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Show detail
The majority voted in favour of agreeing with the Senate amendments, which means the bill has now finally passed in both Houses.
What does the bill do?
This bill will implement part of the government's Job Ready Graduates Package and includes major proposed higher education funding changes, including how the government currently subsidises university tuition costs.
If successful in its current form, the bill will decrease the subsidy for most areas of the humanities and social science as well as in engineering, science, surveying, environmental studies and other areas. On the other hand, it will increase the subsidy for most health fields, education, mathematics and other areas. At the same time, the bill will set new maximum student contribution amounts, which means the degree costs for students are going to change significantly. Humanities, law and commerce degrees are going to increase in price while mathematics, agriculture and certain science degrees will decrease.
Sometimes, such as in the case of engineering, the changes appear somewhat contradictory: both the subsidy for engineering and the maximum student contribution rate is being reduced. According to Science and Technology Australia ("STA"):
...the proposed reduction of funding could risk the teaching of engineering especially at smaller or regional universities. The impact of the funding changes would also be particularly acute in the ‘heavy engineering’ disciplines – the teaching of which often involves expensive large-scale facilities and infrastructure. This affects fields such as mining engineering, petrochemical engineering, electrical engineering, heavy mechanical engineering and advanced manufacturing.
The most significant change will be in the cost of humanities degrees, which will go from being one of the cheapest subject areas to one of the most expensive.
According to the bills digest:
Analysis from the Centre for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Melbourne has estimated the overall impact of the proposed change:
University revenue for teaching would be reduced by nearly one billion dollars in 2021 and every year thereafter for the same domestic student load as in 2018 as a result of the funding caps imposed in 2018 and the 2021 funding cluster changes in Job-ready Graduates
In other words, the overall affect of the bill appears to be a reduction in government funding for the university sector.
Read more about the bill in the bills digest.
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absent
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No (strong)
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Passed by a small majority
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Show detail
The majority voted in favour of agreeing with the amendments requested by the Senate. This means that the bill will now return to the Senate, where they will decide whether to read it for a third time and therefore pass the bill.
What does the bill do?
This bill will implement part of the government's Job Ready Graduates Package and includes major proposed higher education funding changes, including how the government currently subsidises university tuition costs.
If successful in its current form, the bill will decrease the subsidy for most areas of the humanities and social science as well as in engineering, science, surveying, environmental studies and other areas. On the other hand, it will increase the subsidy for most health fields, education, mathematics and other areas. At the same time, the bill will set new maximum student contribution amounts, which means the degree costs for students are going to change significantly. Humanities, law and commerce degrees are going to increase in price while mathematics, agriculture and certain science degrees will decrease.
Sometimes, such as in the case of engineering, the changes appear somewhat contradictory: both the subsidy for engineering and the maximum student contribution rate is being reduced. According to Science and Technology Australia ("STA"):
...the proposed reduction of funding could risk the teaching of engineering especially at smaller or regional universities. The impact of the funding changes would also be particularly acute in the ‘heavy engineering’ disciplines – the teaching of which often involves expensive large-scale facilities and infrastructure. This affects fields such as mining engineering, petrochemical engineering, electrical engineering, heavy mechanical engineering and advanced manufacturing.
The most significant change will be in the cost of humanities degrees, which will go from being one of the cheapest subject areas to one of the most expensive.
According to the bills digest:
Analysis from the Centre for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Melbourne has estimated the overall impact of the proposed change:
University revenue for teaching would be reduced by nearly one billion dollars in 2021 and every year thereafter for the same domestic student load as in 2018 as a result of the funding caps imposed in 2018 and the 2021 funding cluster changes in Job-ready Graduates
In other words, the overall affect of the bill appears to be a reduction in government funding for the university sector.
Read more about the bill in the bills digest.
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absent
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No (strong)
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Passed by a small majority
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Show detail
The majority voted in favour of passing the bill in the House of Representatives. In other words, they voted to read the bill for a third time. This means that the bill will now go to the Senate for their consideration.
