Labor today yet again tried to wash their hands of their own policy failure when it comes to VET FEE-HELP the Minister for Vocational Training and Skills Luke Hartsuyker said today.

“Unfortunately, the changes introduced by the former Labor Government have undermined public confidence in the VET sector and created a situation whereby unscrupulous VET FEE-HELP providers have flourished at the expense of students and taxpayers.”

“Labor failed to put in place sufficient controls and safeguard to protect students and taxpayer’s money when they introduced the VET FEE-HELP scheme.”

“I’d remind Senator Kim Carr, who is today trying to shift the blame, of his comments in the Age on the 18th of September in which he said “Labor introduced VET FEE-HELP with good intentions but the scheme contains ‘fundamental weaknesses’ that need to be fixed”. 

“That’s right Senator Carr, at least you agree with the Government that the system you put in place was flawed.Instead of playing political games I’d urge you to support the Government in fixing the mess that you created,” Mr Hartsuyker said.

The Government has introduced a suite of reforms designed to strengthen student protections and push out dodgy providers including:

*         Banning inducements to students under the VET FEE-HELP loan scheme

*         Tightening VET marketing and recruitment practices

*         Improving the understanding of how VET FEE-HELP operates and student right and obligations

*         Strengthening the debt waiver and revocation processes for students under VET FEE-HELP

*         Strengthening the assessment criteria for, and ongoing scrutiny of, all training providers

*         Ensuring student debt is incurred in line with course delivery

*         Establishing minimum pre-requisite and prior education qualifications, including demonstrated literacy and numeracy requirements

*         Enhancing training and outcomes information, allowing students to make more informed choices about training providers and courses.

“If Labor was serious about improving the VET FEE HELP mess they created they will pass the Government’s legislation to strengthen the VET FEE-HELP scheme” Mr Hartsuyker said