Our government is accused of having an obsession with TAFE—and I think that's okay; I don't think we regard that as an insult. We are passionate about TAFE. We are passionate about vocational education and training. We are passionate about building the skills for the future in this country and repairing the many years of neglect we saw from the previous government. Our government has consulted with industry—we've consulted from the beginning of our term—in a range of different fora, including the Jobs and Skills Summit. We're investing in manufacturing and industry in this country once again because we can see that a future made in Australia offers great opportunities for people right across this country.
In my own electorate of Chisholm I was delighted that the Prime Minister's first visit to Melbourne after the federal election in 2022 included a visit to Holmesglen TAFE in my community, to the Drummond Street campus. We had a excellent morning visiting apprentices, meeting with staff and learning about the tunnelling centre and the electrical training centre that was established there. I've also been able to go to another Holmesglen TAFE campus recently with Andrew Giles, the new minister. It was a really important visit to hear firsthand from people about what free TAFE meant to them. We are absolutely committed to investing in the skills Australia needs to drive economic growth. This is part of our ambition to ensure that no-one is left behind and no-one is held back as the economy transitions.
The Free TAFE Bill 2024 commits the Commonwealth to ongoing support of states and territories for free TAFE. We know so far that fee-free TAFE has changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Australians, providing cost-of-living relief and providing an important pathway to well-paid and secure employment. In the first 18 months of fee-free TAFE there have been 508,000 enrolments; this is enormous. Ongoing free TAFE will offer greater certainty to students, greater certainty to employers and greater certainty to industry as well as to the states and territories.
The bill establishes ongoing cost-of-living relief by removing the financial barriers that exist, for people to be able to pursue an education and to pursue their training. This is particularly important for groups that typically experience economic disadvantage and may not be able to embrace the opportunities offered by vocational education and training.
This bill also ensures that free TAFE continues to deliver a coordinated response to workforce shortages in industries of local and national priority, helping to build the pipeline of skilled workers that Australia needs now and into the future. I think something really important that our government has done—and it should be common sense, but it hasn't always been common sense—is that we have connected skills with industry. We look forward at what the areas of demand in the economy will be and make sure that we have people being trained in those areas. As I said, this should be common sense but it hasn't always been the case. I think it is really important to highlight the work our government has been doing in this space.
The legislation here does not lock states into a fixed mode of delivering free TAFE, but it builds on the shared stewardship that we've developed for the national VET system. While this bill sets out broad parameters, specific details will continue to be agreed to through negotiations between the Commonwealth and the states.
We know that we have a responsibility as a government to help people here and now, but we also have a duty to the next generation to build an economy for all Australians that liberates their talents, rewards their efforts and opens the doors of opportunity. This starts with education for all. In my very first speech, I spoke about the importance of education. It is something I hold very dear—that every Australian, no matter their background or financial situation, should have equal access to education. No-one should be held back and no-one should be left behind.
We believe, on this side of the House, in equal opportunity, and by making TAFE free we're removing financial barriers to access and ensuring that everybody has the chance to pursue a career they love and to achieve their full potential. We believe in investing in people and making sure that everybody has the skills and capacity to contribute to a thriving economy. Our whole nation benefits; we know this. Our communities benefit when we make it easier for people to access education. Free TAFE is an investment in the future of our society. A fairer society benefits everyone. The long-term benefits of a more skilled and more productive workforce will absolutely create economic growth that benefits everyone in our communities—that benefits all Australians. We know that, if we don't act, the costs will be higher down the track. Failing to invest in skilling up people will leave businesses stranded and leave Australians locked out of reaching their potential.
A better educated workforce drives innovation. It drives productivity and long-term economic growth. TAFE opens doors for people right across Australia who are looking to gain well-paid and secure work. We're delivering the training Australians want and the skills they need to get ahead. This is meaningful cost-of-living support. It's helping people access high-quality, affordable training and get jobs that will be well paid, too. We're delivering the skills and training needed to grow the economy, to build the homes we need and to create the future made in Australia that we should be ambitious for, and we're ensuring all Australians can get quality care when they need it. We know free TAFE trains so many people that work in the care and service industries.
