The PRESIDENT (Senator the Hon. Sue Lines ) took the chair at 10:00, made an acknowledgement of country and read prayers.
That the routine of business before the attendance by the Minister representing the Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme today be:
(a) consideration of a motion to be moved by Senator Wong proposing the censure of Senator Thorpe; and
(b) consideration of a motion to be moved by Senator Wong proposing the censure of Senator Babet.
That the Senate:
(a) expresses its profound disapproval of Senator Thorpe's disrespectful and disruptive protest at the Parliamentary Reception for Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla on 21 October 2024 given that the senator has many other avenues to express her views;
(b) censures Senator Thorpe for the disruptive and disrespectful conduct at the Parliamentary Reception and for her disrespect of democratic institutions, including our Parliament of which she is a member;
(c) calls on all senators to respect our democratic institutions, including our Parliament, to engage in debates and commentary respectfully, and to refrain from inflammatory and divisive actions which reflect poorly on the Senate, both inside and outside the chamber, at all times;
(d) in light of this conduct, does not regard it as appropriate for Senator Thorpe to represent the Senate as a member of any delegation during the life of this parliament; and
(e) notes that arrangements for future parliamentary addresses by visiting leaders has been referred to the Procedure Committee.
The Senate divided. [10:25]
(The President—Senator Lines)
That the Senate—
(a) censures Senator Babet for his inflammatory use of hate speech, designed to drive division for his own political benefit;
(b) assures all Australians that no matter their race, religion, gender, sex, or sexuality they are valued, welcome members of our society;
(c) affirms that, if Parliament is to be a safe place for all who work and visit here, there can be no tolerance for hate speech in the course of parliamentarians' public debate; and
(d) calls on all senators to engage in debates and commentary respectfully, and to refrain from inflammatory and divisive comments, both inside and outside the chamber, at all times.
That the Senate take note of the explanation.
Universities Accord (Student Support and Other Measures) Bill 2024
That this bill may proceed without formalities and be now read a first time.
That this bill be now read a second time.
We have a good education system.
But it can be a lot better and a lot fairer.
This bill is an important part of achieving that goal.
It is the first stage of the implementation of the Universities Accord.
It will wipe out about $3 billion of HELP debt for more than 3 million Australians.
It will introduce, for the first time, a Commonwealth Prac Payment. That is Commonwealth Government financial support for teaching students, for nursing students, for midwifery students and social work students, to help support them while they do the practical part of their degree.
And it massively expands Fee-Free Uni Ready Courses—the courses that act as a bridge between school and uni, and help ensure that more Australians get a crack at uni and succeed when they get there.
All are key measures recommended in the Final Report of the Universities Accord, led by Professor Mary O'Kane AC.
Professor O'Kane is a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Adelaide and NSW's first Chief Scientist and Engineer as well as the first woman to be a Dean of Engineering at an Australian university.
Professor O'Kane was supported by an esteemed group of Australians, including:
The Accord Panel has provided us with a blueprint to reform higher education over the next few decades.
Funding it and implementing it is going to take more than just one budget.
We have to do this in stages.
But we have bitten off a big chunk.
29 of the 47 recommendations, in full or in part.
That includes the measures in this Bill, which amends the Higher Education Support Act 2003 and related legislation.
First, the bill amends the Higher Education Loan Program, or HELP, indexation methodology to be based on either the Consumer Price Index or the Wage Price Index—whichever is lower.
This change applies to HELP (or what we used to call HECS), VET Student Loans, Australian Apprenticeship Support Loans and other student support loan accounts.
The big hike in student debt last year hit a lot of Australians hard, in particular a lot of young Australians.
They've made their voice heard. The Albanese Labor Government has heard them and we're acting.
That's why this bill will wipe around $3 billion in student debt for 3 million Australians nationwide—easing pressure on workers, apprentices, trainees and students across the country.
It will provide significant relief for people with a student debt while continuing to protect the integrity and value of student loans systems, which have massively expanded tertiary access for more Australians.
And we are going further.
The bill backdates this relief for student support loans including HELP, VET Student Loans and Australian Apprenticeship Support Loans that existed on 1 June last year.
In other words, we're going to wipe out last year's unfair CPI indexation rate of 7.1 per cent and replace it with the lower WPI rate of 3.2 per cent. It will also wipe out the 4.7 per cent from this year and reduce it to 4 per cent.
For someone with an average debt of $26,500, they will see around $1,200 wiped from their outstanding loan this year.
For someone with a debt of $45,000, it will mean that their debt is cut by about $2,000.
For someone with a debt of $60,000, it will mean that their debt is cut by almost $2,700.
Corresponding changes are made to the VET Student Loans Act 2016,Australian Apprenticeship Support Loans Act 2014,Social Security Act 1991 andStudent Assistance Act 1973 to ensure that the revised methodology also applies to VET Student Loans, Australian Apprenticeship Support Loans, Student Start-up Loans, ABSTUDY Student Start-up Loans and the Student Financial Supplement Scheme.
Second, the bill amends the Higher Education Support Act to allow for grants to be paid to higher education providers for a new Commonwealth Prac Payment.
This is an important reform.
A lot of students tell me that when they do their prac they've got to give up their part-time job, or they've got to move away from home or work fewer hours.
Sometimes that can mean they delay doing their degree or don't finish it at all.
That's why for the first time ever, we are introducing this payment for eligible teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students.
This will give people who have signed up to do some of the most important jobs in this country a bit of extra help to get the qualifications they need.
This is practical support for practical training.
Just to give you one example of what this will mean, a few weeks ago I met a midwifery student at UTS who told me this:
"I'm a first-year mature-age midwifery student. This payment is going to be absolutely life-changing for me. As a mother of two small children, I'm often balancing between practical work, placement and looking after my babies.
"There are literally some days where I'm doing 16hour days between my study and my work and looking after my children.
"I cannot wait for this payment to be available for myself and other future mature-age students who might also want to enrol in this course who previously couldn't financially afford it."
That's what this reform is all about.
Third, the bill establishes a new Commonwealth Grant Scheme funding cluster for "FEE-FREE Uni Ready Courses".
These free courses are effectively a bridge between school and university to give students the foundational skills they need to succeed at uni.
Some universities offer these courses already.
Not many do it better than Newcastle Uni.
They have been doing it now for 50 years.
One in five people who get a degree from Newcastle University today, start with one of these FEE-FREE Uni Ready courses.
People like Jennifer Baker.
Jennifer was a mum at 19. She worked in hospitality for 10 years and one day saw an ad for one of these free courses in the local paper.
Now she's got a science degree. An Honours degree. A PhD. And a Fulbright Scholarship.
She's a computational medicinal chemist.
That's what these courses do.
And what this bill does is effectively uncap FEE-FREE Uni Ready courses, right across the country.
Giving more Australians the life-changing opportunity to get a crack at going to university.
Another good example of this is the University Preparation Program at the University of Tasmania where 51 per cent of students who go through the program are the first in their family to attend university.
And 39 per cent are from a low SES background.
Mr Speaker this reform is expected to increase the number of people doing these free uni ready courses by about 40 per cent by the end of the decade and double the number in the decade after that.
Fourth, the bill requires that higher education providers allocate a minimum of 40 per cent of the student services and amenities fees revenue they collect from students to student-led organisations.
This will ensure that students have a significant voice in how their services and amenities fees are spent.
Universities can apply to the Secretary of my Department for a transition period to implement this change.
Any transition arrangements for public universities must be completed within agreed timeframes, up to a maximum of three years.
These are all recommendations of the Universities Accord.
And they are all important measures in themselves.
But they are only one part of what we need to do to build a better and a fairer education system.
Under Bob Hawke and Paul Keating, the number of Australians finishing high school jumped from around 40 per cent to almost 80 per cent. That was nation changing stuff.
We're now taking the next step.
We've set a target for the nation that by 2050, 80 per cent of our workforce hasn't just finished school, but they've also gone on to TAFE or gone to university.
If we hit that 80 per cent target the economic dividend is real.
For individuals it means they earn more.
The evidence is if you go to university, then you earn more.
It also means the whole country earns more.
My Department estimates the economy will be better off to the tune of about $240 billion in additional income up to the year 2050, in today's dollars.
So how do we hit this target? How do we build a workforce where 80 per cent have a tertiary qualification?
The short answer is we can't unless we build a better and a fairer education system.
And this bill is part of that.
What the Accord says is to hit that target, we need to break down two big barriers.
One of those barriers is artificial. The other one is invisible.
The artificial barrier is the one we have built ourselves between vocational education and higher education.
We are not going fix the skills shortages we have, and will have, unless they are more integrated.
Unless they are more joined up.
Unless we fix things like recognition of prior learning.
Make it easier for what you have learnt in TAFE to be counted towards a degree at university, so you can get the degree quicker and cheaper.
In the Budget, we announced $27.7 million into immediate measures aimed at breaking down the barriers between VET and higher education to ensure a more seamless and aligned tertiary education system, including recognition of prior learning and streamlining regulation for dual sector providers.
And we are already doing things here.
One: we are working on the business case now for a National Skills Passport.
An app where you can upload all of your skills, qualifications and work experience to make it easier for employers to find the people they need.
Two: we are investing about $650 million with the states to establish up to 20 Centres of Excellence. These are places where TAFEs and unis come together. Where you can get a certificate, a diploma or a degree.
But what the Accord says is to get the two sectors working more closely together, we need one body that can help better integrate the two and what they do.
They recommended an Australian Tertiary Education Commission to do this job.
And that's what we are doing.
We want to get this right so we're consulting with the sector about the design details.
The second barrier we have to break down is the invisible barrier that stops a lot of people from poor families, from the outer suburbs of our big cities and from the regions going to uni in the first place, and succeeding when they get there.
This bill lays the foundations to massively expand the number of people doing FEE-FREE University Ready Courses.
We've released consultation papers on the design of a new funding system for higher education that includes managed growth and needs-based funding to help people who start a degree to finish.
Feedback from stakeholders will help shape these important reforms.
But this is also just the start.
The truth is, if we are going to be successful, reform can't just happen at the university gate.
We have got to reform every part of the education system.
That means fixing funding for public schools and tying it to practical reforms.
At the moment, the number of kids finishing high school is going backwards. In the last seven years it's dropped from 85 per cent to 79 per cent.
And in public schools that drop is even bigger, from 83 per cent to 73.6 per cent.
We've got to turn this around. That's what the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement I tabled in Parliament yesterday is all about.
All up, I have put $16 billion of additional investment for public schools on the table.
To put that into context—this would be the biggest increase in Commonwealth funding to public schools ever delivered.
I have made it clear this funding must be tied to reforms.
Practical things like phonics checks and numeracy checks, evidenced-based teaching and catch-up tutoring, to identify kids who need additional support and make sure they get it.
The sort of things that will help more kids catch up, keep up and finish school.
But reform also doesn't start there.
If we are serious about this, we have to go back even earlier.
The first five years of a child's life are everything. Everything they see, everything they hear, everything they eat, every book they open, every lesson they learn shapes the person that they become.
And what we know is, it's children from poor families who are the least likely to go to early childhood education and care, and the most likely to benefit from it.
The Productivity Commission's final report is on my desk right now and it will help chart a course to building a universal early education system.
If we're going to build a universal system, then the first step, the very first thing we need to do is build the early education and care workforce.
And that involves better reward for the work that our early educators do.
That's why last week we announced the Government will fund a 15 per cent wage increase over two years for early childhood education and care workers.
This is good for parents and good for educators.
It's good for the economy.
