Victoria University Bill 2009 - Colleen's speech and amendment

Ms HARTLAND (Western Metropolitan) -- I would very much like to thank Mr Hall for the detailed way in which he has gone through these bills, so I will not cover much of that detail. I want to speak mainly about my dealings with and feelings about Victoria University (VU), but I would like to start by acknowledging the importance of Victoria University to the western suburbs and Victoria as a whole.

I studied at the St Albans campus of the university as a mature age student.

Support services available at Victoria University at the time made it possible for me to come back to education at the age of 40 to earn a professional qualification for the first time. I made good use of the student services because I had left school early and there were gaps in my school education at a government school in Morwell.

I can make jokes about my lack of education.

In this place I might be seen as a troublemaker -- maybe we can blame Victoria University for some of it, but it probably preceded that time -- but the government should not remove the university's obligation to foster education opportunities for students like me in the western suburbs.

Before I did the VU course I was a home-care worker on a relatively low wage, but once I was qualified I was able to get a much better job with Western Region Health Centre, and in fact the job paid double what I had been paid.

Mature-age education is a way out of poverty for women. The staff at VU are incredibly dedicated. They care about education and they care about the western suburbs. Many staff are drawn to the university because of its special place in the community.

There are plenty of intelligent people in the western suburbs, but many of them miss out on a university education because they lack opportunity.

Some people were born in countries where war or extreme poverty prevented them from realising their potential. Others have simply had the disadvantage of coming from an underresourced state school in Victoria, and I put myself in this category.

I could go off on a tangent here and talk about the utter irony of the My School website. The government keeps saying it has something to do with choice, as if everyone has the choice to whisk their kids out of an underachieving school. We should be improving schools and not naming and shaming already disadvantaged schools.

The state government should be encouraging Victoria University to strengthen its commitment to creating education opportunities for schools in the western suburbs, and one of the real problems with the bill is that I believe it has reduced it.

But with the help of the government we may be able to bring it back and the bill will strengthen it.

Victoria University has a special place in the western suburbs. It was established after many years of struggle in the west for a university of our own.

The Victoria University of Technology Act 1990 recognised its unique status in its objects. Section 6(i) of the act provides for the university to foster educational opportunities in the western suburbs.

Of late this must indeed have been a troublesome clause for the university as it has been trying to cut costs and slash staff and the support services that made it possible for disadvantaged students to achieve their degrees.

It has been troublesome enough for that to have gone missing from the Victoria University Bill 2009.

Instead at this stage the government has inserted a preamble about the western suburbs. However, there has been an indication from the government that it will accept our amendment.

Initially when the government was briefing the Greens on the bill it advised us that the preamble is legally the equivalent to the content of the legislation. The government has legal opinion to prove it but I suspect it is in a tightly locked drawer somewhere. I was not convinced about it then and I am not convinced now. I have never seen a preamble like this. There has to be a reason for it, and the reason is that something very valuable used to be in the legislation and now it is not.

As I have indicated I will move an amendment which, in effect, maintains the old section 6(i) in the Victoria University of Technology Act, under the same heading, 'Objects of the University', which will become clause 5 of the bill.

Maybe now the government is coming around to our point of view. It has said the preamble is legally binding, but hopefully it has come around to supporting the idea that it is needed in the legislation and therefore will support the amendment.

It creates no additional burden on Victoria University than the preamble would indicate. I am pleased the Minister for Education's office has indicated that the government is inclined to support the Greens amendment.

Obviously if this occurs it will be a very significant moment for us. Firstly, it will indicate that the government has a commitment to providing education in the western suburbs. Secondly, it will be only the second time in the history of our time in the Victorian Parliament that the government has accepted a Greens amendment.

The only time the government accepted a Greens amendment up until now was on a technical issue to do with public reporting of levy money in relation to cemetery trust funds. This amendment is about much more substantial issues that affect the everyday lives of people in the western suburbs -- issues such as education, social justice and access to resources.

A number of recent events have raised concerns that Victoria University is starting to move away from its special responsibility to the western suburbs. In 2007 the university retrenched 70 staff, in an austerity program that caused cuts to student services.

Information obtained by the Greens via freedom of information showed that, at around the same time, the university held a New Year's Eve party for 90 people at a cost of $25 000. Over an 18-month period senior managers of the university spent a further $71 000 on their university credit cards on entertainment at some of Melbourne's most expensive restaurants.

