Andrew Southcott (Boothby, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment Participation, Training and Sport) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move opposition amendments (1) and (2) as circulated in my name together:

(1)    Schedule 1, item 11, page 5 (after line 7), after subsection (1) insert:

         (1A)  A designated authority for a State shall use a risk-management approach when considering whether to recommend that an approved provider should be re-registered.

(2)    Schedule 2, item 4, page 15 (after line 23), after paragraph (a), insert:

                   (aa)  only employ or engage an agent who is

                             (i)  a Qualified Education Agent Counsellor who has completed the Education Agents Training Course or a recognised equivalent as specified in the regulations, and

                            (ii)  a member of  a professional body for education agents if such a body has been specified in the regulations in relation to the area in which the agent operates; and

These two amendments relate to using a risk-management approach and the provisions relating to education agents. On the issue of the risk-management approach, this was identified in the Skills Australia report as being one of the key problems in regulation. There is already a layer of regulation at state and territory level and at federal level. But, as Skills Australia identified, at the time of this report in June 2009 the risk-management approach, drawing up a risk rating for each provider, had not happened. In fact, the explanatory memorandum identifies that the financial impact relating to the re-registration process will be reduced by states and territories taking a risk-management approach. I accept the comments of the minister because the opposition has moved these amendments in the spirit of providing constructive ideas and indicating where we think the priority needs to be. And Skills Australia did have a recommendation to strengthen the AQTF risk-management protocols, the scope for interventions and the treatment of sanctions to enable a rapid national response to a poor RTO performance.

On the issue of education agents, we thought greater use could be made of a couple of the initiatives of Australian Education International. First of all, there is the education agent training course, which is run by PIER Online and done through a company called International Education Services Ltd. After a person has done about 50 hours of reading and study, they go through a formal assessment—an 80-minute test with about 50 multiple-choice questions. After that, they become a qualified education agent counsellor.

On the issue of professional associations, there is, for example, the Association of Australian Education Representatives in India, or AAERI. This was established by AEI. The idea is that it has a code of ethical practice, the agent activities are streamlined, the students are given authentic information and the agent charges are fair. But I should point out that the majority of agents operating in India have not joined AAERI.

In our major market, China, there is not an equivalent association. I should point out that the Chinese government regulates the activities of agents, providing advice to Chinese students who are intending to study overseas. Only Chinese government approved agents can provide services to students going overseas. Most of these approved agents are not private companies; they are largely local government or education institutions. There are about 400 agents approved by the Chinese ministry of education.

We think that these are constructive amendments. We think these are other areas we could look at. I appreciate the comments of the minister, that doing it in regulation is a more flexible way. The principle behind these amendments is that the opposition believe that this is a very important area for Australia. It is our third-largest export. It is important that we have it going forward on a sustainable basis. We have seen dramatic growth over the last 25 years, but we need to ensure that our reputation as a quality provider and as a safe destination for overseas students continues.

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