Senate Education and Employment Committee (part 1 of 2)
27 April 2026
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Senate Education and Employment Committee Australian Parliament
11:12 - 13:52
Speaker 5
This hearing of the Education and Employment Legislation Committee into the Higher Education Support Amendment Reverse Job Ready Graduates Fee Heights and n 50 k Arts Degrees Bill twenty twenty five. I begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet today and pay my respects to their elders past and present. I'm chairing this hearing from Adelaide and pay my respects to the Kaurna people. And, of course, we extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people joining us for our hearing today. The committee will be conducting today's hearing both via video conference and in person.
I'm joined today by the deputy chair, senator Kavasik, who is with us via video conference, senator Fariki, who is in the room in Canberra, and I believe we'll have senator Mulholland later in the day also via video conference. These are public proceedings being streamed live via the parliament's website, and a hand side transcript is being made. I remind all witnesses that in giving evidence to the committee, they are protected by parliamentary privilege. It is unlawful for anyone to threaten or disadvantage a witness on account of evidence given to a committee, and as such, action may be treated by the senate as a contempt. It is also a contempt to give false or misleading evidence.
Witnesses also have a right to request to be heard in camera. The senate has resolved that an officer of a department of the Commonwealth or of a state shall not be asked to give opinions on matters of policy and shall be given reasonable opportunity to refer questions asked of the officer to superior officers or to a minister. This resolution does not preclude questions asking for explanations of policies or factual questions about when and how policies were adopted. If a witness objects to answering a question, they should state the ground upon which the objection is made and the committee will determine whether it will insist on an answer having regard to the ground which is claimed. If the committee determines to insist on an answer, a witness may request that the answer be given in camera.
Commonwealth officers appearing today are also reminded of the senate order specifying the process by which a claim of public interest immunity should be raised. A copy of the order is available from the secretariat. I remind senators of their obligations under the behavior code for Australian parliamentarians to treat witnesses with dignity, courtesy, fairness, and respect. And I remind committee members and witnesses who are appearing remotely and who are not speaking to mute their microphones. I also remind committee members that as we have a full program today, each senator will be allocated a ten minute block for questions before the call is rotated.
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