And most importantly, it's good for our children.
The child care debate is over. It's not babysitting. It's early education and it's critical to preparing children for school.
The US President makes the point that if a child goes to preschool, they're 50 per cent more likely to go to college or to university. So this isn't about changing nappies, this is about changing lives, and that's what our early educators do.
And if we are going to hit that 80 per cent target by 2050, then we need to be building a better education system for the children in our early education centres and primary schools right now.
Children like my little guy in 2nd class.
Or his little brother still in nappies.
And for the babies who will be born tomorrow and the day after that.
Into poverty and into wealth, and everything in between.
They will grow up in big cities and outer suburbs, in the regions and the bush.
They will go to school in the 2030s and TAFE or uni in the 2040s.
This bill is an important first step in making sure that we are ready for them.
I commend it to the House.
… handing $16bn to graduates is a reverse Robin Hood: it's a tax cut targeted to the big end of town, with money going from the less well off to the better off.
At the end of the motion, add ", but the Senate notes that:
(a) the Albanese Government's economic mismanagement and high inflation has resulted in escalating student debt for some 3 million Australians with a HELP (Higher Education Loan Program) loan,
(b) the proposal to change HELP indexation to the lower of the wage price index or the consumer price index would still result in student debts increasing by 11.1 % since June 2022, with no date by which student debt credits will be applied or refunds paid,
(c) whether it is student debt, housing or paying bills, Australians continue to suffer acute cost-of-living pain under this government,
(d) the Government has failed to detail eligibility criteria for the Commonwealth Prac Payments or how students will receive those payments, noting that students studying in other areas of workforce shortage such as occupational therapy, psychology and veterinary studies have been excluded from the scheme; and
(e) the Government's decision to mandate that 40% of the Student Services and Amenities Fee revenue be directed to student led organisations, including student unions, associations and guilds, lacks any transparency measures to ensure money is spent on services that support student welfare".
… these changes represent a significant step toward achieving greater equity in higher education and ensuring that financial barriers do not hinder their academic and professional aspirations.
It's a long-established practice in those universities that balances both the interests of students and student representation and, obviously, governance relating to the administration of that money.
Since 2020, this program has supported over 1,300 students to build the knowledge, skills and confidence to study at university. Of these students, 51% are first in family to attend university, 39% are from a low SES background, and 65% are under the age of 24.
… will help students in these fields of study complete their degrees and reduce the bottleneck in the supply of higher education graduates in these critical fields of workforce shortage.
This initiative is very welcome as a first step towards addressing the issue of 'student placement poverty'.
My concern is that this leaves us vulnerable to a period where the CPI and the WPI are both high simultaneously—
kind of like we had in the 1970s. I don't think that's likely right now, but nor did we expect this kind of resurgence of inflation.
The function of a loan scheme like HELP is to help people achieve their educational and career goals, doing so in a way that balances managing their personal financial risks and the government's fiscal position. All parts of the system—the original fees charged, the indexation arrangements, and the repayment system—need to work together in a coherent way to achieve these objectives.
These amendments will provide little to no cost of living/cost of study relief to those students enrolled at Australia's universities today, who face the immediate pressures of study during the current cost of living crisis. Nor will there be any substantial, immediate benefit to Australians currently paying off their HELP loan. If these students are already in the workforce, their ongoing HELP loan repayments remain fixed and unchanged under this amendment.
The Accord report noted that while universities have discretion on how they use these funds—as long as they use them for the intended purpose—it is a financial source that student unions rely on heavily.
…that changes to how the SSAF is used be deferred until the proposal has been further developed in consultation with the sector because of substantial concerns raised by UA's members.
In 2022, Paddy Nixon, the then-vice chancellor of the University of Canberra, which was ranked equal 421st best university in the world, took home a salary package of $1,045,000—the same as Dame Louise Richardson who was running the world's best university—Oxford.
All parts of the system—the original fees charged, the indexation arrangements, and the repayment system—need to work together in a coherent way …
I walk 5km every morning to catch my school bus, during bad weather conditions. The road from my home to school is very poor. The culvert and bridges are very low and not in good condition, putting me at risk when travelling.'
The sea is being polluted and turtles are trying to find their way out to breathe and look for shelter. It's really affecting me and my family because this is where we always get our food from. It's too risky for me and my family to fish now.
I dream of an Australia where all households can afford to live comfortably. Where the "forgotten" middle-income families can provide for their children, afford to pay their bills and aspire to achieve the great Australian dream of owning a home.
I dream of an Australia, whose government supports a strong small business sector, where SMEs, the backbone of the Australian economy, thrive, and where the media landscape is able to report on business success rather than industry collapse.
However, this dream is feeling increasingly out of reach. According to data …, the risk of small business failure rose by 20% in the year to March 2024. This is a national tragedy worthy of criticism and I fear that this risk is only being furthered by recent government investment—
It is for this reason that I speak on behalf of the small businesses and households struggling to pay their bills and call upon the next Australian parliament to lift the statutory ban on nuclear power. With this ban, Australia is only falling further behind other G20 countries, all of which are pursuing a nuclear energy future. It is my dream that the coming decade will see government investment in nuclear energy—a clean, efficient, baseload power supply that would provide reliable low-cost energy to all Australian households and businesses.
… I can promise all Australians this—no matter how you voted today, the government I lead will respect every one of you every day.
… a 'huge help'. The financial support has allowed me to focus on my studies without worrying about tuition costs.
That the Senate take note of the answers given by ministers to questions without notice asked by Opposition senators today.
… there are many in the super industry who make payments to related parties, and that can include trade unions, that are for perfectly proper purposes and which would appear on the face of it to be value for money and appropriate.
… … …
… super funds require services. They may contract with trade unions and others—
to provide those services …
That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Emergency Management (Senator McAllister) to a question without notice I asked today relating to age verification for social media:
That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Emergency Management (Senator McAllister) to a question without notice asked by Senator Hanson-Young today relating to native forest logging.
That, in accordance with section 5 of the Parliament Act 1974 , the Senate approves the proposal for the National Capital Authority for capital works within the Parliamentary Zone, relating to the Senator Neville Bonner commemorative sculpture and associated works.
That the Senate records its sadness at the death, on 6 September 2024, of John Richard Coulter, former senator for South Australia, places on record its gratitude for his service to the Parliament and the nation, and tenders its sympathy to his family in their bereavement.
He was a critical thinker, an intellectual, but not afraid to get his hands dirty, literally while tending to an orchard or protesting in the streets.
He supported my ascension and was excited to see me become the youngest woman to enter the parliament. It was an honour to fill his vacancy: my political aspirations were hugely supported by him.
That leave of absence be granted to Senator Thorpe for the following dates, for personal reasons:
(a) 4 to 14 September 2023;
(b) 4 December 2023;
(c) 19 March 2024; and
(d) 27 June 2024.
That there be laid on the table by the Minister representing the Treasurer, by no later than midday on 4 December 2024, all written or digital correspondence, briefing notes, file notes, meeting notes, meeting agendas or minutes, or other records of interaction from 30 June to 18 November 2024 between:
(a) the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services or their office;
(b) the ACCC and the Treasury; and
(c) the Treasury and the Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services or their office;
in relation to the Government's response to, and implementation of, all recommendations of the ACCC's fifth interim report for the digital platform services inquiry, provided to the Treasurer on 30 September 2022.
That—
(a) the Senate notes that:
(i) on 8 August 2024, access to documents dealing with gambling reform was sought from the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and the Arts (the department) under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act),
(ii) on 8 October 2024, the department responded to that freedom of information (FOI) request, advising that 22 documents had been identified, with access refused in full to 4 of the documents based on section 47(C) of the FOI Act, a public interest conditional exemption relating to deliberative processes, and
(iii) the Senate is not subject to such deliberative process exemptions; and
(b) there be laid on the table by the Minister representing the Minister for Communications, by 2 pm on Thursday, 21 November 2024, the following documents:
(i) the proposed wagering advertising reform model, dated 8 August 2024, and
(ii) the wagering advertising reform consultation—schedule of questions, dated 30 July 2024.
The Senate divided. [16:08]
(The Deputy President—Senator McLachlan)
That the following matter be referred to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security for inquiry and report by 10 February 2025:
The possible listing of Hizb ut-Tahrir as a terrorist organisation.
The Senate divided. [16:13]
(The Deputy President—Senator McLachlan)
That there be laid on the table by the Minister representing the Minister for Social Services, by no later than 5 pm on Monday, 25 November 2024, a list of grant activities that did not carry over when the previous National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and Children 2010-2022 was replaced by the current National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children 2022-2032.
(1) That there be laid on the table by the Minister representing the Minister for the Environment and Water, by no later than 5 pm on Wednesday, 27 November 2024:
(a) all documents relied upon for the decision relating to Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation number 2020/8704; and
(b) all related correspondence between:
(i) the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (the department) and Ozy Homes Pty Ltd,
(ii) the department and Manyana Coast Pty Ltd,
(iii) the Minister for the Environment and Water and Ozy Homes Pty Ltd, and
(iv) the Minster for the Environment and Water and Manyana Coast Pty Ltd.
(2) That once received by the Clerk or the President, documents returned and any correspondence responding to the order shall be deemed to have been presented to the Senate, and publication of the documents is authorised.
Pursuant to standing order 75, I give notice that today I propose to move "That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:
The need to recognise that a blanket ban on social media for children under 16 expropriates parental power, and for the Senate to affirm that parental responsibility rests in the parents, not the Federal Government."
That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:
The need to recognise that a blanket ban on social media for children under 16 expropriates parental power, and for the Senate to affirm that parental responsibility rests in the parents, not the Federal Government. The government is proposing a ban on children under 16 accessing social media and justifies the measure because it's supposedly popular. Oh, really? It's ironic that the same parties who accuse One Nation of populism are now promoting a measure not because it's workable but, rather, because it's supposedly popular.
The Senate divided. [16:52]
(The Acting Deputy President—Senator Marielle Smith)
Pursuant to standing order 75, I propose that the following matter of public importance be submitted to the Senate for discussion:
"Labor's wasteful spending, failed policies and wrong priorities have created a national cost of living crisis; with Australians' standards of living going backwards and interest rates higher for longer, the Government must develop a national solution to address this national crisis and stop making Australians pay the price."
That so much of the standing orders be suspended as would prevent me moving a motion to provide for the consideration of a matter, namely a motion to give precedence to a motion relating to her censure earlier today.
We will not blame him—
for the crimes of his ancestors if he relinquishes the royal rights of his ancestors; but as long as he claims their rights, by virtue of descent … he must shoulder the responsibility for their crimes.
That the question be now put.
The Senate divided. [17:35]
(The Acting Deputy President—Senator Chandler)
That the Senate take note of document 28 listed on today's Order of Business.
That the Senate take note of document 32 listed on today's Order of Business.
That the Senate take note of the document.
The Commissioner's involvement in the decision-making under section 41 was comprehensive, before, during and after the 19 October 2023 meeting at which the substantive decision was made.
The views of the Commissioner expressed at the meeting on 19 October were not limited to policy questions concerning the referrals generally as the policy questions had a strong factual element specific to, amongst others, [Referred Person 1]—
The discussion was framed by the issues raised by the Commissioner. The Commissioner settled the minutes …
That the Senate take note of the report.
That the Senate take note of the documents.
That the Senate take note of the documents.
That the Senate take note of the documents.
That Senator McKim be appointed as a member of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Parliamentary Standards.
