8th May 2018, 12:49 PM – Senate Migration Amendment (Skilling Australians Fund) Bill 2018, Migration (Skilling Australians Fund) Charges Bill 2017 - in Committee - Exemptions

The majority voted against an amendment introduced by South Australian Senator Sarah Hanson-Young (Greens), which means it failed.

What did this amendment do?

Senator Hanson-Young explained that:

The Greens amendment that I have moved exempts universities and registered training organisations from the Skilling Australians Fund charge. It does so because the Skilling Australians Fund is supposed to be about paying to train Australians to fill skills shortages. There's no economic rationale for charging trainers to fund trainers. Australia has no monopoly on world-class educators and researchers. We compete with the rest of the world for the best and brightest to create our own best and brightest. This bill, if it goes through unamended, will work against Australia's ability to do that. If we're going to make that harder, we're going to be short-changing ourselves.

Amendment text

(1) Schedule 1 , item 12 , page 6 (after line 6) , after section 140ZM , insert:

140ZMA Exemption for higher education providers and registered training organisations

Despite section 140ZM, the following are not liable to pay nomination training contribution charge:

(a) higher education providers (within the meaning of the Higher Education Support Act 2003);

(b) registered training organisations (within the meaning of the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011).