Mrs SALLY QUINNELL (Camden) (14:57): Today we come together to acknowledge the Government's transformative policy change that has the potential to deliver so many benefits to learners experiencing disadvantage. I start today with a story that to me epitomises what TAFE can do. Picture a young lady who, at 16, decides that she would like to leave school to pursue a professional dance career. She studies at a specialised dance school, where she suffers a career-ending injury. Her decision to take on a professional dance career ends 12 months after it started. She comes back home to her family dejected and completely unwilling to go back into a school system that she had walked away from.

She is was able to sign up to Liverpool TAFE to undertake a Certificate III, then consequently a Certificate IV. She described Liverpool TAFE as "the twilight zone". She studied in a business room where literally no-one was seen during the day. She discovered, after some research, that it had formerly been an institution and she felt it perhaps could even have been haunted because there were so few people there. She attended every week, completed her Certificate III and Certificate IV and then attained early entry to study law at Western Sydney University. That is what TAFE does. The removal of the cap on needs-based loadings represents a significant stride towards fostering inclusivity and boosting training completion rates, particularly for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, students with disabilities and the long-term unemployed. For far too long, those groups have faced unique barriers to education and training, hindering their ability to fully participate in and benefit from the opportunities that education can provide.

As a former teacher, I know that teachers are the first to admit that schools are not for everybody. TAFE has long been, or was, the institution that captured those students who were not able to attend school every day. They may have had family to care for. Over the past 12 years, that has been stripped away bit by bit so that now there are TAFEs with some students, very few teachers and empty classrooms. One of the primary ways that the policy change improves training completion rates is by acknowledging the diverse needs of those groups. Students from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds, students with disabilities and the long-term unemployed often require additional support, resources and tailored strategies to successfully complete their training. By removing the cap on needs-based loadings, the potential is unlocked for training providers to allocate the necessary resources to address those needs comprehensively and support our most needy students.

Moreover, the policy change encourages training providers to develop specialised programs that cater to the unique learning styles and requirements of those students. By facilitating a more inclusive and adaptable learning environment, we create pathways that not only lead to completion but also, and more importantly, empower those individuals to contribute actively to their communities and the broader society. For anyone who is listening at home, that means that those individuals become active members of the economy. That is something I would have thought those opposite would respect. In conclusion, the removal of the cap on needs-based loadings is a step forward in the journey towards a more equitable and accessible education and training landscape.