Federal plan to extend deferred fees to TAFE

Thousands of Canberra students wanting to study a vocational course may be thrown a financial lifeline as the Federal Government plans extending HECS-style loans to TAFE fees.
The Canberra Institute of Technology cautiously welcomed the announcement by Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday that the Commonwealth would negotiate a plan with the states and territories to end up-front fees for students enrolling in VET diplomas or advanced diplomas.
The reforms, however, will not be in place for students enrolling in TAFE this year.
CIT currently has one of the highest intakes of students at diploma and associate degree level across Australia’s 56 public TAFEs – with more than 6000 enrolments last year.
Ms Gillard announced negotiations would begin on allowing students VET students to waive upfront fees and instead defer repayments until they were earning a wage – in the same way HECS works for university students.
Current fee levels at the CIT range between $1020 for international business and $3130 for hospitality and are regulated by the ACT Government.
The Federal Government would also guarantee foundation and entry-level courses for technical and service sector careers in areas such as health, business, hospitality, communications, construction, transport and other areas through a government-subsidised training place worth up to $7800.
CIT director Adrian Marron said the announcements were positive but ”the devil will be in the detail”.
While Victoria has been trialling income contingent loans to VET students, Mr Marron said ”there are lessons to be learned from the Victorian experience in relation to the mechanics of implementing the system”.
The CIT was aware that fees acted as a financial barrier to education and training for many students and already offered concessions such as 50 per cent off fees for students with a Centrelink card.
Mr Marron said the wide variety of courses, course lengths, fee structures and existing concessions would all need to be taken into account when constructing and negotiating the new HECS-style loans.

ACT Education Minister Chris Bourke said he was happy to negotiate with the Commonwealth if the new measures went to improve local workforce productivity and participation.
”It is also worth noting that having federally funded HECS places aligns well with the University of Canberra-Institute of Technology joint venture,” he said, referring to the new institution to be set up by the UC and CIT to operate solely at diploma and associate degree level from 2013.
Mr Bourke said he looked forward to receiving more detail from the Commonwealth on how the scheme might work.
Ms Gillard said the reforms were aimed at tackling Australia’s skills shortage, recognised the increasing importance of higher level skills in Australian vocational education and take pressure off families struggling to make ends meet.
”By removing this cost barrier, students would have more choice about what and where they study, and would be free from the added burden of having to pay their training fees upfront,” she said.
She noted the Victorian trial had been popular, with 22,000 students opting to take up an income-contingent loan since 2009.
Ms Gillard said the package would not only open up a significant number of training opportunities for more Australians, but also improve job security and lift national productivity.
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Bank doubles profit from home loans

Commonwealth Bank ATMs. Picture: Alan Pryke Source: The Sunday Telegraph

AUSTRALIA’S biggest bank has more than doubled the money it makes on home loans since the height of the global financial crisis.

And, while the Commonwealth Bank and its peers complain of having to pay depositors higher rates for the funds they lend out, Reserve Bank figures show the gap between deposit rates and the RBA cash rate is narrowing. In fact, the gap is at the narrowest point in more than four years – evidence that bank lending is not entirely as expensive as they make out.
Of particular note, figures from the recent Commonwealth Bank profit announcement show net home loan incomes jumped more than 130 per cent since the height of the global financial crisis, to more than $2.6 billion.
Despite the income growth, the nation’s top lenders have drawn widespread criticism for suggesting future Reserve Bank rate cuts may not be passed on in full due to “higher lending costs”.
Speaking to reporters after Westpac’s annual meeting last month, boss Gail Kelly warned global money markets, a key source of funding for Australian banks, had “effectively closed”.
“As a direct result of the turmoil going on around the world, funding has become a more difficult issue,” she said.
“And when they open up, our estimation is that the cost of raising money will actually be more than it was at any point during the global financial crisis.”
The World Bank yesterday slashed its global growth forecasts, warning the world is on the edge of a new financial crisis, more damaging than the one that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.
Meanwhile, some analysts have suggested the impact of rising wholesale funding costs have been overstated by the banks, particularly as the sector can tap other sources for cheaper funding.
Deutsche Bank analyst James Freeman said he believed none of the major banks had yet to experience pressures on pricing. “While offshore wholesale funding costs have risen materially over recent months, the impact on banks margins and hence profit will be contained,” he said.
Matt Levey, head of campaigns at consumer group Choice, is another cynic of banks “crying poor”.
“We’ve seen from bank profits that they’re obviously very profitable,” Mr Levey said yesterday.
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