One university councillor spent $3600 on attending a Melbourne Football Club game.

In August 2009 cuts to Chinese, Japanese and Spanish teaching at Victoria University were announced. In October 2009 cuts were announced to maths courses, and the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute said they would result in maths teacher shortages in western suburbs high schools.

In November 2008 VU announced the closure of the Melton and Sunbury campuses and proposed 270 redundancies without prior consultation. Friends of Victoria University, of which I am a member, was formed in outrage at those cuts. They approached me to move this amendment, and I am happy to do so.

The university's campus in Sunbury has closed and has been leased to a private school on a 12-month lease. Unfortunately it looks like the door has closed for education in Sunbury, but maybe it is not locked.

It is my understanding that the school does not want to stay on the site but wants to build on a new site as soon as it is able.

I have a letter from careers adviser Chris Bromley, who works at Kyneton Secondary College. He has some good advice for the government.

He reminds us that the state and federal governments originally gave the Sunbury campuses, including beautiful heritage buildings, to Victoria University to be used for post-secondary education needs in Sunbury and the Macedon Ranges area.

The amount of $40 million was then spent on developing the buildings.

However, someone forgot to put in the contract that if Victoria University does not want to use the gifts of land and buildings for local post-secondary education, it should hand them back.

The university owns the land but cannot lease it for more than 21 years or sell it for more than $5 million without the minister's permission. The minister should not give permission for this, and if she does, the Greens will campaign against the decision.

Instead the minister should use this legislation, strengthened by the amendment from the Greens, to encourage the university to re-open the Sunbury campus.

When Victoria University closed the campus, the vice-chancellor said that it was not really working to provide local education because only 6 per cent of the students were local. But, as Chris Bromley points out -- and I would agree -- if only 6 per cent of students are local, the university should not close the campus but should try to figure out what courses it can offer to meet the aspirations of the other potential 94 per cent of local students.

It will not be big news to this house when I say that kids from private schools in the eastern suburbs are more likely to gain a place at university. They are no more intelligent than kids in the western suburbs, but they have more advantages -- which are reflected in their higher ENTER (equivalent national tertiary entrance rank) scores.

The final report on the Education and Training Committee's inquiry into geographical differences in the rate in which Victorian students participate in higher education clearly shows that students from interface suburbs receive lower ENTER scores than those from metropolitan or rural areas. The report notes that low achieving is linked to early school leaving and lower educational aspirations.

Youth support organisation Western Chances told the committee that perfectly capable students in the western suburbs of Melbourne can believe that higher education is not an option for them. Western Chances wrote in what is a heartrending submission:

    " They believe that they will not be able to get into courses; that university is just for 'rich private schoolkids' and so on. "

    " Our trainers observed several very intelligent students, who believe they could never get into a university... "

A school captain at a Glenroy school, Ms Dalal Hamoud, submitted this passionate plea at the end of a submission about resources:

    " Why should a student who attends a school in the city, who has rich parents who give him/her everything and anything they need have an advantage over us? "

    " This isn't a complaint that they're richer than us but is more so a plea to get something done. We want the facilities they have, we want the care and attention they get, but most of all we want the marks and universities they get. "

This is exactly the sort of student who will perform better at university than her ENTER scores would predict, compared with students who have been hot-housed. Students who have to overcome disadvantage at school are better at thinking for themselves and researching, and tend to be much more self-motivated and self-reliant. These are the skills you need at university, but they are not the skills that get you into university.

People in the west have lost so many education opportunities. Apart from the closures of campuses and courses, staff cuts have impacted on the ability of academic and support staff to help students like me. As a mature-age student, I needed extra support.

I would like to close by acknowledging some good things the university is doing, some of which have been made possible by the Victorian and federal governments.

Research scholarships have increased to about $2 million a year. The increase has been both in the amount per scholarship and the amount overall.

Access and equity scholarships have increased from roughly $300 000 in 2005 to an average of $1 million a year for the past two years.

The selection criteria for scholarships favour students who are at a financial, educational or social disadvantage. However, in my view, because of the unique circumstances of Victoria University scholarships, links with schools and educational opportunities should also favour students who have come from schools in the west.

Victoria University is not like the other universities. It was formed with a unique purpose to provide education in an area that was missing out.

If it becomes just like all the other universities, then the unequal access to education in the west will become entrenched. I ask that my amendments be circulated.

