National Student Ombudsman Levy Bill 2026

Dr GARLAND (Chisholm) (18:09): In February 2024 the Albanese Labor government released the final report of the Australian Universities Accord, a blueprint for higher education reform over the next decade and the decade after that. Our government has made some serious and meaningful progress on the accord's recommendations, having already implemented 30 of the 47 recommendations.

Some of our work in this space has included some much-needed, welcome and, quite frankly, overdue reforms. It became apparent during the accord consultation process that we needed to act to help set up our tertiary education system to deliver for Australia's future skills needs. That means more people at TAFE and more people at university.

It means acting on HECS to ensure that it is better and fairer for both current and future generations of students. That is why we cut 20 per cent off HECS debts and capped indexation on HECS debts to the lower of the CPI and the WPI. The 20 per cent cut to HECS debts was in fact the first bill to be introduced under the re-elected Albanese Labor government, and I was very pleased that we were able to so quickly deliver on that promise.

In total, more than three million Australians have had their HECS debts cut by 20 per cent, and that only happened because of a Labor government. When we introduced our cut to HECS debt, the average student debt was about $27,600, and we've that debt by around $5,520. This is incredibly important to my community.

My electorate of Chisholm is full of highly aspirational families who value access to education. There are thousands of students in my community who find themselves studying at Deakin or Monash university or at Holmesglen TAFE. Chisholm saw more than 26,000 people have their HECS debt cut by 20 per cent, and this is so meaningful to people in my community.

Also, in relation to HECS, we are moving to a marginal repayment system and are raising the minimum repayment threshold. Another initiative that I know is so important to my community is the introduction of paid prac for the first time, covering many different courses. This means that students don't have to make a decision between completing a course and keeping their job.

It affects courses such as teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work. We're also expanding the scheme to include clinical psychology, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology, paramedicine, radiography, pharmacy, rehabilitation therapies, audiology and podiatry. We're also making demand-driven Commonwealth supported places available to all First Nation students where they get the marks to get in.

And we're establishing the Australian Tertiary Education Commission as a steward of the tertiary education system. I've spoken about the National Student Ombudsman before, as well as the National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence, because these reforms are incredibly important to me. In fact, my advocacy for reforms in this space pre-date my election as a member of parliament by many years.

Through the accord process, though, I had the opportunity, as an elected member of parliament, to hear directly from students and staff at universities about their own lived experience both on and off campus. It was during that process that I was able to reflect on my own lived experiences and those of my peers throughout my academic life, both as a student who lived on campus and as a staff member in a university.

I know how important it was for us to introduce the National Student Ombudsman, and I undertook many consultations in my own community about this. I'm so pleased that Minister Clare has led and delivered on the recommendation to establish the ombudsman. The ombudsman gives all students a free, independent and trauma-informed pathway to escalate complaints about their higher education provider.

It was established in response to longstanding failures, frankly, in provider complaint handling. The National Student Ombudsman also supports safer, more accountable and more responsive higher education settings. This was something that many people in my community wanted to see.

It came through very clearly from the higher education community survey that I undertook in my electorate. The ombudsman help students who cannot resolve concerns through their provider's internal processes to do so. We know that the demand for the National Student Ombudsman has been significant, which clearly demonstrates that it was absolutely the right decision to move to establish this office when we did.

It is necessary. The data backs this up. As of 31 August this year, 2026, the National Student Ombudsman had received 7,690 student contacts and resolved 6,016 of those matters.

These numbers are important not only in and of themselves but also because every number represents a person, mostly a young student, who has needed the assistance of the ombudsman. Let's think too of the early indications of the effectiveness of this scheme. We know that already 93 per cent of complaints brought to the National Student Ombudsman have been resolved through informal dispute resolution processes.

This is important because it helps support practical outcomes for students while maintaining constructive relationships between students and providers. Indeed, 80 per cent of surveyed providers reported implementing system and service improvements following National Student Ombudsman complaints handling and education engagements. The National Student Ombudsman also provides education and guidance on best practice complaints handling, identifies systemic issues affecting students and contributes to stronger trust in our higher education system.

The purpose of the bills before the House today is to ensure that we are able to establish a levy to support the ongoing operation of the National Student Ombudsman and ensure that there is sustainable funding from 1 January 2027. This is an initiative that our government put on the agenda in March 2024, when we made the sector aware of our intention to recover the ongoing operation costs of the National Student Ombudsman.

During its establishment phase, the costs of the National Student Ombudsman have been borne by the government, and it is appropriate to now move to a cost-recovery model. The levy helps sustain a service that benefits students, providers and the broader higher education system and ensures it remains a service that's free for students. It is so important, now that the National Student Ombudsman has been stood up and has delivered outcomes for thousands of students, that it is funded to ensure its long-term future.

As the Minister for Education has mentioned, the Australian government funded the National Student Ombudsman during its establishment phase. This bill establishes the legislative framework for the next phase, which is to recover costs by introducing a levy on higher education providers. That's the cost of administering the National Student Ombudsman that the levy will pay for.

The associated bill will in practice provide for collection arrangements associated with the levy and its payment and will allow for penalties for late payment. In the regulations of the bill, the method for calculation of the amount of the levy will be set out following further consultation with the sector. This move to a cost-recovery model has been part of the design of the National Student Ombudsman since discussions began between the government and the sector in March 2024.

It is the intention of this bill that the levy will commence from 1 January 2027. This will ensure that students can continue to access the National Student Ombudsman free of charge. It is once again really significant to emphasise that since February last year we've seen over 7,690 student contacts with more than 6,000 resolved matters.

This again demonstrates that the National Student Ombudsman has been good for students and universities and that we really do need to make sure that its future is secured. That means that the critical service relies on the payments by higher education providers through this levy. I know this is going to continue to be an institution that is of great benefit to students in my community, and this is beyond just being part of our work in higher education.

The National Student Ombudsman was also part of our action plan to address gender based violence in higher education. Making sure that they have the investigative and dispute resolution powers is really important. This is, of course, connected to our broader work to end gender based violence.

One of the important aspects of the function of the ombudsman is that it ensures both domestic and international students have an effective trauma informed complaints mechanism to access when they're not satisfied by their higher education provider's response. I'm really passionate about this reform. It's been a long time coming.

I've heard from hundreds and hundreds of people through my community survey in my electorate about the issue of higher education, and safety was consistently raised as a really important issue, so it's important that we're delivering on this and ensuring the future of the National Student Ombudsman through this legislation. It's not easy for people to voice complaints.

Indeed, we know in the past people have disengaged from education because they have felt there was no-one who would either listen or act for them when they have had unsafe experiences on their campuses. So I'm really pleased that we're taking the next step to ensure the future of the National Student Ombudsman, an incredibly important part of our higher education architecture in Australia now, and I commend this bill to the chamber.