Media release – Sarah Courtney, Minister for Skills, Training and Workforce Growth, 25 November 2021
TasTAFE Bill passes the Legislative Council
We welcome the passage of the TasTAFE (Skills and Training Business) Bill 2021 through the Legislative Council.
As a Government, we want every Tasmanian to have the very best opportunity to get the skills they need so they can secure a job.
Our Plan for TasTAFE is focused on achieving this aim, which is why it has been widely supported by industry and local businesses.
I thank the Legislative Council for their constructive engagement on this important legislation.
The Government has agreed to minor amendments to the Bill during the second reading debate and these will be considered by the House of Assembly today.
This legislation puts TasTAFE in a stronger position to meet the demands of the future.
I am looking forward to working closely with TasTAFE staff, students and leadership as the Government works to operationalise this new model.
Tasmanian students deserve to access the training they need, when and where they need, and it is this Government’s firm commitment that course fees will remain low and heavily subsidised.
We have also firmly committed that no staff will be worse off, and the legislation and Fair Work provisions include crucial protections for the pay and conditions of TasTAFE staff.
Underpinning this new structure for TasTAFE is a $98.6 million investment for 100 more teachers, new and improved training facilities, and better access to training for regional and rural Tasmanians.
I would like to thank all stakeholders who have provided valuable feedback throughout the consultation and legislative process.
It was deeply disappointing that Labor have refused to back local businesses and industry by voting against this legislation.
In contrast, the Tasmanian Liberal Government will always work to deliver more opportunities for Tasmanians.
Media release – Australian Education Union Tasmania, 25 November 2021
TasTAFE Bill passage crippling for public education
The Australian Education Union Tasmania condemns the Upper House passing of devastating TasTAFE laws which look set to cripple education for Tasmanian students and future generations.
AEU Tasmania President David Genford said the passage of TasTAFE (Skills and Training Business) Bill 2021 represented a fateful day for the organisation and public education more broadly.
He slammed Upper House MPs who supported the legislation, saying a vote for the bill was a vote against public education and student learning.
“Members of Parliament have today let down Tasmanians,” he said.
“There is simply no excuse for turning a decades-old important, award-winning public education provider into a private, corporatized, money-hungry organisation.
“This piece of legislation was drawn up without expert consultation and with a short-sighted view of financially lining the pockets of government. Student outcomes – the primary objective of TAFE – was never factored into these rushed laws.
“All Tasmanians should be ashamed. It is utterly disappointing that our parliamentary representatives, our leaders, have gazed through Liberal lenses today and supported legislation which will build up private enterprises and break down public learning.
“The Government’s attack on public education made it past the floodgates today courtesy of Upper House MPs who chose to side with a privatised future for Tasmania. Teaching careers and student pathways will bear the brunt of this ideological attack.”
Mr Genford said the AEU stood to support and fight for all TasTAFE teachers who face worsened conditions under these changes.
Sarah Lovell MLC, Shadow Minister for Workplace Relations & Josh Willie MLC, Shadow Minister for TAFE, 25 November 2021
TAFE bill an attack on industrial relations
The government’s TAFE bill is not about TAFE, it is simply an attack on the public sector.
Shadow Minister for Workplace Relations Sarah Lovell said the bill was a precursor for where the rest of the public service could go if the Liberals had their way.
“The Liberals’ TAFE bill is not about improving the institution for staff and students, it is a declaration of war on the public sector,” Ms Lovell said.
“This bill fundamentally undermines industrial relations for TasTAFE teachers and staff. The so-called guarantees from the government are hollow, and are only to meet their basic legal obligations.
“The government have ignored the concerns of staff throughout this entire process and they have ignored what has happened in other states where TAFE has been dismantled and commercialised.
“It leads to the question; which group will be next? If the Liberals can pass this anti-worker plan through Parliament which group of public sector workers will have their wages and conditions under attack next?”
Shadow Minister for TAFE Josh Willie said while much of the bill was the same as current legislation, the main difference was the changes to TAFE teachers and staff rights.
“No reform will be successful unless you take people with you, including your workforce, and throughout this process the government has treated them with disrespect and contempt,” Mr Willie said.
“Courses are accredited nationally, this bill won’t change that, what it will do is fundamentally change the TasTAFE workforce, with increased casualisation.
“Under the government’s plan, quality training at TasTAFE will be dismantled and it will become a budget version of itself, this cannot be allowed to happen.”
Tragic day for public education as government’s TasTAFE wrecking ball Bill passes
Education Minister Sarah Courtney has achieved her woefully misguided goal of putting a wrecking ball through TasTAFE with the Gutwein Government’s TasTAFE Skills and Business Training Bill passing the Legislative Council.
Shadow TAFE Minister Josh Willie said the government and Ms Courtney had achieved nothing more than an attack on TasTAFE, based on ideology rather than what is best for students and staff at the training institution.
“This is little more than an industrial dispute dressed up as reform and it will result in a loss of structured, high quality training which will be bad for students,” Mr Willie said.
“Ms Courtney is determined to gut TAFE and now – tragically – staff and students will see the results of that.
“Unfortunately this Minister has completely ignored the evidence that was clearly available to her – that these reforms haven’t worked in other states and that they have resulted in the hollowing out of public training institutions and cuts to important course such as childcare, aged care and disability.
“She refused to genuinely consult and she refused to listen to staff at the coalface.
“The Liberal Government has treated everyone who works in the TasTAFE system and every student who depends on it for a career path with disrespect and contempt.
“Courses are accredited nationally, this bill won’t change that – what it will do is fundamentally change the TasTAFE workforce, with increased casualisation.
“Under the government’s plan, quality training at TasTAFE will be dismantled and it will become a budget version of itself.”
Media release – Unions Tasmania, 25 November 2021
TasTAFE Bill passage crippling for public education
Unions Tasmania is appalled that the Legislative Council has today passed the Gutwein Government’s TAFE privatisation legislation.
On the last sitting day for the year, they have failed to properly scrutinise the legislation or they would have determined what we know to be true – this Bill will not improve TAFE but threatens to see our premier public vocational education provider corporatised and turned into a business while hardworking TasTAFE employees face an uncertain and insecure future.
Comments attributable to Jessica Munday:
“It is a sad day for TasTAFE with the passage of this legislation. TAFE students and staff were looking to the Legislative Council to stand up for them and they failed to do so.”
“We are deeply disappointed that our parliamentary leaders believed the Liberal’s spin. The main aim of these laws is to push workers out of the public service and into a private sector jurisdiction where their jobs can be easily contracted off and casualised.”
“Tasmania has the highest percentage of insecure work in all of Australia. Almost 27% of Tasmanian workers are casual. In a year where the Morrison Government has made it easier to casualise jobs by changing the Fair Work Act, the Gutwein Government have put secure jobs in TAFE at risk.”
“Add this to the lack of any evidence that these changes will improve education for students and there was just no excuse for passing this Bill.”