Migration Amendment (Strengthening Sponsorship and Nomination Processes) Bill 2024
Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
Treasury Laws Amendment (2024 Tax and Other Measures No. 1) Bill 2024
Veterans' Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Harmonisation) Bill 2024
That these bills may proceed without formalities, may be taken together and be now read a first time.
That these bills be now read a second time.
MIGRATION AMENDMENT (STRENGTHENING SPONSORSHIP AND NOMINATION PROCESSES) BILL 2024
The Migration Amendment (Strengthening Sponsorship and Nomination Processes) Bill 2024 amends the Migration Act 1958 to establish the legislative framework for a new temporary skilled worker visa, the Skills in Demand visa.
This legislation creates the income thresholds and indexation for the proposed streams of that visa, as well as streamlining Labour Market Testing requirements.
This Bill is a necessary, important step to introduce a better targeted, temporary skilled work visa as part of the Albanese Labor Government's Migration Strategy.
The Migration Strategy is a set of commitments to address a decade of neglect in Australia's visa system. It's about a more prosperous, fair and secure Australian labour market.
If you are a worker, whether local or migrant, the Migration Strategy means stronger protections of your wages and conditions.
For businesses, it means getting the workers and skills you need to grow and be more productive.
The amendments in this Bill are an important step in delivering a better-planned migration system, meeting Australia's skills needs, and laying a strong foundation for the future.
The provision of legislated minimum income thresholds in the Migration Act for the streams in the Skills in Demand visa will ensure that people working on these visas are less vulnerable to exploitation. This Bill ensures workers receive fair remuneration through indexed salary thresholds.
The amendments in this Bill will guarantee that migrant wages will increase alongside Australian wages, reducing the likelihood of exploitation of skilled migrants. This is good for all workers, regardless of where they are from.
The Specialist Skills stream will attract highly-skilled specialists to ensure businesses can quickly and easily recruit top talent. Eligibility criteria would, among other things, require an applicant to be earning at least $135,000 per year.
The Specialist Skills stream will recognise these workers meet a national need that is beyond filling a narrowly defined gap in the labour market. Highly-skilled migrants bring significant economic benefits. They are more likely to bring productivity enhancing , knowledge and ideas and create jobs for locals..
Most temporary skilled migrants will come through the Core Skills stream. This stream is designed to bring in the skilled employees Australia needs, now and in the future, to ensure we are able to provide ourselves with the goods and services we need to support our way of life.
Eligibility criteria would, among other things, require an applicant to be earning at least $73,150 per year.
These thresholds, to be implemented under the new Skills in Demand Visa, replaces the current Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold.
Placing this threshold in the Act, and making it subject to annual indexation—instead of continuing to specify it in a legislative instrument made by the Minister—provides greater certainty for both sponsors and workers going forward, whilst providing greater strength to restore integrity to the migration system.
Labor has long called for indexation of these important salary thresholds and this Bill ensures this will happen into the future.
For too long, these salaries were not indexed and the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold remained at $53,900 from 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2023.
The Bill also delivers on another commitment in the Government's Migration Strategy, by establishing a legislative framework to underpin a public register of approved work sponsors.
This register will provide greater protections and oversight mechanisms, helping to tackle migrant worker exploitation and misuse of the visa system.
Importantly, this register will provide a resource to check that a sponsoring employer is legitimate.
The development of a public register that includes the name of the approved sponsor, their business postcode, number of sponsored workers and their occupations will encourage transparency, monitoring and, oversight.
This managed approach to Australia's visa system ensures a stronger workforce, which in turn strengthens the Australian community.
This Bill will help ensure we have the skills we need for the future and, ultimately, make sure the system is working in the interests of all Australians.
Migrants make a valuable contribution not only to Australia's prosperity—but also to our communities, our national identity, and to our connections across the world.
This Bill is an important step towards implementing the Albanese Labor Government's Migration Strategy.
I commend this Bill to the Chamber.
PRIVACY AND OTHER LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2024
Introduction
The digital economy has unleashed enormous benefits for Australians. But it has also increased the privacy risks we face through the collection and storage of enormous amounts of our personal data.
The Privacy Act 1988 represented the first time that a comprehensive, integrated set of legal rules protecting interests in privacy existed in Australia. On introducing it, Attorney-General Lionel Bowen told the Parliament that "enormous developments in technology for the processing of information are providing new and, in some respects, undesirable opportunities for the greater use of personal information."
In that respect, little has changed. Evolutions in technology and the way people use it continue to vex those who share information online, and those charged with regulating it. It is essential that Australians are protected by a legal framework that is flexible and agile enough to adapt to changes in the world around them.
The Privacy Act has not kept pace with the adoption of digital technologies. The vast data flows that underpin digital ecosystems have also created the conditions for significant harms—like major data breaches that have revealed the sensitive information of millions of Australians, exposing us to the risk of identity fraud and scams.
Strong privacy laws and protections are critical to building public trust and confidence in the digital economy, and driving the investments needed to keep people's data safe.
The right to privacy is a fundamental human right. As Sir Zelman Cowan said in his 1969 Boyer Lectures, a person without privacy is a person without dignity. We must be vigilant in ensuring that evolving technology does not erode our ability to protect information about who we are, what we do and what we believe from being misused.
The Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 is a significant step forward for Australian privacy law. It begins the much-needed work of updating our privacy laws to be fit-for-purpose in the digital age.
With this Bill, the Australian Government is taking the next step to ensure Australians' privacy is respected and protected. It implements a first tranche of agreed recommendations of the Privacy Act Review, ahead of consultation on a second tranche of reforms.
It also delivers on a commitment made by the Albanese Government following the National Cabinet held in May to address gender-based violence, by outlawing the practice of "doxxing", or the malicious release of personal data online.
Schedule 1 of the Bill will amend the Privacy Act to enhance its effectiveness, strengthen the enforcement tools available to the privacy regulator and better facilitate safe overseas data flows. It will require the development of a Children's Online Privacy Code, streamline information-sharing in emergencies and following eligible data breaches, and increase transparency when entities are automating significant decisions which use personal information.
Schedule 2 of the Bill will introduce a new statutory tort to provide redress for serious invasions of privacy.
Schedule 3 of the Bill will amend the Criminal Code Act 1995 to introduce new criminal offences to target the harmful practice of doxxing.
Schedule 1—Privacy Act amendments
Schedule 1 begins the work of bringing Australia's privacy protection framework into the digital age. The amendments re-affirm the Government's view that entities have a responsibility to protect
Australians' personal information and not treat it merely as a commercial asset.
Children's privacy
While all Australians face privacy risks in the online environment, children are particularly vulnerable. For many Australian children, social media has been part of their lives from the time they were born. They have never lived in a world without it.
It has been estimated that by the time a child turns 13, around 72 million pieces of data will be collected about them.
This Bill will require the development of a Children's Online Privacy Code which will apply to social media and other internet services which are likely to be accessed by children. The Children's Online Privacy Code will specify how these entities must comply with privacy obligations in relation to children. The Code will align to the extent possible with similar codes in like-minded countries, such as the United Kingdom.
The Code will be developed by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, which will be provided with $3 million in funding over three years to do this important work.
Information-sharing declarations after data breaches and emergencies
Cyber incidents are growing in number, speed and sophistication. Data breaches are exposing millions of Australians to risk of fraud, identity theft and scams. This Bill will promote the importance of implementing technical and organisational controls—such as encrypting data and training staff on data protection—to address information security risks.
It will also support more effective responses to data breaches by introducing eligible data breach declarations. A declaration will permit the sharing of personal information following a notifiable data breach for the purpose of preventing or reducing the risk of harm to individuals.
Sharing information under these circumstances will enable entities such as banks to act quickly to prevent the misuse of compromised credentials. Safeguards are included to ensure that a declaration can only be made for a purpose that is related to preventing or reducing a risk of harm to individuals arising from a misuse of personal information from the eligible data breach.
An eligible data breach declaration can be issued quickly and will make clear the kinds of personal information that may be shared, and with whom they may be shared, which may include state and territory agencies.
Similarly, emergency declarations made under the Act permit personal information sharing following disasters or emergencies to support response efforts, including to assist affected individuals. The Bill will require emergency declarations to specify the kinds of personal information, types of entities permitted to share information and the purposes for which it may be shared. These changes will ensure that individuals' privacy is protected while also addressing their broader interests, and will support enhanced coordination with states and territories in emergencies and disasters.
Overseas data flows
The flow of information across national borders is critical for international trade and services in a globalised world. To support the free flow of information with appropriate protections, the Bill provides for countries with substantially similar data privacy laws to Australia to be prescribed. Businesses and individuals will be able to have greater confidence that personal information will be kept safe. This will also reduce costs for business when entering into contracts and agreements with overseas entities.
Enforcement
Effective enforcement of the Privacy Act is essential to protect Australians' interests. This Bill expands the suite of regulatory powers available to the Information Commissioner to effectively enforce the Act, and provides a broader range of enforcement options available to do so. This will include new civil penalties and infringement notices for less serious privacy breaches.
To investigate potential privacy breaches in an increasingly complex digital landscape, the Information Commissioner requires modern investigative powers. This Bill provides the Information Commissioner with additional powers, including for search and seizure, which may be exercised under warrant when investigating breaches of the Act, and scalable enforcement options.
The Bill will empower a court to make appropriate orders where it has determined that an entity has breached a civil penalty provision, which may include compensation for loss or damage suffered.
Effective privacy protection requires proactive regulatory action. This Bill also strengthens the Information Commissioner's capacity by expanding monitoring and assessment functions. The Bill also introduces new public inquiry powers which will enable the Information Commissioner to inquire into specified matters as directed or approved. This will enable the
Information Commissioner to keep closer oversight of threats to privacy, including issues of a systemic nature, as they emerge.
Automated decision making
The safe and responsible development and deployment of automated decision making presents significant opportunities. These systems have the potential to increase the efficiency, accuracy and consistency of decisions, and they present opportunities for improved outcomes in health, environment, defence and national security.
The Bill will provide individuals with transparency about the use of their personal information in automated decisions which significantly affect their interests. Entities will need to specify the kinds of personal information used in these sorts of decisions in their privacy policies.
Importantly these requirements will apply to decisions that are wholly or substantially automated, ensuring that the new requirements cannot be avoided by 'tokenistic' human involvement in a decision-making process.
Schedule 2—statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy
A statutory tort applying to breaches of privacy has been talked about in Australia for a long, long time—as early as 1969, when Sir Zelman Cowan, then Vice-Chancellor of the University of New England, endorsed legislation to create an actionable right to seek redress for breaches of privacy.
There is currently no tortious right of action for invasion of privacy under the Act or any other Commonwealth, state or territory statute. The creation of a statutory tort was recommended by the Australian Law Reform Commission in its 2014 Report "Serious Invasions of Privacy in the Digital Era", which I commissioned in 2013. It has been recommended by many other inquiries before and since.
In its 2014 report, the Commission stated the creation of a statutory tort would "fill an increasingly conspicuous gap in Australian law, helping to protect the privacy of Australians, while respecting and reinforcing other fundamental rights and values, including freedom of expression".
Schedule 2 to the Bill will provide a new statutory cause of action, or tort, for individuals who have suffered a serious invasion of their privacy. This will include an intrusion on a person's physical privacy, so the tort will complement the Privacy Act, which focusses on the narrower concept of information privacy.
There are parts of our lives that we reasonably expect to be able to keep to ourselves. The freedom to enjoy a private and family life, and express ourselves and our beliefs in safety, is critical to our wellbeing and dignity.
Ensuring that individuals have a clear right to seek a legal remedy against people or entities who seriously invade their privacy is a key part of ensuring that our privacy laws keep pace with community expectations and advances in technology.
