This Bills Digest replaces a preliminary Digest published on 15 November 2024 to assist in early consideration of the Bill.
Key points
- The Free TAFE Bill 2024 (the Bill) would facilitate the ongoing provision of financial assistance to the states and territories (the states), towards delivering Free TAFE and vocational education and training (VET) places, from 2027 onwards.
- The Bill enshrines into legislation policy relating to the Fee-Free TAFE program, which has delivered Fee-Free TAFE places since the beginning of 2023.
- Through Fee-Free TAFE, the Government, together with the states, funds training places related to areas of local and national priority—with priority given to specific groups who experience social and economic exclusion—thereby allowing for these places to be free for students (dependent upon the terms of the agreement between the Commonwealth and the relevant state).
- The Bill sets out the parameters for funding ‘Free TAFE’ (FT) places through the states, the requirement for a FT agreement to be in place between the Commonwealth and the states, and key matters that the agreements should contain.
- The Bill includes a requirement for the Commonwealth minister responsible for skills and training to consult with the Ministerial Council made up of respective state ministers and table a consultation report, prior to legislating any amendments to the Act.
- State governments, several unions and TAFE organisations have welcomed the Bill as providing ongoing certainty for a program that they consider reduces financial barriers for qualifications and assists in addressing skills shortages.
- The Coalition will not support the Bill, and several major industry groups oppose it. Key areas of criticism or concern are that such a program should not be legislated, particularly without proper evaluation and detailed costings, and that it priorities TAFE over other VET providers to the detriment of student choice and the sector.
- The Bill was considered by the Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills which reported on 20 November 2024. The Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee is due to report on 27 February 2025.
Introductory Info
Date of introduction: 7 November 2024
House introduced in: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Skills and Training
Commencement: The day after Royal Assent
Purpose of the Bill
The purpose of the Free TAFE Bill 2024 (the Bill) is to provide for ongoing financial support to the states for the delivery of Free TAFE and VET places.
Structure of the Bill
The Bill comprises 1 Schedule with a Preamble and 4 Parts:
- The Preamble outlines the importance of TAFE, VET and embedding Free TAFE as an enduring feature of the VET system.
- Part 1 contains the preliminary provisions including the object and definitions.
- Part 2 sets out the type of financial assistance the Commonwealth will make towards Free TAFE (FT) places, payable to the states in accordance with and dependent upon FT agreements.
- Part 3 defines ‘FT agreement’ and sets out what matters are to be dealt with in them, such as timeframes for FT places and funding, priority areas of study and student groups, and reporting obligations from the states to the Commonwealth. However, it includes a provision that an FT agreement will not be invalidated if it does not deal with 1 or more of most of these matters.
- Part 4 provides ‘Other matters’, including the requirements that the Minister must consult with the Ministerial Council before proposing to amend the legislation and table a report in the Parliament when introducing any legislation to amend the Act.
Background
Establishment of Fee-Free TAFE
In Labor’s 2018 Budget reply speech, Bill Shorten promised that a Labor Government would ‘cover all up-front fees of 100,000 TAFE places, in our first term, in high priority sectors.’
In December 2021, Labor pledged to provide 465,000 Free TAFE places, including 45,000 new TAFE places, if it came to government. In the lead up to the 2022 election, the Parliamentary Budget Office provided costings according to Labor’s intention to fund free TAFE places based on 105,365 commencements per year, as well as create and fund 15,000 additional free TAFE places per year. For the latter, the Government would fund 54% and the states the remaining amount.
At the September 2022 Jobs and Skills Summit, the Labor Government and the states announced plans to create a 12-month Skills Agreement that would ‘accelerate the delivery of 465,000 additional fee-free TAFE places, with 180,000 to be delivered next year, and with costs shared with the states and territories on a 50:50 basis’. In the 12-month Skills Agreement the Government and the states were to contribute $493 million each to the first tranche of Fee Free TAFE (p. 2). The funding was addressed in the October 2022–23 Budget:
The Government will provide 480,000 fee-free TAFE and community-based vocational education places to ensure Australians have affordable access to skills training, especially in areas of critical shortage. As a first step, the Australian Government and all states and territories have committed to develop a $1 billion one-year National Skills Agreement. The agreement will commence on 1 January 2023 and deliver 180,000 fee-free TAFE and community-based vocational education places over 12 months. Support will be targeted to priority groups, including First Nations people and priority areas, including care sectors. (p. 12)
While negotiating the subsequent 5-year National Skills Agreement in April 2023, the Government pledged a further $400 million to support another 300,000 TAFE and VET fee-free places.