With high-quality skills and training we're building a better Australia. Nine in 10 new jobs over the next 10 years will need post-school study, and half of those jobs will need vocational education and training. Having a reliable VET sector is critical for the economy. Making sure it is an accessible sector means people can help create and share in our national prosperity. I think, from comments made by my colleagues, it's pretty clear that you cannot have a strong VET sector without strong public TAFE at its heart. TAFEs are valued and trusted public institutions and have a very long history in this country of delivering training in the public interest and working to meet Australia's social and economic goals in the here and now and, through working with government, looking at the long-term needs of the nation.
TAFEs are trusted partners in their communities, driving quality improvements across the VET sector, leading innovation in teaching and learning practice, supporting students to succeed and assisting industries to develop skilled workforces. I mentioned earlier the visits that I have been privileged enough to participate in with the Prime Minister and with the minister at various moments in my electorate. The passion that the teaching staff have for the work they do and the dedication they have are to be commended. I know that it is something that the students absolutely value, and it's one of the reasons that they have made the decision to enrol in TAFE.
There is a TAFE in nearly every community across Australia, and every community in the country deserves access to great vocational education and training. I know some people, like those opposite, unfortunately consider free TAFE wasteful spending. On this side of the House, we reject that principle absolutely. We see free TAFE as an investment in the nation's future, in the future of our communities and in the future of individuals—to be able to build a good and prosperous life for themselves and their families.
We are unapologetic about our support for TAFE. Supporting TAFE is in the DNA of the Labor Party. Now that we're in government, we're reversing the damage of a decade of neglect, and we're rebuilding TAFEs for communities across Australia. We made the landmark $30 billion, five-year National Skills Agreement with the states and territories, lifting investment in skills across Australia, alongside the investment that we have made in fee-free TAFE.
We're making sure that there is more integrity in the system by going after bad providers so that quality providers can do their work properly and there is trust in the system. Our government has tightened up regulations, we've set up a tip-off line and we've increased funding to the independent regulator. This is directly leading to the exposure and deregistration of fraudulent providers. I hope we can all agree in this place that having an education system with integrity is vitally important for our nation. We know that it takes only a few bad apples to bring an entire sector into disrepute. But it also takes a genuine national partnership and vision to support our great TAFEs, and through this bill we are making sure that we have the right frameworks in place to be able to support TAFEs and support people's ambitions now and into the future.
Hearing people speak against this bill is really disappointing. For years the Labor Party have fought against the resentment from those opposite towards public education and against their efforts to undermine TAFEs, and we'll always have that fight. We're very prepared to have that fight.
We know that reducing access to free TAFE will leave many Australians without a pathway to gain the skills they need to secure well-paid employment, and that will end up worsening the divide—worsening inequality in this country. It will mean that there are a group of people who can afford education and a group of those who cannot. I for one do not want to see that divide in my community. I want everyone in my community to have the same opportunity to access a good education, and I would hope every single person in this House would agree with that proposition.
Those opposite want to exacerbate educational inequality and make it harder for people to access affordable vocational education and training and set themselves up for the life that they deserve. Excluding people from opportunities and stifling their aspirations are what is presented to us by those opposite. The reason that we know this will be really bad for the country is that we saw the damage and destruction caused last time those opposite were in government. Their disregard for the VET system and their disregard for the skills of Australians meant that the system was left in a really bad state.
We shouldn't be limiting people's access to pathways. We shouldn't make it harder for people to become healthcare workers, to work in construction or to work in technology. Governments, I think, are reasonably expected to open doors, not slam them shut. I do not want to see cuts to vocational education, and I'm really worried about what it would mean for my community if the Leader of the Opposition ever became Prime Minister. We know that that would also mean that the experience of older workers would be lost. We know that, because of skill shortages, if the Leader of the Opposition became Prime Minister, housing and energy projects would not get off the ground. We know that businesses would need to look overseas for workers instead of employing Australians here at home. I suppose that's a quandary that the Leader of the Opposition needs to resolve, given his particular attitude to migration at this point in time.
We don't want education to be a privilege; we want education to be a right for all Australians. For the prosperity of our nation, we cannot afford to cut off the pathways, to close the doors of opportunity for people to access vocational education and training. So I am really proud to be a defender of TAFE. I'm really proud to support this bill to make free TAFE permanent, to provide more opportunities for more Australians to access the education that they want and that they deserve.