Schedule 2 to the Bill provides that an individual has a cause of action for serious privacy invasions, either by an intrusion upon the individual's seclusion—for example by physically intruding into their private space—or by misuse of their information, in circumstances where the individual had a reasonable expectation of privacy.
A plaintiff will have a cause of action without having to prove that any damage arose from the invasion of privacy. The damage or harm a plaintiff suffers will' be a relevant factor in assessing the seriousness of the invasion, and the remedies that may be awarded.
For a claim to succeed, the plaintiff will need to demonstrate the public interest in protecting their privacy outweighs any competing public interest raised by the defendant.
In addition to the public interest balancing test, a range of defences will apply, including where the conduct of the defendant was required or authorised by law or was necessary because of a serious threat to life, health or safety.
The Bill will provide specific exemptions from liability under the tort, including for journalism, enforcement bodies and intelligence agencies. These exemptions are important to protect press freedom, and ensure that legitimate activities of government can be delivered effectively.
The journalism exemption provides that invasions of privacy which occur in the course of the collection, preparation or publication of journalistic material, by a journalist, their employer, or someone assisting them, would not be liable under the tort. The Bill requires that to be considered a 'journalist', the person must work in that professional capacity, and be subject to applicable standards of professional conduct or a code of practice.
The journalism exemption also operates in addition to the requirement that a court balance the public interest in the plaintiff's privacy with other public interests. This may involve consideration of the public interest in freedom of the media, or freedom of expression.
A court will have the flexibility to choose the remedy or remedies that are most appropriate in the circumstances. This may include compensation for non-economic loss or an order requiring the defendant to apologise to the plaintiff.
Schedule 3—doxxing criminal offences
Schedule 3 of the Bill will amend the Criminal Code 1995 to create new criminal offences targeting the release of personal data in a manner that is menacing or harassing-a practice known as 'doxxing'.
The prevalence of social media and online platforms has rapidly increased the capacity of malicious individuals to obtain personal data, and to release that online-either to the public at large on social media platforms, or to their associates on forum and messaging platforms.
Doxxing exposes victims to significant and enduring harm, including public embarrassment, humiliation, shaming, discrimination, stalking and identify theft and financial fraud. It can lead to threats to a victim's life and safety, and the lives and safety of their families and friends. It can inflict significant and lasting psychological harm.
Doxxing is a damaging form of abuse that can affect all Australians, but is often used against women in the context of domestic and family violence.
The creation of this offence also responds to a recent, shocking incident of a group who were targeted with doxxing on the basis of their religion.
The Bill creates a new offence that applies where a person:
The new offence will carry a maximum penalty of 6 years' imprisonment.
The Bill also introduces a further offence, with a more serious maximum penalty of 7 years' imprisonment, where a person or group is targeted because of their race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status, disability, nationality or national or ethnic origin.
The Government recognises that there are circumstances in which people legitimately publish and distribute personal data, including individuals' names, contact details and movements.
The new offences will apply only where a reasonable person would consider the conduct to be, in all the circumstances, menacing or harassing, to ensure that legitimate conduct is not inappropriately criminalised.
'Personal data', in the context of these new offences, means information about an individual that enables them to be identified, contacted or located. This includes their name, photograph, telephone number, email address, online account, residential or work address, and place of education or worship. This definition recognises that doxxing can occur in a number of different ways.
The Albanese Government is committed to the protection of Australians from online harm, and these new offences will ensure that perpetrators of doxxing are held to account.
These new offences will complement work that is underway across government, to strengthen online safety for all Australians. This includes the takedown powers of the eSafety Commissioner, the Cyberbullying Scheme and the Adult Cyber Abuse Scheme under the Online Safety Act 2021.
Conclusion
This Bill is an important first step in the Government's privacy reform agenda, but it will not be the last. Over the coming months, the Attorney- General's Department will develop the next tranche of privacy reform for targeted consultation, including draft provisions. The Government is approaching this important reform work carefully, to ensure increased privacy protections are balanced alongside other impacts, and that we deliver the fairest outcome for all Australians.
After many years of inaction, this Labor Government is committed to genuine privacy reform. The Australian people expect no less—for themselves and their children.
TREASURY LAWS AMENDMENT (2024 TAX AND OTHER MEASURES NO. 1) BILL 2024
Today, we're taking steps to ensure that our tax system is simpler and fairer.
Schedule 1 to the Bill improves the integrity of the foreign resident capital gains withholding regime.
Foreign residents, like Australian residents, are required to pay capital gains taxes on the sale of their Australian real property assets. However, there's an incentive for foreign residents to not lodge a tax return to avoid this liability. The current withholding regime has been in place since 2016 as an integrity measure against this—ensuring a 12.5 per cent down payment on any CGT liability at the point of sale, for asset sales above $750,000.
However, where CGT liabilities are greater than 12.5 per cent, there remains an incentive for foreign residents to avoiding lodging a tax return in order to sidestep their tax obligations.
The amendments implement the government's 2023-24 MYEFO measure to increase the withholding rate from 12.5 per cent to 15 per cent and removes the $750,000 threshold.
These changes help to level the playing field between Australian and foreign investors, by ensuring foreign investors selling a real property asset (such as residential property) are subject to the same overall tax obligations as Australians, and better aligns a foreign resident's CGT liabilities with their likely real capital gain.
We're also making our tax system simpler for Australia's small businesses. Small businesses are the heart of our economy. They're run by hardworking Australians who are used to overcoming challenges to keep their businesses growing. We'd like their tax returns to be one less challenge. The changes in this Bill will make it easier to manage their tax affairs, so they can get back to their businesses and their families.
Currently, businesses need to make a declaration each time their tax agent lodges their single touch payroll data on their behalf. We're changing that. Schedule 2 will allow a business to make a standing declaration to their agent that covers multiple lodgements, for up to 12 months, on the employer's behalf. This simple change simplifies the process, saving time and cutting unnecessary red tape.
We're also extending the time small and medium businesses have to self-amend their tax assessments from two to four years, as outlined in Schedule 3. Currently, if a business realises they've made a mistake in their tax return after the two-year window has closed, they're forced into a formal objections process that is time- consuming, complex, and often costly. By extending the self-amendment window, we're giving businesses the flexibility to fix errors, helping them stay compliant with their tax obligations.
Schedule 4 to the Bill delivers on the government's election commitment to cut paperwork and reduce the time small businesses spend doing taxes. The law currently requires the Tax Office to process certain refunds as soon as practicable, even when valid bank account details aren't available. This often results in the Tax Office sending refunds via cheques. These can be delayed or lost, and may impose a cost on businesses to process them. These changes will allow the Tax Office up to 90 days to gain valid bank account details before processing certain tax refunds. The greater use of electronic funds transfers to bank accounts will facilitate faster, safer and cheaper payment of refunds.
The changes in this Bill are sensible changes to improve the integrity of our tax system, cut red tape, and make our tax system more accessible for Australian businesses.
Full details of the measure are contained in the Explanatory Memorandum.
VETERANS' ENTITLEMENTS, TREATMENT AND SUPPORT (SIMPLIFICATION AND HARMONISATION) BILL 2024
Today, I am pleased to introduce the Veterans' Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Harmonisation) Bill 2024. The VETS Bill.
This Bill delivers on the Albanese Government's commitment to implement the first recommendation of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide's Interim Report.
Positioning
In August 2022 the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide released its Interim Report.
The Royal Commission found that the 'veterans entitlement system is so complicated that it adversely affects the mental health of some veterans'.
Veteran claims for benefits and support are currently assessed under three different pieces of legislation depending on the time someone served, and the nature of their service. Often veterans have had claims dealt with under all three pieces of legislation.
This is the result of decades of piecemeal change and fringe reform built on top of a century of different veterans' entitlements legislation.
The Royal Commission's first recommendation was that legislative reform be implemented to simplify and harmonise the system. The Government accepted this recommendation a month later.
That is what this Government committed to doing, and we've set about the mammoth task of embarking on the most significant reform of the veterans' entitlements legislation since the introduction of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 20 years ago. Indeed, this Bill could be seen as the most significant shift in approach to veterans entitlements legislation in in the nearly 40 years since theVeterans Entitlements Act was introduced.
Anyone who has engaged with the current veteran compensation system will tell you the system is unnecessarily complicated, difficult to understand and has negatively impacted veterans. This same complexity has directly contributed to delays, inconsistent processing, uncertain outcomes and claims backlogs.
Calls to simplify the current arrangements have been kicking around for years, and I'm proud the Albanese Government has taken on the challenge. This reform will significantly reduce the complexity of the system, ultimately giving veterans and families the support they need, faster.
Since the Royal Commission's recommendation in mid-2022, through to this year, we've consulted on this proposal widely because we know that the best outcomes will come with the involvement of those who have been personally impacted by, and interacted with the veteran compensation system.
The Royal Commission called on Government to consider outstanding recommendations from the 2019 Productivity Commission report, A Better Way To Support Veterans in developing this legislation.
We sought feedback on those recommendations in 2022.
In early 2023, I released our "Veterans' Legislation Reform Consultation Pathway" for consultation. We held 17 face-to- face consultations across the country and 6 webinars, many of which I attended personally.
The Government considered this feedback and developed an exposure draft of this legislation released early this year.
Critically, as a result of these consultations, we are adding a new payment called the Additional Disablement Amount—or ADA—to the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act.
In our recent consultations with veterans around the country the feedback was overwhelmingly positive on this draft legislative proposal. Resulting from this further consultation, the Bill introduced today now sees veterans in receipt of DRCA incapacity payments automatically transition to MRCA incapacity payments.
I know for many in the veteran community, the seriousness with which the Albanese Government takes supporting our veterans was evident in this year's Federal Budget.
The Budget showed that our work properly resourcing the Department of Veterans' Affairs—OVA—and hiring more than 500 additional permanent staff to successfully eradicate the OVA claims backlog we inherited would see an additional $6.5 billion in delayed benefits and supports flow to veterans and families over five years.
The Budget was also evidence that these legislative changes are not about the Government saving money, but rather will see an additional $222 million in veteran and family benefits over the first two years of operation.
Veterans' have personally shared with me that they never thought such a significant, positive reform for the veteran community would occur in their lifetimes.
What is it?
At the heart of the Government's legislative proposal is that on 1 July 2026 all veterans' rehabilitation and compensation claims will be dealt with under a single piece of legislation, the 21st century Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (MRCA).
As a principle, this new approach will mean that all veterans will engage with OVA regarding their rehabilitation and compensation entitlements on the basis of just one piece of legislation; one that will operate without the confusing multi-act considerations that characterise many current claims.
This is a step further than what was proposed in the most recent review of veterans' compensation legislation. The 2019 Productivity Commission Report recommended taking the three current Acts, and combining these into two pieces of legislation. However, this change would have produced a whole new range of complexity.
What we have done is to move to just one piece of ongoing legislation.
This Bill will amend the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 — you might have heard it referred to as the MRCA, theSafety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related claims) Act 1988- known as the ORCA, and theVeterans' Entitlements Act 1986 — or VEA, to be streamlined into a single piece of ongoing legislation of veteran compensation and other entitlements which will be continued in the MRCA. These changes will also introduce a range of enhancements for an "Improved" ongoing MRCA that will make access to entitlements easier and fairer.
These changes will remove the need for many veterans to make choices that are often complex and, in many instances, subject to individual circumstances, which can change over time. It will also remove duplication in claims lodgement.