The 2024–25 Budget contained an extra $88.8 million over 3 years toward 20,000 new fee-free training places ‘… in courses relevant to the construction sector and delivered through TAFEs and industry registered training organisations’ (p. 74).
The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations website currently states that overall the Government and the states have partnered to deliver over $1.5 billion funding for 500,000 Fee-Free TAFE and VET places over 2023 to 2026.
Administration of Fee-Free TAFE
Fee-Free TAFE was initially part of the Commonwealth and states’ 12-month Skills Agreement, and now falls under the Fee-Free TAFE Skills Agreement (FFTSA).
According to the FFTSA, the Commonwealth and states must agree on bilateral implementation plans (p. 6). Implementation plans are to include:
- agreed implementation arrangements to avoid service gaps across years
- allowance for variation to the implementation plan to ‘assist States to manage demand for places, including by counting over-enrolments in areas of national priority towards places for the following year’ (p. 7).
For both the first tranche of enrolments (from 2023, Appendix A) and the second (from 2024, Appendix F) the states determine the courses to be funded under the agreement to deliver national and/or state-based priorities. National areas of priority are listed as:
- care (aged care, childcare, health care, disability care)
- technology and digital
- hospitality and tourism
- construction
- agriculture
- sovereign capability (for example manufacturing and Defence)
- VET workforce (from 1 January 2024) (pp. 17, 28).
The states are to administer learner eligibility for Fee-Free TAFE and prioritise the following groups:
- First Nations Australians
- young people (17–24)
- people out of work or receiving income support
- unpaid carers
- women facing economic insecurity
- women undertaking study in non-traditional fields
- people with disability
- certain categories of visa holders (pp. 17, 28).
For tranche 1 (Appendix A) the states are to specify an initial list of courses and address how the list meets the national and/or state priority areas and how the list may be updated (p. 17).
For tranche 2 (Appendix F) the states are to provide estimates of the number of places for each national priority, based on previous delivery patterns and indicative of expected demand (p. 28).
Under the FFTSA, Fee-Free TAFE is effectively restricted to TAFE providers with a few exceptions (the tranche 2 has only slightly modified wording, p. 28):
Fee-Free TAFE will be delivered by a registered training provider that is recognised as a TAFE or public dual sector higher education provider, including TAFE aspiring or partnership arrangements. In limited circumstances delivery may also include community training providers or Indigenous training providers where they are better placed to deliver specialist training, as agreed with the Commonwealth in the Implementation Plan. (p. 17)
Outcome data
Given that the Fee-Free TAFE program has only been running since January 2023, there is limited available outcome date. The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) publishes data on VET, including VET student outcomes 2024, and Government‑funded students and courses but this data is not fee-free TAFE specific. Most of the available data has come through media releases, Questions on Notice and Freedom of Information Briefing packs.
Enrolments
In January 2025 the Government issued a media release (and another that focuses on Queensland) with the most up-to-date totals of 568,400 ‘Australians [that have] enrolled in Free TAFE’ between January 2023 and September 2024. It includes the following breakdowns:
DEMOGRAPHICS
Under the Albanese Government’s Free TAFE program there have been:
- Almost 39,200 enrolments in the Construction sector
- Almost 150,900 enrolments in the Care sector
- More than 54,700 enrolments in the Technology and Digital sector
- More than 40,700 enrolments in the Early Childhood Education and Care sector
- And more than 22,100 enrolments in the Agriculture sector.
By demographic, Free TAFE enrolments included:
- 354,000 women
- 197,700 regional and remote students
- 191,900 people aged 24 and under
- 139,900 job seekers
- 124,600 people who speak a language other than English at home
- 44,400 people with disability
- 34,100 First Nations people
The top 5 courses by enrolment nationally were:
- Certificate III in Individual Support
- Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care
- Diploma of Nursing
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment
- Certificate IV in Accounting and Bookkeeping
This data follows the first DEWR publication of Fee-Free TAFE Enrolment Data in October 2024, which covers January 2023 to 30 June 2024.