Greens amendments circulated by Ms HARTLAND (Western Metropolitan) pursuant to standing orders.

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Click here for the full parliamentary debate.

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Transcript of the debate on the Greens amendment (including the amendment text):

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT -- Order! I invite Ms Hartland to move her amendment 1 which I indicate to the committee I consider will be a test for remaining amendments 2 to 4.

"Ms HARTLAND (Western Metropolitan) -- I move:

"1. Clause 3, page 5, line 12 omit --Visitor.-- and insert --Visitor;--. "

This has been a very interesting debate because we are all in fierce agreement about the need for really good and diverse education.

The amendment by the Greens takes the commitment to education in the west, which was in the Victoria University of Technology Act, and brings it into the new Victoria University Bill. When I say 'the west' I need to be able to specify what I mean by that.

It is shorthand for the areas served by Victoria University, including the western and northern suburbs, and the peri-urban area serviced by the university campuses, including those at Melton and Sunbury. These areas are defined in the amendment.

As it stands, the bill omits Victoria University's legislative commitment to the west and replaces the obligation in the former Victoria University of Technology Act with a set of broad statements in the preamble. The Greens amendment seeks to create an obligation for the university to develop and provide services and foster participation in the western region.

As an example of this -- and this has been spoken about in the debate in the other house -- the university has decided to drop maths and languages in favour of building a sports science centre at the Whitten Oval. I disagreed with that decision, but now it is going ahead I want to make sure that the sports centre is filled with students from the west.

I had a really good time when I was a student briefly at Victoria University, and I think education is incredibly important, especially for mature age students. This amendment is very important because Victoria University needs to remain bound by the obligation to expand education opportunities in the western suburbs. Otherwise, who else will break the cycle of students in my area thinking they are not good enough to attend university?

Mr HALL (Eastern Victoria) -- I will ask Ms Hartland just one question about this amendment.

I think Ms Hartland indicated in the second-reading debate that the amendment was requested by the Friends of Victoria University. I would like to know whether representatives of the university itself have been consulted on this amendment and, if so, are they comfortable with it?

Ms HARTLAND (Western Metropolitan) -- The university people have not been consulted, and I doubt very much that they are comfortable with it. That is why we are moving this amendment: we think they have moved away from their obligation to provide education in the west.

" Hon. M. P. PAKULA (Minister for Public Transport) -- If I could provide assistance to Mr Hall "

"Page 52

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*** DAILY HANSARD *** PROOF VERSION ONLY *** DO NOT QUOTE ***

"on that matter, I understand that Schools Victoria officers have indeed spoken to people at Victoria University about the amendment, and they are indeed quite comfortable with it. "

" Ms HARTLAND (Western Metropolitan) -- That is excellent to know, and I hope their behaviour will change to indicate that they are comfortable with it. "

"Amendment agreed to. "

" Ms HARTLAND (Western Metropolitan) -- I move: "

"2. Clause 3, page 5, after line 12 insert -- "

    " --Western Metropolitan region of Melbourne means the following -- "

    " (a) Brimbank City Council; "

    " (b) Hobson's Bay City Council; "

    " (c) Maribyrnong City Council; "

    " (d) Moonee Valley City Council; "

    " (e) Hume City Council; "

    " (f) Wyndham City Council; "

    " (g) Melton Shire.--. "

Amendment agreed to; amended clause agreed to; clause 4 agreed to.

Clause 5

"Ms HARTLAND (Western Metropolitan) -- I move:

"3. Clause 5, page 8, line 18, omit --otherwise.-- and insert --otherwise;--. "

"4. Clause 5, page 8, after line 18 insert -- "

    " --( ) to develop and provide educational, cultural, professional, technical and vocational services, and, in particular, to foster participation in post-secondary education for persons living or working in the Western Metropolitan region of Melbourne.--. "

Amendments agreed to; amended clause agreed to; clauses 6 to 74 agreed to; schedule 1 agreed to.

Reported to house with amendments.

Report adopted.

Third reading

Hon. M. P. PAKULA (Minister for Public Transport) -- I move:

    " That the bill be now read a third time. "

"n doing so I would like to thank all members of the chamber for their contributions to the debate. Additionally, I would like to thank Larry Isaac, Tom Johnson and Jane Atkins for their assistance in the drafting of the legislation and the principles upon which it is based.

Motion agreed to.

Read third time.