The changes will also hugely simplify the training, processing and knowledge burdens on claims advocates and OVA staff. Making processes and administration easier for OVA is not an end in itself, but rather an outcome that will directly and positively affect veterans by allowing the Department to be well positioned to focus efforts on vulnerable veterans.
OVERVIEW OF THE BILL
We are proposing that the new system will commence on 1 July 2026. The extended commencement allows time to ensure the veteran community is well informed on what these important changes mean for them and that individuals can consider their circumstances.
It will also ensure the appropriate training and system changes have been implemented for advocates and within OVA without hold up.
Those receiving benefits immediately prior to the commencement of the new arrangements will continue to do so under 'grandparenting' arrangements without any reduction in payments. This is a key feature of the new model that is designed to give financial certainty to veterans and their families. The provisions also operate to ensure that any payments being received will continue to be indexed annually.
In essence, the changes in this Bill will:
Turning now to the detail.
Schedule 1 of the Bill contains the key provisions that will have the effect of consolidating compensation and rehabilitation entitlements into a single ongoing piece of legislation.
Schedule 2 deals with important changes designed to enhance the benefits and payments available under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act.
Commission with an instrument-making power to specify the relevant injuries or diseases.
Schedule 3 will standardise the merits review process for veterans' compensation entitlements decisions. The internal (OVA) reconsideration process will be removed and jurisdiction given to the Veterans Review Board, a specialist veteran tribunal, to review Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related claims) Act 1988, the DRCA, original determinations. A second tier of merits review to the Administrative Review Tribunal—the AAT—will remain in place. Although DRCA reviews would naturally cease under the model in the medium term, these changes will commence 60 days after Royal Assent, to harmonise the review pathway across the Acts and provide consistency and certainty over the initial period of the new model.
Sections dealing with the powers and functions of the Veterans' Review Board will also move from the Veterans' Entitlements Act into theMilitary Rehabilitation and Compensation Act.
Schedule 4 will simplify the governance arrangements for the veterans' entitlements system. The Repatriation Commission and the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission will be merged, leaving the Repatriation Commission as the single body administering all veterans' compensation legislation, consolidating the powers of the existing two Commissions.
This change will remove duplication of responsibilities and provide greater administrative clarity about governance matters.
Schedule 5 will move provisions dealing with the Repatriation Medical Authority and Specialist Medical Review Council from the Veterans' Entitlements Act into theMilitary Rehabilitation and Compensation Act, with no change to either body's powers or responsibilities, to ultimately make engaging with the system more straightforward.
There will now be a change, however, so that where the Repatriation Medical Authority updates a Statement of Principles, or SoP, between the veterans primary and reviewable decision, the version of the SoP which is most beneficial to the veteran's circumstances will now be applied.
Schedule 6 makes important changes to when the disability compensation payment will stop under the Veterans' Entitlements Act. Currently, under theVeterans' Entitlements Act, the disability compensation payment cannot be paid for the 14-day pension period in which a person dies. That's resulted in some horrible situations where grieving families are asked to pay back a debt. This schedule will change the cessation of disability compensation payment to the date of the person's death, harmonising the position in theVeterans' Entitlements Act and theMilitary Rehabilitation and Compensation Act, as well as income support payments.
Schedule 7 will deal with application and transitional provisions.
The transitional provisions of this Bill will:
Schedule 8 contains amendments to legislation in other portfolios such as Social Services, Treasury, and Health, to reflect the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004
(MRCA) as the primary statute for veteran matters and the merging of the Commissions.
Conclusion
This legislation will reform a highly complex, overlapping veterans' compensation framework, one that operates under three separate pieces of legislation and that causes a great deal of anxiety to the veteran community.
This Bill has been developed as a result of and shaped by feedback provided by the veteran community over the last 20 months.
This is a once in a generation opportunity to get the system right for veterans and families. A system that for too long has caused much unnecessary anxiety for the veteran community. The book "Shining a Light ' recently produced by the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide that covers the lived experience of veterans and families makes this all too clear.
I thank all the veterans, defence personnel, families, advocates and experts who have been involved in this process to date.
Your frank and fearless feedback, has genuinely been vital in developing the pathway to, and the nuance of this legislation.
This legislation is a significant step in ensuring a better future for defence personnel, veterans and families.
I look forward to continuing to work with you here in this place, on all sides, to make this once in a generation positive change for all Australian Veterans.
I commend the Bill to the Chamber.
Better and Fairer Schools (Funding and Reform) Bill 2024
Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) Bill 2024
That these bills may proceed without formalities, may be taken together and be now read a first time.
That these bills be now read a second time.
BETTER AND FAIRER SCHOOLS (FUNDING AND REFORM) BILL 2024
This is a Bill to increase funding for our public schools. The Minister for Education is proud of public education. Education is the most powerful cause for good in this country. It doesn't just change lives. Its impact ricochets through generations. It changes communities and it changes countries. It's changed ours. And it's public education that does most of that heavy lifting.
More than 6,700 public primary and high schools across the country. Full of children from every background, every religion and every culture. And mums and dads up and down the income scale. Doing every sort of job. That's part of what makes public education special. It is for everyone.
But it also does something else. It plays an outsized role in educating the most disadvantaged children in this country. The children who are most likely to start behind or fall behind. The children who need our help the most. And these are the schools that are the most underfunded.
One in 10 children today are below the minimum standards we set for literacy and numeracy. But one in three children from poor families are below that standard. Most of those children are in our public schools. Many never catch up. And many never finish school.
Over the last eight years the percentage of students finishing high school has gone down not up. From 85 percent to 79 percent. That drop isn't happening everywhere. In non government schools the percentage of students finishing school is either pretty flat or going up. Where the drop is happening is in our public schools. From 83 percent to 73 percent. And it's happening at a time when it's more important to finish school than ever before. Where more and more jobs require you to finish school and then get a qualification from TAFE or uni.
This is what we have got to turn around. This is what we have got to fix. And this is what this legislation is about.
In 2011 David Gonski delivered the report that recommended a new funding formula for schools. What we now call the Schooling Resource Standard—or SRS. The SRS sets the estimated level of total public funding each school should receive to fund the cost of schooling each year. At the moment, the base per student amount is $13,570 for a child in primary school and $17,053 for a child in high school.
As part of the model that David Gonski recommended, additional funding is also provided for:
These are called loadings.
For most non-government schools, the base per student amount is reduced depending on the median income of the parents of the children who attend the school. This means for example that at a non-government school where the median family income of the parents is very high the school only gets 20 percent of the SRS base amount.
All of this is what's often described as the Gonski model or needs-based funding. At the moment all non-government schools are funded at the level David Gonski set all those years ago, or they are on track to get there, or they are above it and coming back down to it. But most public schools aren't.
The Commonwealth Government provides 80 percent of the SRS funding for non government schools and the State and Territory Governments provide the other 20 percent. For public schools it's the reverse. The Commonwealth provides 20 percent of the SRS funding and the States and Territories are supposed to provide another 75 percent.
Some do. Some don't. That means there is at least a five percent gap. At the last election the Labor party promised "to work with all states and territories to get all public schools on a path to 100 per cent of the SRS." What that means is both the Commonwealth Government chipping in more and the States and Territories chipping in more to fill that gap. To do that we have to amend the Australian Education Act.
At the moment, the Act says the Commonwealth Government will provide a maximum 20 percent of the Schooling Resource Standard to public schools. This Bill turns that maximum amount into a minimum. It turns that ceiling into a floor. It enables the Commonwealth government to ratchet up funding for public schools. And it makes it harder for future governments to rip that money out.
It means that when the Commonwealth government does a deal with a State or Territory to increase funding to public schools, that bigger Commonwealth share becomes the new floor for that State or Territory. It is locked in and it can't go backwards without changes to the Act. We have done three of those deals so far this year. With Western Australia, with the Northern Territory and Tasmania. All of them involve the Commonwealth government chipping in more and the State and Territory governments chipping in more. All of them mean more funding from 1 January next year.
In the case of Western Australia it means every public school there will be fully funded by 1 January 2026, just over 12 months away. In the case of Tasmania it means every public school will be fully funded by no later than 2029. And in the case of the Northern Territory it means something that promises to be truly transformational.
At the moment Northern Territory public schools receive approximately 80 percent of the funding they are supposed to get under the Gonski model. Less than anywhere else in the country. It means in effect that one in five children in the Northern Territory are not receiving any funding. The agreement the Minister for Education signed this year fixes that. It doubles the Commonwealth's investment in public schools in the Northern Territory. It brings forward the day that all Northern Territory public schools are fully funded by more than 20 years. And it means that some of the most disadvantaged public schools in this country will now be some of the best funded.
To make this happen though we need to pass this Bill.
There are some people who say that funding isn't important. We just need practical reforms. And there are others who say the opposite. The truth is both are required. Funding and reform.
As David Gonski said in his report: "resources alone will not be sufficient to fully address Australia's schooling challenges and achieve ahigh quality, internationally respected schooling system. The new funding arrangements must be accompanied by continued and renewed efforts to strengthen and reform Australia's schooling system."
The Minister for Education agrees. That's why the agreements the government has struck with Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory are not a blank cheque. They are tied to real, practical reforms. That includes:
All of this is part of the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement that the Commonwealth and the States and Territories have developed together. It also includes targets and measures to make sure this money glows in the dark.
The Minister for Education wants parents and teachers to know where this funding is going. That's why the bill and the Agreement strengthens the reporting and public transparency requirements around how taxpayer funding is invested, without placing additional burden on schools. The Agreement includes requirements for States and Territories to outline how the additional money is being invested in the key reform areas, and a new public reporting dashboard. And the Bill includes a new annual Ministerial statement to the Australian Parliament on the progress of school education reform agreements.
This is important reform. But it is just one part of the reforms we need to make to make our education system better and fairer. We need to reform higher education too. That's what the Australian Universities Accord is about. It's a blueprint print for reform to higher education over the next ten years and beyond. What it says is we need to build a workforce by the middle of the century where 80 percent of working aged people have a TAFE qualification or a university degree. And the only way to do that it says, is to help more people from poor families and more people from regional Australia get to university and help them succeed once they get there.
We also have to reform early education. That's what the Productivity Commission's report that was released on 18 September 2024 is about. What it says is that it's these same children, children from poor families, from the regions, from disadvantaged backgrounds, who are the least likely to go to child care or pre-school, and the most likely to benefit from it. And this, what the government is doing here, is the critical piece in the middle.
Helping those same children who start behind or fall behind, to catch up, keep up and help more children finish school. What the Prime Minister calls opening the door of opportunity.
A country where no one is held back and no one is left behind. That at its core is what public education is about. What it has always been about. That's what this Bill is about. If you support lifting funding for our public schools you will support this Bill.
I commend it to the Chamber.
WAGE JUSTICE FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE WORKERS (SPECIAL ACCOUNT) BILL 2024
Every day, parents trust early educators with the most important people in their world. And every day, Australia asks early educators to do one of the most important jobs imaginable. And they deserve a pay rise. That's what this bill helps deliver. A 15 per cent pay rise for up to 200,000 child care workers. A 10 per cent pay rise from December and then a further 5 per cent pay rise from the following December.
This is important. Because what happens in early education and care centres is important. It isn't babysitting. It's early education.
90 per cent of brain development occurs in the first five years of life. Everything that you see, everything that you read, every meal, every smile, shapes and makes the people that we become.
The US President often makes the point that if a child goes to preschool, they're 50 per cent more likely to go to college or university. That's why this is so important. It's about this. And it's about respect.
Early educators have been asking for this for decades.