It is, unfortunately, not possible to analyse the publicly available NCVER datasets to determine whether there has been an increase in total enrolments in the ‘national areas of priority’ for Fee-Free TAFE, as these do not directly match the NCVER categories available. However, the NCVER report on Total VET students and courses 2023 shows an increase in 2023 in program enrolments (nationally recognised), including training package qualifications (p. 15 of the report), as well as an increase in Certificate III and IV enrolments (p. 18). Figure 1 shows that, while government-funded program enrolments in TAFE rose in 2023, it was only slightly above previous totals going back to 2016.
Figure 1 Government-funded VET program enrolments by provider type, 2006–2023
Source: NCVER, VOCSTATS, Dataset: Government-funded VET program enrolments 2003–2023, Provider reporting type by year.
The Government has also stated most recently that 87% of Fee-Free TAFE enrolments are in qualifications at Certificate III or above (see ‘Completions’ section below). As Figure 2 demonstrates, data again shows a slight uptick in government-funded program enrolments at these qualification levels in 2023, but more or less in line with recent trends:
Figure 2 Government-funded VET program enrolments by program level, 2006–2023
Source: NCVER, VOCSTATS, Dataset: Government-funded VET program enrolments 2003–2023, Program level by year.
Using NCVER data and roughly matching some categories to several of the priority groups for Fee-Free TAFE does not suggest a marked change in government-funded program enrolments in 2023, as Figure 3 demonstrates.
Figure 3 Government-funded VET program enrolments by select demographic groups, 2006–2023
Source: NCVER, VOCSTATS, Dataset: Government-funded VET program enrolments 2003–2023, demographic group by year.
For a non-exact look at program enrolments for those who may fall into the category ‘women facing economic insecurity’, Figure 4 shows the program enrolment trends for women whose previous highest education level was year 12 or below, by labour force status (LFS). There has been a consistent increase in enrolments for the employed since 2019, while for the same period there has been an overall decline in enrolments for those unemployed or not in the labour force.
Figure 4 Government-funded VET program enrolments by women with previous highest education level of year 12 or below, by labour force status, 2006–2023
Source: NCVER, VOCSTATS, Dataset: Government-funded VET program enrolments 2003–2023, filters: Gender – Females; Previous highest education level – Yr 12 or below. ‘Not known’ excluded.
Completions
The January 2025 Government media release appears to cite a student enrolment count by ‘Australians’, to a total of 568,400, while the cited completions total appears to be by course: ‘more than 110,400 completions in Free TAFE courses’ from January 2023 to September 2024.
The media release also contains an explainer on how NCVER reports actual completions (p. 3), which is calculated 4 years after commencement, meaning ‘there is a time lag between commencements and completions’ and, therefore, any completion data is preliminary and may be influenced by a range of factors, including:
Enrolments include a mixture of full-time and part-time enrolments which impact completion dates, indeed of all government-funded TAFE students in 2023, 79.7% were part-time. Over 87% of Fee-Free TAFE courses are full qualifications at Certificate III and above which take longer to complete, with some courses taking multiple years.
DEWR released under Freedom of Information Question Time Briefing Packs for Minister Giles for 14 August 2024 (FOI24-25-411), 11 September 2024 (FOI24-25-430) and 4 November 2024 (FOI24-25-502). The earlier 2 briefing packs state:
From the start of Fee-Free TAFE in 2023 to 31 March 2024, there have been 61,072 completions in Fee-Free TAFE courses, representing around 13% of total enrolments for the period. (p. 6)
The November briefing pack states:
From the start of Fee-Free TAFE in 2023 to 30 June 2024, there have been 71,363 completions in Fee‑Free TAFE courses (see further information under Media below). Note: this is 14% of total enrolments. (p. 7, brackets in original)
The briefs also note points towards explaining the completion rates, some of which reiterate those made in the 20 January 2025 media release:
- While there is a relatively low number of completions, this is due to several reasons, including:
- Most courses supported by Fee-Free TAFE are full qualifications (89%) at Certificate III and above
- These courses take longer to complete, up to 3 years (with full time study)
- Students are at different stages of progress
- Enrolments include a mix part-time and full-time qualifications. (p. 6 of August brief)
Other data
The briefing packs mentioned above contain additional data breakdowns, including by tranche and state.