What does the bill do?
This bill will implement part of the government's Job Ready Graduates Package and includes major proposed higher education funding changes, including how the government currently subsidises university tuition costs.
If successful in its current form, the bill will decrease the subsidy for most areas of the humanities and social science as well as in engineering, science, surveying, environmental studies and other areas. On the other hand, it will increase the subsidy for most health fields, education, mathematics and other areas. At the same time, the bill will set new maximum student contribution amounts, which means the degree costs for students are going to change significantly. Humanities, law and commerce degrees are going to increase in price while mathematics, agriculture and certain science degrees will decrease.
Sometimes, such as in the case of engineering, the changes appear somewhat contradictory: both the subsidy for engineering and the maximum student contribution rate is being reduced. According to Science and Technology Australia ("STA"):
...the proposed reduction of funding could risk the teaching of engineering especially at smaller or regional universities. The impact of the funding changes would also be particularly acute in the ‘heavy engineering’ disciplines – the teaching of which often involves expensive large-scale facilities and infrastructure. This affects fields such as mining engineering, petrochemical engineering, electrical engineering, heavy mechanical engineering and advanced manufacturing.
The most significant change will be in the cost of humanities degrees, which will go from being one of the cheapest subject areas to one of the most expensive.
According to the bills digest:
Analysis from the Centre for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Melbourne has estimated the overall impact of the proposed change:
University revenue for teaching would be reduced by nearly one billion dollars in 2021 and every year thereafter for the same domestic student load as in 2018 as a result of the funding caps imposed in 2018 and the 2021 funding cluster changes in Job-ready Graduates
In other words, the overall affect of the bill appears to be a reduction in government funding for the university sector.
Read more about the bill in the bills digest.
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absent
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No (strong)
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Passed by a small majority
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Show detail
The majority voted to agree with the main idea of the bill. In parliamentary jargon, they voted to give the bill a second reading. This means they can now discuss it in more detail.
What is the main idea of the bill?
This bill will implement part of the government's Job Ready Graduates Package and includes major proposed higher education funding changes, including how the government currently subsidises university tuition costs.
If successful in its current form, the bill will decrease the subsidy for most areas of the humanities and social science as well as in engineering, science, surveying, environmental studies and other areas. On the other hand, it will increase the subsidy for most health fields, education, mathematics and other areas. At the same time, the bill will set new maximum student contribution amounts, which means the degree costs for students are going to change significantly. Humanities, law and commerce degrees are going to increase in price while mathematics, agriculture and certain science degrees will decrease.
Sometimes, such as in the case of engineering, the changes appear somewhat contradictory: both the subsidy for engineering and the maximum student contribution rate is being reduced. According to Science and Technology Australia ("STA"):
...the proposed reduction of funding could risk the teaching of engineering especially at smaller or regional universities. The impact of the funding changes would also be particularly acute in the ‘heavy engineering’ disciplines – the teaching of which often involves expensive large-scale facilities and infrastructure. This affects fields such as mining engineering, petrochemical engineering, electrical engineering, heavy mechanical engineering and advanced manufacturing.
The most significant change will be in the cost of humanities degrees, which will go from being one of the cheapest subject areas to one of the most expensive.
According to the bills digest:
Analysis from the Centre for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Melbourne has estimated the overall impact of the proposed change:
University revenue for teaching would be reduced by nearly one billion dollars in 2021 and every year thereafter for the same domestic student load as in 2018 as a result of the funding caps imposed in 2018 and the 2021 funding cluster changes in Job-ready Graduates
In other words, the overall affect of the bill appears to be a reduction in government funding for the university sector.
Read more about the bill in the bills digest.
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absent
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No (strong)
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Passed by a small majority
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Show detail
The majority voted in favour of a motion "that the words proposed to be omitted stand part of the question." In other words, they voted in favour of keeping the words of the usual second reading motion unchanged.
This vote occurred after Sydney MP Tanya Plibersek (Labor) proposed an amendment to the usual second reading motion.
