Last week, Brendan O'Connor, Minister for Employment Participation, launched a new Tuition Assurance Scheme to be operated by TAFE Directors Australia.
Mr O'Connor launched the VET FEE-HELP Tuition Assurance Scheme at the TAFE meets Parliament: Skills Innovation 2020 conference in Canberra - a forum and Parliamentary dinner held on the 16th and 17th September 2008.
He said the tuition assurance scheme strengthened the VET and higher education sectors by providing vital consumer protection mechanisms for students.
"Tuition Assurance protects full-fee paying students in those rare circumstances where a provider is unable - for whatever reason - to continue providing a course of study," Mr O'Connor said.
If a provider ceases delivering a course, the tuition assurance scheme kicks in, enabling a student to be refunded for any incomplete units of study, or be enrolled in the same or similar course with another provider.
TAFE Directors Australia will administer the loan scheme which will be underwritten by QBE Australia.
Legislative amendments introduced earlier this year enabled the income-contingent loans scheme, FEE-HELP for the higher education sector, to be extended to selected higher level VET qualifications.
The VET FEE-HELP scheme provides opportunities for more Australians to pursue new careers or lift their qualifications to diploma level or above, without facing the disincentive of having to pay upfront tuition fees.
VET FEE-HELP gives more people the opportunity to pursue high level VET courses which might otherwise not be open to them, Mr OConnor said.
It also means for the first time full-fee paying VET students undertaking higher level vocational training are now treated in the same way as their higher education counterparts.
Mr OConnor said Education, training and social inclusion were integral to Australias future productivity as well as a key part of providing a path to prosperity for all Australians.