Other media releases have provided enrolment figure updates over the course of the program:
- A September 2024 media release reported 153,322 enrolments in the first half of 2024, representing ‘50.9% of the more than 300,000 places committed to the end of 2026.’
- A July 2024 media release reported that 118,200 people had enrolled in Fee-Free Tafe in the first three months of 2024, bringing the total to close to half a million.
- A March 2024 media release reported ‘355,557 Australians enrolled in Fee-Free TAFE across Australia during 2023’.
- An August 2023 media release said that Fee-Free TAFE enrolments had reached 214,300 in the first six months, surpassing the goal of 180,000 by the end of 2023.
Several responses to Questions on Notice have produced additional data on Fee-Free TAFE, such as on enrolments and completions; and by qualification type or level, or by priority group. These include:
Cost barrier
The Strong and Responsive VET Pathways report from Jobs and Skills Australia demonstrates that VET leads to improved income and employment rates.
A key objective of the Fee-Free TAFE program is to remove financial barriers to VET and this has been highlighted in several of the media releases (March 2024 and January 2025).
A number of reviews and reports have highlighted financial concerns or costs as a barrier to VET participation. A 2017 report on Drivers of participation and completion of VET prepared for the NSW Skills Board found in its literature review:
Financial circumstances can be a major deterrent to post school education including VET programs. Young people adjust their educational aspirations in response to financial constraints early in life. For some VET programs, e.g. apprenticeships, low pay and difficulties with finance can be deterrents. (p. 18)
A 2018 report into VET access and outcomes for young people experiencing disadvantage found that ‘expensive up-front fees’ were a key barrier.
ABS statistics for the 2020–21 financial year (latest release) on Work-Related Training and Adult Learning found that, of persons aged 15–74 who wanted to enrol in formal study below bachelor level but couldn’t, ‘financial reasons’ was the most common main reason for females, and the second (excluding ‘other’) most common main reason for males. It also notes that ‘financial reasons were a greater barrier to people in regional and remote areas (28% compared with 19%)’ and also that ‘31% [of people] living alone or in group households had barriers for financial reasons’.
However, until further data is available and research conducted, it is not possible to assess how much Fee-Free TAFE has benefited those who otherwise might not have undertaken VET due to financial reasons.
Victoria
Victoria has been running a Free TAFE program since 2019, and the Victorian TAFE Association reports on its experience in supporting the Bill in its submission to the Senate Standing Committees on Education and Employment inquiry:
Free TAFE has provided Victorians access to more than 80 TAFE qualifications and short courses in government priorities and areas of workforce shortage. Victorian Free TAFE offerings are linked to skill shortage areas that require full nationally recognised and accredited qualifications and high-priority short courses in areas like responding to family violence, renewable energy and mental health. (p. 3)
It reports on a number of areas of success that include:
- 190,000 student enrolments in Free TAFE priority courses since 2019 (p. 4)
- a 23% increase in people starting a Free TAFE course since 2022 (p. 4)
- ‘substantial growth in Government funded program enrolments at Victoria TAFE between 2019 and 2023, including health programs (27% growth), information technology (25% growth) and education (7.3% growth)’ (p. 4), using NCVER data that does not disaggregate Free TAFE
- for its first five years, 157,500 students enrolling in Free TAFE, of which:
- 90,500 were women (57.5%)
- more than 44,500 were culturally and linguistically diverse (28.3%)
- 14,500 identified with a disability (9.2%)
- 38,000 were unemployed (24.1 %) (p. 5).
A TAFE Victoria ‘report card’ states that during its first 3 years ‘Free TAFE enabled more people to commence a course, including’:
- 59% more women
- 46% more culturally and linguistically diverse students
- 42% more learners with disability
- 50% more unemployed Victorians
- 22% more students in regional Victoria (p. 2).
It also appears that the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office is currently undertaking an audit of Victoria’s Free TAFE program.
