Book 8 - Parliament of Victoria

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STATEMENTS ON REPORTS AND PAPERS 1658 COUNCIL Wednesday, 1 June 2011 In addition to these qualifications, four entities — Monash Educational Enterprises, Monash South Africa, Driver Education Centre Australia and DECA — have received audit opinions that emphasise the reliance of these entities on the continuing financial support of their parent entities to continue their operations. There are a further seven recommendations for improvements in the reporting performance on the operations of the universities and TAFEs. The primary recommendation is that performance reporting in the TAFE sector be elevated to legislative status. That will augur well for open and transparent reporting to Parliament. The Auditor-General has been promoting improved performance reporting by the TAFE sector for some time. Whilst TAFE institutes have been complying with disclosure requests, the Auditor-General now argues we need to beef it up. The Minister for Higher Education and Skills, the Honourable Peter Hall, is working with his office, Skills Victoria and with the sector to identify a more robust and relevant group of key performance indicators. Once that is done, he will discuss these matters with the Department of Treasury and Finance and the Minister for Finance in order to formalise how these performance standards will be implemented. The report makes a range of other recommendations, which are welcomed. I will comment on two recommendations. On page 25 of the report the Auditor-General comments on the huge liability of the TAFE sector in particular, especially those institutes that have a substantial number of international students. In 2010 university fees increased by 62 per cent and TAFE fees by 118 per cent. There will be a decline, and that exposes both sectors substantially as a result of the vagaries of the competitive market for such students. I am also aware that some of the home countries of our international students are introducing measures to respond to their needs for higher education domestically, and this may also impact on the revenue we derive from this very important export market. I urge our institutes to factor that in when they turn to the issue of securing their financial sustainability into the future. The report also makes recommendations about improving the financial sustainability of the sector, in particular the way in which TAFEs allocate capital grants across the sector rather than managing the grants process to factor in the need for the replacement of assets and instead of just relying totally on the government to do so. Some valuable recommendations have been made by the Auditor-General to improve what is a very important source of services for our domestic clients and students as well as for our international clients. This has become a vigorous sector that can help to protect the future of the state of Victoria. Auditor-General: Early Childhood Development Services — Access and Quality Ms MIKAKOS (Northern Metropolitan) — I rise to speak on the Victorian Auditor-General’s report entitled Early Childhood Development Services — Access and Quality, which was tabled in this house on 25 May. The report highlights many of the positive achievements that were made by the previous Labor government in early childhood services. Labor has a proud record of investing in early childhood services, and it increased funding to those services by 225 per cent during its term in government. With Victoria experiencing record-level birth rates — 200 babies born a day — parents have become more aware of the importance of children’s early years to their health and development. A lot of that is reflected in this report. A total of 73 827 babies were notified to the maternal and child health service in the last financial year, representing a 22 per cent increase in birth notices over the last 10 years. Unfortunately I need to come to this house on a regular basis to remind the Minister for Children and Early Childhood Development that she now has an obligation to Victoria’s children and is responsible for delivering vital services for Victorian families. During question time I often hear her absolving herself of that responsibility and seeking to claim that the federal government is responsible for her portfolio. When this report was tabled last week I was quite astounded that the minister put out a media release in which she basically pointed the finger at her own department. She seemed to be talking down her department, and I found that quite alarming. That media release also seemed to represent a complete lack of understanding of the findings of the audit. I am certain that the media release was not drafted by her department but that it would have been drafted by her ministerial office, which would explain why she got it so wrong. Victorians can quite rightly have confidence in kindergarten services in our state. The audit has shown that statewide participation rates in universal kindergarten have increased to record levels. There was a 95 per cent participation rate between 2005–06 and 2009–10, yet despite being well aware of Victoria’s current baby boom and of the growing demand for more kindergarten places, the Baillieu government has
STATEMENTS ON REPORTS AND PAPERS Wednesday, 1 June 2011 COUNCIL 1659 budgeted only $15 million in the next financial year for capital improvements to kindergartens. Honourable members interjecting. Ms Darveniza — On a point of order, Acting President, I am unable to hear the contribution that Ms Mikakos is making. Ms Lovell is interjecting at such a high volume it is really difficult for me to hear Ms Mikakos, even though I am sitting quite close to her. The ACTING PRESIDENT (Mr Eideh) — Order! There is no point of order. However, I ask members to remain quiet so we can hear the contribution of Ms Mikakos. Ms MIKAKOS — I thank Ms Darveniza, because this is an important issue. I know she cares about the local kinders in her electorate and wants to hear the positive news that is contained in this report. The minister would do well to listen; she might actually learn something. As I have been saying, we are experiencing a baby boom and yet the Baillieu government has only budgeted $15 million for capital improvements to kindergartens. This lack of investment will almost certainly impact on kindergarten participation rates across Victoria. It appears that under the Baillieu government many of Victoria’s kindergartens will be left without adequate facilities and more Victorian children will miss out on this vital learning experience. Hon. W. A. Lovell — On a point of order, Acting President, I believe the member is misleading the house. The ACTING PRESIDENT (Mr Eideh) — Order! There is no point of order. The remarks of Ms Mikakos are a part of the debate. Ms MIKAKOS — The minister has the opportunity, which she is yet to take, to stand up and speak for five minutes on her views about this report, but she has been very silent on the issue since she put out her media release last week. The audit found that participation in services such as maternal and child health services and services for vulnerable children and families also rose between 2005–06 and 2009–10. I think that is a positive thing, because maternal and child health services are so important for Victorian families. It is the responsibility of the state government to ensure that all our preschoolers and young children have access to quality early childhood facilities, no matter where they live. Unfortunately we are not seeing this in the budget this year. We are seeing cuts in a number of areas that I have talked about on previous occasions, and we are certainly seeing underinvestment across the early childhood sector. We have had dedicated funding towards children’s centres. Yesterday I gave the minister an opportunity to talk about whether new proposals would be able to access the $15 million facilities program, and she failed to elaborate on that. When I asked the minister a question about this during question time she kept interjecting. I would like her to get up and speak for 5 minutes on this and to provide some information, because we are certainly not getting it during question time. The Labor opposition welcomes this report. There are always improvements that can be made to the early childhood sector, and we look forward to these improvements. Auditor-General: annual plan 2011–12 Ms CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) — I am pleased to rise to speak on the Victorian Auditor-General’s annual plan 2011–12. In doing so I note that it is a very comprehensive overview of the proposed audit program for 2011–12 and covers many areas that this government will be dealing with in relation to services and other areas of government. As Victorians we can be confident in the Auditor-General, who plays a key role in providing independence in this process. I thank the Auditor-General for the work he has undertaken. On page 1 the report states: Entities to be audited during 2011–12 include government departments and agencies, public hospitals and ambulance services, universities and other educational institutions, water authorities, public sector superannuation funds, as well as companies, trusts and joint ventures controlled by public sector agencies. The Auditor-General also has responsibility for auditing the local government sector, which comprises municipal councils and the entities they control, and regional library corporations. Members can see that the report covers a wide range of areas. On pages 4 and 5 the report discusses both internal and external influences. External influences include the 2009 bushfires and the global financial crisis, which are still having some impact on this current program. Internal influences include targeting fraud, waste and non-compliance and looking at assessments in relation to the achievements of the
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