Second reading motion
The usual second reading motion is "this bill be now read a second time." To read a bill for a second time is to agree with the main idea of the bill. Once agreed, the bill can then be discussed in more detail.
Amendment text
That all words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:
"The House declines to give the bill a second reading as it is of the opinion that:
(1) the Government is making it harder and more expensive to go to university; and
(2) the bill will:
(a) cause students to pay more to attend university;
(b) ensure thousands of students will have their fees doubled;
(c) result in billions of dollars being cut from universities; and
(d) do nothing to get young people into high priority courses or jobs".
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absent
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No
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Passed by a small majority
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Show detail
The majority voted against an amendment to the usual second reading motion "that the bills be read a second time", which is parliamentary jargon for agreeing with the main idea of the bill. Since this vote was unsuccessful, the second reading motion will remain unchanged.
Amendment text
That all words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:
"whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House notes that the Government has damaged the quality of Australia's world-class higher education system, having cut billions from universities by effectively capping undergraduate places and slashing research funding".
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No
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Yes
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Not passed by a small majority
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Show detail
The majority agreed with the main idea of the bill. In parliamentary jargon, they voted in favour of giving the bill a second reading.
What is the bill's main idea?
The bill makes changes to the way higher education funding works. For example, the bill proposes to:
- reduce Commonwealth funding of tuition costs for undergraduate courses at universities through increasing the student contribution towards these costs, and reducing the funding universities receive to cover these costs; and
- make changes so that those in the workforce will commence repayment at much lower income levels and at higher rates.
The bill also proposes to change arrangements for permanent residents and New Zealand citizens by:
extending access to HELP loans to students in this situation, but at the same time removing access to CSPs [Commonwealth Supported Places] ... [so they will] effectively be treated the same as domestic full-fee paying students.
Find out more about the bill in its bills digest.
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Yes
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No (strong)
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Passed by a small majority
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Show detail
The majority voted against a motion that asked the House to disagree with the main idea of the bill. In parliamentary jargon, they voted against a motion to "declin[e] to give the bill a second reading".
Motion text
That all words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:
"the House declines to give the bill a second reading because this bill:
(1) cuts university funding by nearly $4 billion;
(2) hits students with higher fees;
(3) saddles students with bigger debts which they will have to pay back at the same time as they are trying to buy a house or start a family;
(4) compromises teaching and learning, and undermines research; and
*(5) slashes investment in universities at a time when the Government should be investing in both universities and TAFEs in order to guarantee a strong and productive economy". *
What is the bill's main idea?
The bill makes changes to the way higher education funding works. For example, the bill proposes to:
- reduce Commonwealth funding of tuition costs for undergraduate courses at universities through increasing the student contribution towards these costs, and reducing the funding universities receive to cover these costs; and
- make changes so that those in the workforce will commence repayment at much lower income levels and at higher rates.
The bill also proposes to change arrangements for permanent residents and New Zealand citizens by:
extending access to HELP loans to students in this situation, but at the same time removing access to CSPs [Commonwealth Supported Places] ... [so they will] effectively be treated the same as domestic full-fee paying students.
Find out more about the bill in its bills digest.
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No
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Yes
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Not passed by a small majority
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Show detail
The majority voted in favour of a motion to read the bill for a second time,( Read more about the stages that a bill must pass through in order to become law here. ) which was moved by the Minister for Education Christopher Pyne. This means that the majority agree with the main idea of the bill.
Background to the bill
The bill was introduced to remove the HECS-HELP up-front payment discount for units of study with a census date on or after 1 January 2014 and remove the HELP voluntary repayment bonus for repayments made on or after 1 January 2014.(Read more about tertiary education fees and funding in Australia here.) It also applies an efficiency dividend of 2 per cent in 2014 and 1.25 per cent in 2015 to Commonwealth contribution amounts under the Commonwealth Grant Scheme.
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Yes
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No
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Passed by a small majority
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