The draft laws were briefly debated in federal parliament's lower house on Wednesday, with Labor saying the bill had been referred to a Senate committee.

Under the plan, domestic vocational education students using government loans will be protected if their provider doesn't begin a course on time, makes it unavailable before enrolled students can begin or closes it entirely.

Although the opposition supports the intent of the bill, Labor has raised concerns it doesn't include fee-paying students.

The higher education and TAFE sector has flagged concerns about how the proposal would operate, Labor MP Alicia Payne said.

The sector's concerns include the cost of the scheme being passed on to students and TAFE having an influx of poorly-trained students from since-closed institutions.

Labor MPs also used debate on the bill to criticise the coalition's decision to enlist The Block host Scott Cam to get more young people into trades.

"Scott Cam is not going to motivate young people in my electorate to pursue a trade," Joanne Ryan said.

"How on earth is he going to connect to them? What message is this sending to our media savvy youngsters? Do a trade so that when you retire you can be a television celebrity."

Once passed, the changes - which already exist for international students - would begin from January 2020.

Australian Associated Press