ATSE welcomes the opportunity to provide a submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Education and Employment on the Education Legislation Amendment (Startup Year and Other Measures) Bill 2023 [Provisions] inquiry. ATSE has previously provided feedback through a 2022 consultative roundtable. ATSE makes the following recommendations to strengthen implementation of the Startup Year program:
Recommendation 1: That the Startup Year program is subject to a review consultation after its first year of operation.
Recommendation 2: That the Department of Education collects and publishes demographic information about enrolment in and completion of Startup Year programs.
Recommendation 3: That the Australian Government creates a Startup Year scholarship program targeted at under-represented groups in STEM.
Recommendation 4: That the amendment to rename “SY-HELP” to “Start-up-HELP” be adopted. Recommendation 5: That the name of the social security “Student Start-up Loan” be renamed to avoid confusion with the Startup Year loan.