And the Productivity Commission has told us that if we're going to build a universal early education system which makes early education affordable and available for more families, the first thing we need to do is this. There are 30,000 more early educators working in the sector today than when we came to office.
But we need more.
And this pay rise will help encourage more people to stay, more people to come back and more people to think about becoming an early educator. And more educators means more children and more parents can benefit from the life-changing work they do.
This bill sets up the Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers Special Account. This Account allows us to deliver a 15 per cent pay rise over two years through the ECEC Worker Retention Payment Program.
Let me put that in real terms. It means a typical early educator, paid at the award rate, will receive a pay rise of at least $103 per week, in December this year, increasing to at least $155 per week from next year. That's around $7,800 a year. A typical early childhood teacher will receive an additional $166 a week from December this year, increasing to $249 from next year.
People who are thinking 'I love this job, but I can't afford to do it' will think 'well, now I can.' And people who've left the job to go and work at, maybe the local supermarket think 'I can go back to doing the job I love.' And, hopefully, it will encourage more people to want to be an early educator.
The CEO of Australia's largest early education provider, Goodstart, Ros Baxter said:
"We expect that [this] announcement will see qualified early learning educators return to our sector, while encouraging others to establish acareer in early learning. This in turn will help make more quality child-care places available for families who need it."
Community Early Learning CEO, Michele Carnegie:
"We expect this announcement will entice many qualified staff back into the sector. Families will see more places available and children will benefit from greater consistency of care."
Early Childhood Australia CEO, Sam Page said:
"This is awell overdue pay increase, and I amthrilled that the Government has acknowledged the professionalism of our educators during Early Learning Matters Week, where somany politicians have been out seeing first-hand the great work the early childhood sector does. Early childhood educators play acrucial role in the learning and development of young children, and this recognition is asignificant step towards valuing their contributions appropriately."
Early educator, Karen Moran, who the Minister for Education recently met, said:
"this decision . ..will change people's lives. It means that early childhood educators who've been relying on Foodbank to feed their own families won't have to do that anymore. And those that work two and three jobs just to make ends meet will be able to spend more time with their families. It's also about the recognition, which is sowell deserved."
This legislation doesn't just deliver a pay rise for early educators. It also delivers cost of living relief for parents and carers. As a condition of funding the wage increase, early education and care centres will not be allowed to increase their fees by a set amount over the grant period, with that amount set at 4.4 per cent up until August 2025. That's informed by the work the ACCC has been doing with the government—a combination of the wage price index and the consumer price index. That condition will be set out in a legally enforceable agreement between the Department of Education and providers.
Capping fee increases provides certainty to families and will keep a lid on fee growth. It also builds on our Cheaper Child Care changes. The changes that the government has already made have cut the cost of child care for more than 1 million families. Those changes that began in July last year means a family on a combined income of $120,000 today is now paying about $2,000 less in childcare fees than they otherwise would have had to.
This is also the next step in building the universal early education system that we want to create. Making it more accessible and more affordable for more children and more families. We need to reform our entire education system—to make it better and make it fairer. To help more people finish school and go to TAFE or university. But that reform doesn't just need to happen in our schools or our TAFEs or our universities. It has to happen here as well. And this is a big part of that. Helping to build a bigger early education and care workforce to help build a bigger and better early education system.
The Minister for Education thanks the Prime Minister, the Treasurer and the Minister for Finance. Their leadership has made this possible. The Minister for Education especially acknowledges the work the Minister for Early Childhood Education for her unyielding work here and for everything she is doing to build a better and a fairer early education system.
And finally, the Minister for Education thanks all the early educators across Australia who do this vital work. You deserve wage justice. You deserve this pay rise. You deserve this bill.
I commend it to the Chamber.
Aged Care Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
That these bills may proceed without formalities, may be taken together and be now read a first time.
That these bills be now read a second time.
AGED CARE BILL 2024
INTRODUCTION
The final report of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety was a damning assessment spanning five volumes, summed up in one word: neglect.
The report illuminated a systemically failing system where treating older people without dignity was normalised.
The report highlighted a sector mired in crisis due to a lack of ambition. Most Australians were shocked by the findings of the Royal Commission.
Commissioners pulled the curtains back on a macabre theatre left to decay in the dark despite best efforts of brave advocates.
But others weren't surprised by its findings at all-the final report validated their trauma and painful lived experiences in black and white for all to read.
The Royal Commission delivered a stern rebuke. It said we, as a nation, had let older people down.
And yet it wasn't just about the past or the present. It was also about the future: tomorrow, next week, 20 years from now, and beyond.
Since the final report was tabled three years ago, 136 recommendations of the Royal Commission have been addressed—58 of which are directly addressed today, as part of this Bill.
This moment marks the most impactful aged care reform in 30 years. Today, we address Recommendation 1 of the Royal Commission-
Today we introduce a new rights-Aged Care Act to replace the Howard-era, 1997 Aged Care Act.
A New Act to put older people, not providers, at the centre of aged care.
REFORM TO DATE
Since the election of the Albanese Government in 2022, we have worked hard to fulfil the mandate delivered by the Royal Commission.
The very first Act of the 47th Parliament was passing aged care legislation responding to the Royal Commission.
Its passage delivered a new funding mechanism for residential aged care, a sector-wide code of conduct, an expanded serious incident response scheme and stronger provider governance.
The Implementing Care Reform amendment came shortly after, delivering greater transparency, capping home care fees and most importantly, putting nurses back into nursing homes.
The creation of an Inspector-General of Aged Care reinforced the Albanese Government's commitment to being open with the Australian public about how aged care is administered and how it is being reformed.
It demonstrated that we are holding ourselves to the same high standard that we expect of the sector.
We made aged care more transparent with Star Ratings for residential care, empowering older people and their families to make informed decisions.
The addition of the Dollars to Care program to Star Rating profiles holds providers accountable for how they spend their budgets.
And... my proudest achievement to date as the Minister for Aged Care -the Albanese Government's $11.3 billion investment in a historic pay rise for aged care workers.
These reforms have had tangible impact on the lives of older people and the friends, families and workers who care for them.
Right now, there is a registered nurse onsite in aged care 99 per cent of the time in Australia.
Older Australians are receiving an additional 3.9 million minutes of care every single day-1.7 million of which are delivered by a qualified, registered nurse.
There has been a statistically significant decrease in the proportion of residents experiencing polypharmacy, antipsychotic medication use, falls that result in major injury, use of physical restraints, significant unplanned weight loss and consecutive unplanned weight loss.
Trend analysis for the most recent quarter shows that for the first time, the prevalence of one or more pressure injuries is declining over time.
We're also seeing improvements in the star ratings data, with fewer 1 and 2 star ratings and more 4 and 5 star ratings.
This is incredible progress, and I want to particularly thank the aged workers who have delivered this care.
But there is more work to do. Our mandate continues.
Since 1997, aged care has been in a slow state of evolution. Some changes have been far-reaching and others incremental, but
Jim Carey, a 94-year old aged care resident and member of the Council of Elders, said last month:
"When you're building something, the first thing you need is a good foundation, and right now aged care doesn't have a good foundation."
And Jim's right.
Aged care doesn't need a renovation-it needs a revolution!
PERSON-CENTRED AGED CARE
The primary focus of the 1997 Howard-era Aged Care Act is the funding and operation of aged care providers.
It lacks purpose, values and mission, and it lacks a focus on people.
As the Minister responsible for one of the few service delivery portfolios in the federal government, I believe that's what aged care should be about: people.
We all have at least one person that immediately comes to mind when aged care comes up in conversation or on the news.
A grandparent. A loved one. A neighbour. A friend.
I think about the residents I used to care for and the women who were my colleagues when I worked in aged care as a uni student.
Peg, who wanted prunes every morning as her first course of breakfast.
Daisy, a resident who lived in the secure wing and had a cat she lovingly looked after.
Sharon, who ran the kitchen while I pushed around the tea trolley.
Nia and Iris, who used to do the Sam to 1pm shift and then go to collect their kids from school.
Margaret, Sandra and my mum Deb, who worked in the office doing admin and rosters, and, because of staff shortages, had me do physio and diversional therapy!
But the 1997 Act does not take into account the lives of people like Peg, Daisy, Sharon, Nia, Iris, Margaret, Sandra and my Mum.
In fact, it barely even mentions people at all. That ends today.
The new rights-based Aged Care Bill, we are introducing, puts older people, and the services they need, front and centre.
It promotes positive attitudes towards ageing.
It empowers people with choice and control in the planning and delivery of their care.
It builds trust and confidence with strong regulation and complaints mechanisms that prevent mistreatment, neglect, and harm from poor quality and unsafe care.
The cornerstone of this bill is a Statement of Rights, underpinned by Australia's obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The Statement of Rights outlines what all Australians can, and should, expect from aged care.
Person-centred care that is culturally safe and trauma aware.
Dignity and respect.
Individuality and diversity. Independence.
Choice and control.
Dignity of risk.
Privacy.
The rights of older people will be embedded in care delivery, in the way workers are trained and the way people talk about the care they receive.
We heard that rights need to be enforceable—but also balanced.
Including a Statement of rights in this bill is not about opening the litigation floodgates.
It's about empowering older people to have conversations about the dignified care they deserve.
Under this bill providers must take all reasonable and proportionate steps to act in accordance with the Statement of Rights.
This is backed up by an enforceable registration condition that will make sure providers have practices in place to deliver care consistently with the Statement of Rights.
In plain English—if a provider breaches the rights in this bill, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission will have tough enforcement actions at its disposal.
The Bill also introduces a new model to embed supported decision-making across the aged care system.
Supporting older people to make decisions for themselves for as long as possible is at the heart of this Bill-recognising that in a system that prioritises dignity and respect, the will and preferences of older people must always come first.
Because as Rosemary, an 84 year old aged care resident, said:
"We are still people even though we are in aged care and we have the right to live our own lives and be treated with respect and dignity."
"The rights in the new Aged Care Act will give me more autonomy over my decision making and my daily life."
"We have been contributing members of Australian society all our lives and we don1t suddenly become inanimate objects when we enter aged care."
DUTY OF CARE
In my previous job as a worker's compensation lawyer, I represented people who had been injured at work.
And at the foundation of every claim was a simple legal principle—employers owe a duty of care to their employees to take reasonable steps to prevent harm.
It's a duty created to protect workers, because the inherent power imbalance between employer and employee can lead to physical and psychological injury. The Royal Commission was clear about the need to create a duty of care for providers, which will hold them and the people in positions of leadership accountable when things go wrong.
In line with their recommendations, this Bill includes new duties on providers and a limited group of people in leadership roles.
The duties mean that providers and responsible persons must not act in way that puts older people in their care at risk—or actually causes them harm.
The duties are carefully targeted towards the most egregious conduct.
Leaders who fail to fulfil their duty of care without reasonable exception will face significant civil penalties.
Good people, who understand the responsibility that comes with caring for older people, should in no way be deterred from taking on positions of responsibility because of these new duties.
ACCESS
The Bill brings together the complex, multiple entry pathways criticised by the Royal Commission with a single, culturally safe, entry and assessment pathway.
Assessment will actively involve older people in discussions about the services they need.
And the Bill continues our mission to take younger people out of aged care and into accommodation that meets their needs.
Right now, there is no statutory age minimum for aged care.
The result is that aged care has become the system of last resort. We've seen younger people, who aren't able to get the care they need elsewhere, relying on residential aged care as a safety net.
This bill, seeks to legislate, for the first time, a requirement that makes it clear that aged care is for older people—those who are aged 65 or over.
