID-19 pandemic, it is critical that regional communities have easy access to mental health services and support," Mr Gee said.

"We believe this would only serve to further increase the maldistribution of mental health workers in country Australia. It also has the potential to impact women and mature students looking to upskill and move into higher paid jobs.

"The Regional University Roundtables revealed this to be a glaring and potentially detrimental design flaw in the proposed Job-Ready Graduates Package."

The Nationals are calling for social work, behavioural science and mental health disciplines to be removed from the humanities cluster and realigned with allied health studies.

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The party will seek changes to the Tertiary Access Payment as it fears the grants to enable regional students to attend university will encourage them to leave their communities and move to the cities to study.

It is also calling for grandfathering arrangements for students enrolled prior to January 1, 2021, to be extended indefinitely, instead of ending on January 1, 2024.

"The Nationals have agreed that this change will ensure that part-time and online students, many of whom take over three years to complete their studies due to balancing work and family commitments, will not be disadvantaged. Many of these students reside in country areas," Mr Gee said.

Draft legislation of the Job-ready Graduates package was released for consultation today with public comments closing on August 17.

Education Minister Dan Tehan said the legislation would create 100,000 additional university places for Australian students, make degrees cheaper in areas of expected future job growth and better align the true cost of a degree to taxpayers and students.

"The legislation reforms will also strengthen engagement between universities and industry to work together to deliver better targeted work placements and research that drives productivity improvements and innovation."