Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women's Issues) Share this | Hansard source

I thank all members who have made a contribution to this debate, but I cannot allow the opportunity to pass without challenging some of the misleading statements made by the opposition. The coalition government is providing a record investment of $8.2 billion to the university sector this year. Contrary to the assertions of the Labor Party, the Australian government has increased funding to our universities since 1996 by over 26 per cent in real terms. Over the next decade, the sector will be $11 billion better off as a result of the Australian government’s Our Universities: Backing Australia’s Future reforms. Total university sector revenue has virtually doubled since 1996. Revenue from overseas students represents about 15 per cent of sector revenue. This government has invested significant public funds in our universities to ensure that they can continue to compete in an increasingly global higher education sector with increasing student and academic mobility.

The coalition government is committed to ensuring that international students who choose to study in Australia receive the highest quality education and training. Our world-leading Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000, which I will refer to as the ESOS Act, gives legislative force to this commitment.

While the coalition government provides the overarching framework to protect the quality of education that an international student receives in Australia, the states also have a responsibility to regulate education providers. The state and territory governments are responsible for the initial approval and registration of providers and the ongoing monitoring of core quality issues. The states and territories have the power to suspend or deregister an education provider.

Education providers are also held responsible under the ESOS legislative framework for the manner in which recruitment activities are undertaken on their behalf by their education agents. Education agents play a vital part in the promotion of Australian education and training internationally. They recruit overseas students, refer them to education providers and provide marketing and promotion services on behalf of the education providers. Given that the vast majority of education agents operate in other countries, they cannot be subject to Australian law. However, the education providers are subject to the ESOS Act and are accountable for the acts of their agents—those that they have engaged to represent them—including any breach of the requirements of the ESOS legislative framework. The ESOS Act provides a nationally consistent basis for regulating Australia’s education and training export industry and ensures that international students receive the education and training for which they have paid.

The proposed amendment bill makes changes to the ESOS Act in response to an independent evaluation of the act. Importantly, the bill facilitates greater flexibility in relation to the investigatory roles to be undertaken by the Australian, state and territory governments in relation to the National Code of Practice for Registration Authorities and Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students 2007. I will refer to this as the National Code 2007. Measures made possible by this amendment will enhance national consistency and minimise any perception of duplication in compliance monitoring by the designated authorities and the Australian government.

The bill extends the scope of the ESOS Act to include Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands. The extension of the act fulfils the Australian government’s commitment to allow education providers operating on Christmas Island to apply to be registered to offer education and training services to overseas students. The amendment was developed in consultation with the Australian government’s Department of Transport and Regional Services and the Western Australian government.

A further amendment removes the imposition of a financial penalty for late payment of the annual ESOS assurance fund contribution. The late payment penalty is administratively burdensome on the fund manager and not viable on a cost-benefit approach, as it does not act as a significant deterrent to providers. Non-payment of the fund contribution results in the suspension of a provider’s registration. This is considered a more effective mechanism to promote compliance with the payment of the annual fund contribution than the imposition of a financial penalty for late payment.

Protecting overseas students is important to maintaining the good reputation of Australia’s international education industry. One of the amendments to the ESOS Act stems from the changes to the national code 2007, which will mandate written agreements between education providers and overseas students. This will provide greater confidence in the quality of the consumer protection mechanisms available to overseas students under the ESOS legislation. Compulsory written agreements will also ensure that students have a greater understanding of not only their rights but also their obligations under the ESOS legislation.

For the first time, the bill will facilitate course delivery by arrangement across state boundaries. This amendment allows designated authorities to approve a formal arrangement for delivery of a course between two or more providers where the second or any additional provider is located in a state other than that of the registered provider. The amendment does not oblige the designated authority to approve the arrangement. It will allow providers to respond to skills shortages by delivery of an element of a course, including an industry placement in an environment where the student may acquire practical skills not available in the particular state or territory in which the course is registered.

The ESOS Act supports the integrity of Australia’s migration program by placing obligations on registered providers to recruit only genuine students and to monitor and report on breaches of visa conditions relating to attendance and course progress. A breach of these visa conditions may result in the cancellation of a student’s visa. The amendment recognises that education issues such as attendance and course progress should be resolved by an education provider rather than the Department of Immigration and Citizenship. The amendment is consequential to the implementation of the National Code 2007, which also strengthens the appeals processes available to overseas students in relation to decisions of their education provider.

This is the third group of amendments to the ESOS Act following the ESOS evaluation. The amendments introduced by this bill address industry concerns about the provision of courses across state boundaries under the ESOS Act and the perception of duplication in the roles and responsibilities of the Australian, state and territory governments under the act. Other amendments are consequential to the National Code 2007, or they clarify or update existing provisions.

All amendments are in keeping with the Australian government’s commitment to protecting overseas students and enhancing our reputation for high-quality education and training services through an effective regulatory framework. We are committed to ensuring that the quality and reputation of our $10 billion international education industry—our fourth-largest export—are maintained. I commend this bill to the House.

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