Government rationale
In his second reading speech for the Bill, Minister for Skills and Training Andrew Giles outlines the importance of a strong VET system to enable inclusion and economic equality, and to shape Australia’s future. He states that strong TAFEs are essential to a strong VET sector. Therefore:
Free TAFE will support a prosperous and equitable Australia. It removes financial barriers to education and training. It delivers a coordinated national response to workforce shortages in industries and occupations of local and national priority.
Towards the conclusion of the speech, the Minister explains the main parts of the Bill and their rationale:
Firstly, this bill commits the Commonwealth to make a grant of financial assistance to states and territories for the delivery of free TAFE places, with states and territories required to enter into a free TAFE agreement with the Commonwealth which sets out the terms and conditions of financial assistance.
This ensures a genuine joined-up approach with states and territories, and that the implementation of free TAFE responds to our national priorities.
Secondly, the bill sets out key matters that are to be dealt with in a free TAFE agreement, including the number of free TAFE places, the areas of study, the groups prioritised for access, reporting requirements and financial arrangements.
This establishes minimum terms and conditions for a state or territory to receive Commonwealth support, while providing the flexibility to accommodate local conditions.
Thirdly, the bill will require the Skills and Workforce Ministerial Council to be consulted on any proposed changes to the act.
This recognises the critical role of states and territories and our joint commitment to genuinely collaborative and share stewardship of the national VET system (p. 7657).
Policy position of non-government parties/independents
The Coalition announced that it will oppose the Bill and, together with further media releases and during the Bill’s second reading debate in the House of Representatives, the Coalition made several criticisms.
The Coalition questioned the Explanatory Memorandum’s statement of ‘no financial impact’, called the Bill ‘unfunded’ and accused the Government of withholding the true cost of making Fee-Free TAFE permanent.
The Coalition also criticised the Bill as legislating a policy that it considers prioritises funding to TAFEs at the exclusion of private training providers.
The Coalition also criticised the lack of available data on the attrition and completion rates, or a review, of the Fee-Free TAFE program, to justify the legislation.
In immediate response to the Bill, Shadow Minister for Industry, Skills and Training Sussan Ley issued a media release that quoted high TAFE fail rates according to industry sources and disputed the argument made in the Minister’s briefing packs (mentioned above), that low completion numbers can be explained by many Fee-Free TAFE qualifications taking 3 or more years to complete:
Departmental official confirmed last night that the courses with the highest enrollments include:
- Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care
- Certificate III in Individual Support
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment
- Certificate IV in Cyber Security
These courses take at most 12 months. (p. 2)
Independent MP Dai Le similarly argued that the Bill heavily favours TAFE providers, commits future governments to funding, and should not proceed without a proper evaluation of the Fee-Free TAFE program. However, she concluded:
If the government can reassure me that this will be value for money and allow competition for non‑TAFE RTOs, and show me that they are committed to more than the praising of TAFE, then I could be convinced to vote for the bill.
In a media release and during debate, the Greens did not criticise the Bill itself, but considered it evidence that the Government could legislate to immediately reduce HELP and other student debt. The Government has announced that it will make a 20% reduction to student debts after the next election.
Policy position of major interest groups
A range of major interest groups have expressed views on the Bill in the media and in submissions to the Senate Standing Committees on Education and Employment inquiry.
The Australian Education Union (AEU), the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation welcomed the Bill, arguing that Fee-Free TAFE removes financial barriers and burdens, and increases skills uptake to address skills shortages. The AEU saw the legislation as providing ongoing certainty for the Fee-Free TAFE program and preventing future governments from taking it ‘backwards’. The ACTU’s submission also cautioned against calls from some interest groups to expand the program to non-TAFE providers, which it believed would ‘create serious risks not only to the quality of the education that this program delivers, but also to the security and probity of public money’:
Private VET providers, for-profit providers in particular, have a long and unfortunate history of exploiting funded VET programs for their own aims and of exploiting VET students. (p. 4)
In his second reading speech, Minister Andrew Giles also quoted TAFE Directors Australia as welcoming the Bill for enshrining the policy behind Fee-Free TAFE in legislation, which was confirmed in their submission.