For First Nations people and those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and aged over 50, aged care is still available when all other options have been considered and the person chooses to enter aged care.
STRONGER REGULATOR AND INDEPENDENT COMPLAINTS COMMISSIONER
A strong, capable and world-class aged care regulator is essential to ensure the sector can uphold best-practice for older people.
The Royal Commission was critical of weak and ineffective regulatory arrangements that paid lip service to delivering high quality care.
Weak regulation lets down older people who fall through the cracks and also stunts providers.
As a first step, the Albanese Government brought forward the Capability Review of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission to ensure the regulator has the right foundations, resources and support to meet its responsibilities, now and in to the future.
Of the 32 recommendations, 31 have been completed or underway, and the final will commence in 2025.
Today, we are introducing a stronger regulatory model that increases rights and protections for older people.
The new regulatory powers will ensure voices of older people and their advocates will be heard without fear of retribution, safe-guarded by powerful whistle-blower protections with financial penalties.
It will strengthen the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission and empower it to act to maintain the integrity of the aged care system.
For providers, the new regulatory model explicitly outlines what obligations they have and how they'll be assessed against them.
It will educate and support providers to continuously strive toward delivering high quality care, with new graded assessments and longer registration periods to encourage excellence.
For older people, their family members, carers and advocates, and for workers, today we introduce a new statutory Complaints Commissioner, with powers and responsibilities independent from the regulatory commissioner.
A voice to raise issues and have them heard and taken seriously; with the expectation that providers will work to address them, or face serious consequences.
WORKFORCE
It isn't just older people receiving aged care services, or aged care providers that will be affected by this bill-it is also the aged care workforce.
Among the many dark themes that emerged in the Royal Commission was that workers were systemically "underpaid and undervalued."
That "low wages and poor employment conditions" meant that the sector struggled to attract and retain well-skilled people.
And that "unacceptable" staffing levels led to substandard care.
A prejudicial bias became ingrained in our society which said that some work is inherently worth less, because of the type of people who do it.
This is arguably no more evident than in aged care—a system carried on the shoulders of women and migrants.
One of the hallmarks of the Albanese Government's approach to aged care reform has been to recognise the value of all aged care workers.
The significant improvements we've made over the past two and a half years would not have been possible without the skill, care and tenacity of our aged care workers.
Without them we have nothing.
Workers like Emma, Nicole, Teresa and Suzanne from the United Workers Union.
Catherine, Sriti, Raju and Lobsang from the Health Services Union.
Jocelyn, Sue, Donna and Michelle from the Australian Nurses and Midwifery Federation.
I want to thank these workers, and the hundreds of others who I have met in aged care homes and in Parliament to hear their stories and learn about their experience of how our reforms are being rolled out on the ground.
I see you, I hear your feedback, and here's what I'm doing about it.
First, the Bill prioritises the training of well-skilled and empowered workers to deliver high quality care, including specialised dementia care.
Second, the Bill introduces new worker screening measures—an important step towards professionalising the workforce through positive registration.
Third, the Strengthened Quality Standards requires providers to engage with workers at a service level on workforce planning and delivery of care.
Fourth, the Bill is mindful to ensure that the Statement of Rights is balanced with the rights of aged care workers to have a safe and respectful workplace.
SUPPORT AT HOME
We know older Australians want the freedom, support and choice to remain in the home and community they love.
Our $4.3 billion investment in Support At Home will deliver better and more tailored support to more people.
Support at Home will cut wait times to receive in-home aged care services.
It will deliver more tailored support, with eight levels of ongoing care instead of four.
It will ensure faster access to assistive technology, like walkers and wheelchairs.
And increase the maximum level of support available from $61,000 to $78,000.
Support at Home will offer a temporary boost in funding available to those who need restorative and allied health support to help them stay at home after an incident.
And it will provide palliative care support to ensure older people can spend their final weeks at home, surrounded by their community and loved ones.
It's not an understatement to say that this will change lives.
Someone like Val Fell—a 93 year old dementia advocate and proud member of the Australian Government's Council of Elders.
Earlier this year, Val was admitted to hospital after she fell ill.
When she was ready to return home, she was incorrectly told by the hospital she could only get an ACAT assessment if she was moving to residential care and only get temporary support at home if she kept her PIC line in.
In total, Val was in hospital for three weeks before she was discharged through the "hospital at home" program.
And after she was discharged her daughter moved in with her to provide her additional support.
That happened to Val—a fierce and articulate woman who understands the aged care system.
If it can happen to Val, it can happen to anyone.
Support at Home will cut the time Val has to wait for in-home support.
Val will have access to restorative support, including a twelve week program guided by a multidisciplinary team of health professionals.
Our reforms will create better and safer care for Val and every older Australian.
AGED CARE FINANCES
These reforms are important, and to deliver them, we need a sustainable funding system.
The time to act is here, our population is ageing.
In the next 40 years, the number of Australians aged over 65 is expected to more than double, with those aged over 85 to more than triple.
The great unanswered question from the Royal Commission was how to make aged care equitable and sustainable into the future.
A question governments so far have been too scared to examine. Until now.
Last year, I assembled the Aged Care Taskforce to review funding arrangements for the sector, and develop options for a system that is fair and equitable for every Australian.
For the first time, older Australians, consumer advocates, Unions, provider representatives and experts in economics, finance, public policy, ageing and aged care and First Nations came together.
And in their final report, released earlier this year, they recommended that Australians make a reasonable means tested contribution to the cost of aged care.
These reforms, based on the recommendations of the Aged care Taskforce, deliver a fairer aged care system, and foster quality and innovation.
Some things won't change...
The Government will remain the major funder of aged care. There will be no new taxes or levies.
There will be no change to the means testing of the family home.
And older people with low means will still be supported to access the care they need.
But somethings will change...
The Government will now fully fund all clinical care, while older people make contributions toward services they've paid for, or been responsible for, their entire lives, such as gardening, cleaning and personal care.
In Support at Home, you will no longer pay a flat weekly fee, you will make a contribution towards services categorised as 'everyday living' or 'independence'. The amount you contribute will be based on the pension status and means test and you'll only contribute to what you use.
In Residential Care, those residents who can afford it will now make contributions towards the hotelling supplement and non-clinical care based on a means test.
Accommodation pricing will also change. There will be an increase to the maximum room price, daily accommodation payments will now be indexed so their true value doesn't diminish, and people who pay with Refundable Accommodation Deposits will pay a 2% retention from the principle deposit for a maximum of 5 years.
This will ensure residential aged care providers can attract the investment they need to keep current facilities open, improve quality, and build new homes. A lifetime contribution cap for care costs will apply across the aged care system. No one will contribute more than $130,000 to their care costs -whatever their means or duration of care.
And the no worse off principle will provide certainty to people already in or assessed as needing home care or already in residential care that they won't make a greater contribution to their care than they have already planned for.
Last June I said we needed to be ambitious for aged care...
This bill delivers that ambition and, for the first time, delivers a sustainable Aged Care system where older Australians have more choice about where and how they age, and one where providers are able to invest and build for the future of aged care.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
To conclude, I cannot overstate the importance of this moment and the task this Parliament has before it.
This bill has the potential to provide a new and enduring foundation for the Australian aged care system from 1 July 2025, and for years to come.
From then on, aged care will put the rights of older people first.
The new Support at Home program will support all of us to live independently, in our own homes, for as long as possible as we age.
The aged care system will be fair and financially sustainable; with those who can afford it making contributions towards the cost of their own care.
Older people will be cared for by skilled workers who are properly respected and fairly paid.
This bill puts high quality, safe and compassionate care and services first.
It implements a system of caring for older people living with dementia that incorporates contemporary, evidence-based, care.
And it delivers our election commitment for better, more appetising, and more nutritious food underscored by new food standards.
But we cannot realise this potential if Parliamentarians do not come together and pass this Bill.
I would like to conclude by thanking the many advocates who have contributed to the development of this legislation.
In particular, I would like to thank:
In preparing this Bill, the Government considered over 320 submissions, 800 surveys and 14,500 separate points of engagement through webinars, workshops and roundtables.
Thank you to the older Australians, carers, workers, unions, providers, advocates and other experts who helped us get here.
AGED CARE LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2024
Today I am proud to introduce the Aged Care Legislation Amendment Bill 2024. This Bill will achieve three things. It will enable residential care data assurance reviews with respect to specified residential care data, mitigate the risk of breaches of section 83 of the Constitution and better provide for voluntary accommodation moves within a residential aged care service.
The Bill will amend Chapter 6 of the Aged Care Act 1997 to enable the Secretary of the Department of Health and Aged Care, assisted by APS employees of the department and contractors, to conduct residential care data assurance reviews.
Modelled on the home care assurance reviews already enabled by the Aged Care Act 1997, residential care data assurance reviews will assure the completeness, accuracy and reliability of specified classes of residential care information and documents aged care approved providers submit to the Secretary. Residential care data assurance reviews will also inform better residential care policy and education for providers to provide complete, accurate and reliable data.
Residential care data assurance reviews will test the completeness, accuracy and reliability of specified classes of information and documents about residential care, and providers' procedures and documentation in relation to matters of a review. The Secretary may publish reports, that do not include personal information, on the findings, conclusions or recommendations of reviews.
For the purposes of residential care data assurance reviews, providers and persons they employ or otherwise engage may be required to provide information and documents and to answer questions. Failure to respond to notices, or to provide reviewers with all reasonable facilities and assistance necessary, may incur civil penalties, including through infringement notices, reflecting the potential impact of non-compliance on proper administration of public funds.
Good data underpins good administration. Complete, accurate and reliable data resulting from residential care data assurance reviews will result in:
The Bill will also amend Chapter 3 of the Aged Care Act 1997 and Chapter 3 of theAged Care Transitional Provisions Act 1997 to introduce a stronger foundation for income and asset determinations, administered by Services Australia and the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA). These amendments will support care recipients by enabling an income and asset determination to be varied, and will also:
Finally, the Bill will amend the Aged Care Act to clarify the maximum accommodation payment that may apply for voluntary moves within a residential aged care service. This will encourage continued improvement in the accommodation stock.
The amendments to the Aged Care Act 199 7 and theAged Care Transitional Provisions Act 1997 will ensure that the next phase of reforms is undertaken using a stronger information base than currently exists. This will enable the Government to make the right decisions based on better data integrity to achieve greater compliance across the residential aged care program.
Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024
That this bill may proceed without formalities and be now read a first time.
That this bill be now read a second time.
Introduction
The Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024 will amend the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 to protect Australians from seriously harmful online mis- and disinformation. The Bill also makes consequential amendments to theAustralian Communications and Media Authority Act 2005, Telecommunications Act 1997 and theOnline Safety Act 2021.
In January 2023, the Albanese Government committed to providing the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) with new powers to create transparency and accountability around the efforts of digital platforms to combat mis- and disinformation on their services, while balancing the freedom of expression that is so fundamental to our democracy.
This Bill delivers on that promise following an extensive public consultation process on the draft legislation to ensure the ACMA powers meet community and industry expectations.
The Bill will increase transparency and accountability
Digital platforms enable end-users in Australia and around the world to connect with family, friends, community groups and business, regardless of geographic distance. While this has brought significant benefits, digital platforms can also serve as a vehicle for the spread of misleading or false information that is seriously harmful to Australians.
The rapid spread of seriously harmful mis- and disinformation poses a significant challenge to the functioning of societies around the world. Democratic countries like Australia rely on the free flow of information to inform public debate, and the integrity, diversity and reliability of information is fundamental to our democratic way of life.
Mis- and disinformation about the stabbing attacks in Bondi Junction and recently in Southport, UK, are just two examples that illustrate the need for digital platforms to do more to prevent and respond to its spread.
There has been a sharp increase in Australians' concern about misinformation, according to the Digital News Report: Australia 2024. This research, by the News and Media Research Centre at the University of Canberra, shows concern has risen to 75 percent, and is well above the global average.
Similarly, the Australian Media Literacy Alliance report on Adult Media Literacy released in August 2024 highlights that 80 percent of Australians want the spread of misinformation in Australia to be addressed.
In Australia, the digital platform industry has taken an important first step to address the threats posed by the spread of harmful mis- and disinformation online through the development of the voluntary Australian Code of Practice on Disinformation and Misinformation. But this effort is not enough.
The ACMA has continuously highlighted the need for industry to improve the quality of its monitoring and reporting against the voluntary code's outcomes, noting that a robust performance measurement framework is critical to its success.
The ACMA has found that the transparency reports made under the voluntary code lack consistent, trended, Australia-specific data on the effectiveness of digital platforms' efforts to address mis- and disinformation on their services.
An independent assessment of the 2024 transparency reports noted that improvement of reporting under the code stalled and that signatories failed to meet their code commitment to have internally consistent key performance indicators.
In its 2023 report to government, the ACMA called on industry to take further steps to review the scope of the code and its ability to adapt quickly to technology and service changes. The code has only nine signatories—major digital platforms like X and Telegram are not signatories meaning there are wide gaps in coverage across the digital platform industry.
Digital platforms need to step up to protect Australian users from the threat of seriously harmful mis- and disinformation online. This Bill seeks to strengthen the voluntary code by providing a regulatory backstop.
The Bill will empower the ACMA to review the effectiveness of digital platform systems and processes and will improve transparency about measures platforms have in place to protect Australians from mis- and disinformation on their services.
The Bill will establish a proportionate, graduated and flexible regulatory framework, while at the same time safeguarding the freedom of expression that Australians hold so dear. The Bill also ensures that it is digital platforms that remain responsible and accountable for the content they host and promote to Australian users.
To protect freedom of speech, the Bill sets a high threshold for the type of mis- and disinformation that digital platforms must combat on their services. That is, it must be reasonably verifiable as false, misleading or deceptive and reasonably likely to cause or contribute to serious harm. The harm must have significant and far-reaching consequences for Australian society, or severe consequences for an individual in Australia.
The types of serious harms in the Bill are:
Core transparency obligations
The Bill will impose core transparency obligations on digital platforms requiring them to be upfront about what they are doing on their services to combat mis- and disinformation.
Digital platforms will be required to publish their current media literacy plan setting out the measures they will take to enable users to better identify mis- and disinformation. This will empower Australian users to critically engage in the content they view on digital platforms, identify and respond to mis- and disinformation and to make more informed choices about how they engage with content.
Digital platforms will also be required to publish their current policy approach in relation to mis- and disinformation as well as the results of their risk assessments that identify and assess significant risks relating to mis- and disinformation on their services.
The Bill will also allow the ACMA to create digital platform rules with additional transparency obligations, including in relation to media literacy plans, risk management plans and complaints and dispute handling processes.
Government amendments
Government amendments made to the Bill will further enhance transparency of the actions of digital platforms in relation to mis- and disinformation.
The Government amendments will enable the ACMA to make digital platform rules to establish one or more data access schemes that would require digital platforms to give independent researchers access to data for the purposes of research. The amendment will also provide new obligations for digital platforms to publish their policies or policy approach in relation to access by researchers to data relating to mis- and disinformation on the platform.
Information gathering and record keeping powers
The ACMA will have the power to obtain information from digital platforms and make rules that require them to create and retain records relating to mis- and disinformation. This could include requiring digital platform providers to provide periodic reports to the ACMA.
Information gathering and record keeping powers will enhance transparency and allow the regulator to track the progress of digital platforms in addressing mis- and disinformation on their services. This will set a clear expectation that digital platforms must be transparent with the Australian public.
Importantly, the Bill also provides protections for Australian end-users. For example, the information gathering powers will not require individuals to produce information or documents to the ACMA except where they are a platform employee, content moderator, fact checker or a person providing services to the provider of the digital platform.
Code and standard making powers
Under the Bill, the ACMA would have the power to approve codes and make standards to compel digital platform service providers to prevent and respond to mis- and disinformation.
A code or standard could include obligations to cover matters such as reporting tools, links to authoritative information, support for fact checking and demonetisation of disinformation.
Approved codes and standards will be legislative instruments subject to Parliamentary scrutiny and disallowance.
These powers could be used in the event that the ACMA determines that existing industry efforts to combat mis- and disinformation on digital platform services do not provide adequate protection for the Australian community.
In the event industry efforts to develop or implement an approved code have not been effective, or in urgent and exceptional circumstances, the ACMA would have the power to make an enforceable standard.
This is consistent with the proportionate and graduated nature of the Bill's framework.
Protections for freedom of expression
To ensure it strikes the right balance between upholding freedom of expression and combatting mis- and disinformation, the Bill has carefully calibrated definitions of serious harms that align with Australia's international human rights obligations.
The Bill does not apply to professional news content or content that could be regarded as parody or satire. It also does not apply to the reasonable dissemination of content that is for academic, artistic, scientific or religious purposes.
In recognition that the community radio broadcasting also has industry standards relating to the accuracy of broadcast content, an amendment to the Bill includes explicit reference to rules covering community radio broadcasting in the professional news content exemption.
Nothing in the Bill enables the ACMA themselves to take down individual pieces of content or user accounts. The Bill takes a system level approach and digital platforms will remain responsible for managing content on their services.
Importantly, the Bill will enable the ACMA to require digital platforms to be tough on disinformation involving inauthentic behaviour such as bots or troll farms. This type of manipulative behaviour has been a major vector of foreign interference and is an ongoing threat to democracies across the world.
Penalties, enforcement and review of the legislation
The Bill will enable the ACMA to use a proportionate, graduated and risk-based approach to non-compliance and enforcement. This may include the ACMA issuing formal warnings, remedial directions, infringement notices, injunctions as well as pursuing civil penalties, depending on the severity of the action.
Digital platforms may be subject to civil penalties of up to 5 percent of global turnover for breaches of a standard and up to 2 percent for codes. These penalties are high. However, they may be necessary in response to egregious and systematic breaches and failure to act.
The Bill requires a triennial review of the operation of the legislation. To improve oversight over the operation of the provisions in the Bill, the Bill has been amended to mandate that the reviews be conducted as independent reviews. A report of the review must be tabled in the Parliament and must follow a period of public consultation and an assessment of the legislation's impact on freedom of expression.
The Bill also requires the ACMA to prepare an annual report for tabling in the Parliament on the operation of the Bill's framework.
Revised Explanatory Memorandum
The Explanatory Memorandum has been updated to incorporate the Government amendments in the House of Representatives, to make technical corrections, as well as to provide additional clarity on the Bill, for example:
In addition, the Explanatory Memorandum has been updated to further emphasise that:
The intent of the Bill is to set a high and targeted threshold for the definition of mis- and disinformation. It does not intend to cover all dissemination of content that may be considered to be false, but rather, only focuses on dissemination of content (including asserted facts in opinions, claims, commentary and invective) that:
A recommendation made by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights to provide details in the Explanatory Memorandum on potential remedies in the event of an alleged breach of human rights has also been addressed.
Consultation
The Bill has undergone considerable consultation, with a significant breadth and depth of engagement with key stakeholders, including from the digital platforms industry, legal and civil society groups, media and fact checking organisations, and research and academic institutions.
The Government thanks these stakeholders for their important contributions to the Bill which have ensured the Bill strikes the right balance between protecting Australians from serious harm and upholding freedom of expression that is so integral to our democracy.
Conclusion
Through this Bill, the Australian Government is acting to prevent the spread of mis- and disinformation and the damage it causes to Australian democracy and public safety.
Australians clearly expect the Government to act to address this growing problem and this is what the Albanese Government is doing.
The Bill positions Australia to be at the forefront of tackling this growing international problem—one which threatens to undermine our civic discourse and democratic engagement and participation. This Bill ensures that digital platforms are accountable for combatting mis- and disinformation on their services.
The top priority of the Government is to keep its citizens safe. Doing nothing to protect Australians from seriously harmful mis- and disinformation online is simply not an option.
Australian Naval Nuclear Power Safety Bill 2024
Australian Naval Nuclear Power Safety (Transitional Provisions) Bill 2023
Crimes and Other Legislation Amendment (Omnibus No. 1) Bill 2024
Customs Tariff Amendment (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership Expansion) Bill 2024
That the Senate take note of the reports.
Better and Fairer Schools (Funding and Reform) Bill 2024
… we have a grossly inadequate regulatory regime in which the gambling industry has been allowed to operate virtually unchecked, causing devastation to individuals, families and communities.
Universities Accord (Student Support and Other Measures) Bill 2024
At the end of the motion, add ", but the Senate:
(a) notes that:
(i) students are being shackled by a lifetime of debt which is making the cost of living crisis worse, locking people out of the housing market, causing people to delay having families and crushing dreams of going to university,
(ii) the Government's plan to provide student debt relief will still see student debts rise by 11.5% in their first term and arts degrees costing over $50,000, as the Government has failed to address the Coalition's punitive job-ready graduates fee hikes,
(iii) the student debt system cannot be fixed because student debt should not exist and higher education, like education at every level, is an essential public good that should be free, universal and provided by the Government,
(iv) mandatory unpaid placements are causing students to forego paid work, choose between groceries, rent and medicine, drop out of universities and are taking an immense toll on students' health,
(v) students experiencing placement poverty need urgent relief and should be paid for every hour of work they are required to do as part of their degree, at least at minimum wage, not a lesser supplementary amount; and
(b) calls on the Government to wipe all student debt, make university and TAFE free, and pay all students doing mandatory placements at no less than minimum wage rates".
At the end of the motion, add "and, following passage of the bill, the following matter be referred to the Education and Employment Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 25 March 2025:
The implications of any amendments circulated by the Australian Greens related to the reduction of HELP loans and changes to income thresholds for HELP repayments".
Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment (Quality and Integrity) Bill 2024
Yes, new migrants add to demand and there has been that element of it. They have certainly added to pressure on the housing market …
Net permanent and long-term arrivals from January to September 2024 was 391,850. This was the highest September year-to-date on record, above the previous record set in 2023, which was 390,580.
Migration is shaping up as a key battlefront in the lead-up to the federal election, and the university sector is shaping up to be the fall guy, unfairly and unjustifiably so.
That to address issues with the integrity and quality of teaching and facilities in international tertiary education and ensure that international education providers maintain their social licence to operate, the Australian Government—
taking an evidence-based approach to issues including:
i. managing demand volatility
ii. course concentrations and the quality of the student experience
iii. access and availability of affordable student housing.
We support the government's intention in parts 1 to 6 of the legislation, which are around integrity measures to weed out unscrupulous providers who exploit students, which is excellent.
… what we are concerned about is the social license of our universities to bring in such large numbers of foreign students without having regard for the impact on the learning of all students.
Why are you using these words to describe us? What have we done that's unlawful? … We've not come illegally, we've not jumped borders, why are we framed like this? We're helping the economy, we're putting a lot of money into it. Protect us.
At best, the message is 'you are not welcome here', at worst, it is trading off our great history of multiculturalism to play into a political narrative,