Universities Australia’s submission offered support for the ‘intention of the Bill’ but called for it to be ‘strengthened by including robust benchmarking and evaluation of the Free TAFE program and the introduction of a comprehensive data collection mechanism’ (p. 2). On the latter point, NCVER’s submission included proposals to support the distinguishing of Free TAFE enrolments and completions and regularly report on Free TAFE data.
The Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia (ITECA) initially cautiously welcomed additional skills funding, while making some criticism of the Bill. It later joined the Business Council of Australia (BCA), Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (CSBOA), Master Builders Australia and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) in expressing opposition to the Bill in its submission. A common concern expressed by these groups is that the Bill legislates a program that they consider favours TAFEs over independent Registered Training Organisations and, therefore, limits student choice and distorts the sector. These groups also believed that the Free-Free TAFE program shouldn’t be legislated at all (BCA, COSBOA) or at least not until further data is available and the current program is properly evaluated (Master Builders Australia, ACCI).
In its submission, National Australian Apprenticeship Association (NAAA) expressed concern that Fee-Free TAFE is connected to a decline in traineeship commencements and has led to provider capacity constraints and, therefore, higher waiting times for apprentice and trainee off the job training. The NAA called for eligibility for a Fee Free place to be ‘extended to all apprentices and trainees as a priority’ (p. 3).
Financial implications
The Explanatory Memorandum states that there is no financial impact resulting from the Bill, which has been questioned by the Coalition, as discussed above.
Key issues and provisions
The Object section in Part 1 (clause 3) stipulates that the Act aims to provide for ongoing Commonwealth financial support to the states for the delivery of FT places and, in doing so, ‘support the delivery of at least 100,000 FT places across Australia each year’. It also mentions removing financial barriers for those experiencing economic disadvantage, and supporting ‘areas of high workforce demand, with emerging skills needs or that are otherwise a national or State priority.’
The definition of ‘FT place’ in clause 5 includes ‘a course provided by another VET provider’, which could leave open the possibility of extending funding to a non-TAFE provider. Further detail on eligibility would need to be determined in the Free TAFE agreements (paragraph8(1)(i)). A note to the definition explains that an FT place ‘may not be free of all fees’ and that the fees to be covered will be specified in the relevant FT agreement.
In Part 2 the Bill sets out that financial assistance is to be provided to a state under section 16 of the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009 (FFR Act) if the state is party to a FT agreement, and the funding must be spent in accordance with the FT agreement. The FFR Act provides a standing appropriation for the Commonwealth to provide financial support for the delivery of services by the states. In particular grants of financial assistance can be made to a state ‘to support the delivery by the State of specified outputs or projects’.
The Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills notes in its Scrutiny Digest that the Bill’s provisions for payments to be made under section 16 of the FFR Act mean that ‘the mechanism enabling payments will be a determination made by the minister … [in the form of] a legislative instrument that is exempt from disallowance’ (p. 9). It goes on to note that this exemption does not meet previously agreed thresholds for ‘exceptional circumstances’ and that the Explanatory Memorandum does not provide justification for or acknowledge this exemption (p. 10).
Part 3 defines ‘FT agreements’ and provides that they must set out the terms and conditions on which financial assistance is to be provided to the states for the delivery of FT places and relate to the delivery of FT places from 1 January 2027 onwards—the Fee-Free TAFE Skills Agreement expires on 30 June 2027.
Part 3, subclause 8(1) sets out a list of matters that must be dealt with in the terms and conditions of an FT agreement. These matters include the timing and funding for FT places, national and state priorities for FT places, eligibility requirements for VET providers to receive FT places, and performance milestones. However, subclause 8(2) states, ‘An FT agreement is not invalid merely because it does not deal with one or more of the matters mentioned in paragraphs (1)(a) to 26 (k).’ The Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills therefore considers that subclause 8(2) undermines the inclusion of the terms and conditions in paragraphs 8(1)(a-k) (p. 10).
Paragraphs 8(1)(l) and (m), which are not subject to subclause 8(2), provide for the FT agreement to contain a requirement for the state to provide the Commonwealth with a range of information, including enrolment and completion numbers, according to agreed timeframes.
Part 4 contains other matters, including a requirement for the Minister to consult with the Skills and Workforce Ministerial Council before introducing a Bill to amend the Act and, if such a Bill is introduced into Parliament, to table a report setting out what consultation has taken place (clause 9).