John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Education Services for Overseas Students Legislation Amendment Bill 2010 is an important bill both for the electorate of Bennelong and for the nation in general. I support the bill but add reservations that further amendments are required to achieve a better balance between the needs of higher education providers and the legitimate expectations of students.

The changes to this bill arise out of the review, chaired by the Hon. Bruce Baird, delivering the report titled Stronger, simpler, smarter ESOS: supporting international students. This bill implements some of the Baird recommendations, adding some further strength and flexibility to the original ESOS Act 2000, as well as the ESOS Amendment Act 2010. The primary purpose of this bill is to: bolster the existing standards for the registration of an education provider; improve the manner in which the industry manages risk; provide the government with the authority to penalise providers financially if they engage in practices considered inappropriate or unethical; and allow a wider scope for the Commonwealth Ombudsman to investigate complaints about education providers. It is my contention that these measures need to be expanded to include enhancement of the student experience, with flow-on benefits to all sectors of the economy—a concept I refer to as ‘edu-tourism.’

Macquarie University is based in the Bennelong suburb of Marsfield and recently ranked ninth in the Australian Education Network’s ranking of Australian universities. Like many higher education providers, Macquarie University’s financial viability is inextricably linked to the health of our overseas student market, which is responsible for a large proportion of their tuition income. Australia is one of the largest providers of education services for overseas students. Education is our nation’s largest services export industry and is currently our fourth largest export earner overall, following coal, iron ore and gold.

In 2008-09, education contributed more than $17 billion to our national export earnings and it is linked to the employment of approximately 120,000 people. The total value-add generated by international higher education students was $9.3 billion. On average, each international higher education student studying in Australia contributes over $50,000 to our economy each year. Two-thirds of this amount is spent on goods and services, injecting vital income into the economy and generating more jobs. Many overseas students will remain in Australia, contributing to our nation in a variety of economic and cultural ways. Others will return home and share their affection for their second home as a legitimate business, study and tourist destination.

In short, government inaction or poor policy can have massive repercussions on our nation’s economic wellbeing, on each education provider’s financial viability and on the costs of tertiary study for our own citizens, thereby impacting on the professional and intellectual capacity of our future generations.

Over the past few years we have observed a sharp decline in commencement numbers of international students. In 2009-10, the number of visas granted for the higher education sector dropped by 11.5 per cent, compared to the previous year. A John Curtin Institute of Public Policy report, dated August 2010, found that overseas enrolments in higher education could slide by up to 100,000 places by 2015, costing up to $7 billion in fees and risking up to 8,800 university jobs.

This serious issue has been widely linked to a variety of factors, including the global financial crisis; competition from improved domestic networks, specifically those choosing to use English as the language of tuition; recent changes to the General Skilled Migration Program; the increasing strength of the Australian dollar; the collapses of local providers found to be dodgy through improved checking mechanisms; and incidents of violence perpetrated on overseas students, which attained sensational press in their home markets. I agree that these factors, many of which are out of our control as policymakers, have been largely influenced by global events. Any efforts we can implement to right the ship and improve our position will be of great benefit. But these efforts should not be limited to just trying to take things back to how they were prior to the GFC.

A key reason for the current situation is the increased competition we face from other countries, particularly the United States, Canada and the UK, who offer international students the package experience of studying in a foreign country. This is the idea that education institutions provide a holistic experience which includes not only a high quality of teaching from the provider but also the living and cultural elements associated with the national experience. In countries such as the UK and Canada, it is normal practice to accommodate first-year students, as a minimum, within the university’s portfolio of accommodation. Almost all US colleges and universities provide their students with the option to live in campus residences or dormitories. Australia must compete with these countries by taking a more proactive role in securing student accommodation and ownership of the broader student experience and development. At the very least, larger education providers should take responsibility for finding first-year foreign students suitable accommodation, preferably on campus but possibly in private accommodation.

In addition, Australia must ensure that we give foreign students a holistic experience of life in Australia by ensuring that they have access to affordable public transport and to the social aspects of life on campus which make studying in another country so enjoyable. We must nurture these individuals so that they either remain in Australia as skilled workers and contribute to our society or return to their home country with genuine praise and affection for our country. We need to be creative. We need to fully utilise the opportunities available to us to improve the overall student experience. We need to move away from just viewing overseas students as purely economic assets. We need to take a wider perspective on the overall impact of this industry on our local community as well as our broader economy.

Macquarie University is a very large provider of education services to overseas students. As the local MP I have witnessed firsthand the impact that an inadequate system can have on the local community. As I mentioned in my maiden speech to the House, since my very first day of campaigning for this position over a year ago I have observed and participated in the protest actions of a community group called MARS—Marsfield Against Residential Suffocation. Coincidentally, I will be addressing a MARS rally this coming Sunday afternoon in Dunbar Park. MARS was formed by residents neighbouring the university who have witnessed a sharp escalation in the number of illegal boarding houses providing cheap and substandard accommodation options to overseas students. Some reports have up to 15 students sharing a three-bedroom unit, leading to a degree of physical and psychological abuse by those choosing to prey on the students’ ignorance of the Australian way of life. The flow-on impact on infrastructure, services and detriment to the quality of life of the community cannot be overstated.

Some of this matter relates to powers administered by the state government, particularly those relating to tenancy laws. My New South Wales state colleague Victor Dominello, the member for Ryde, introduced a private member’s bill late last year to impose significantly increased sanctions on operators of these illegal boarding houses and to set a cap on student numbers per room permitted under the legislation. Unfortunately this private member’s bill did not proceed through the Legislative Assembly prior to the New South Wales parliament being prorogued. I am very grateful to Mr Dominello and hopeful that he will serve as a government MP later this month and that this bill will becomes part of the new government’s legislative agenda.

Under the federal government’s authority, as exemplified by the bill we are debating, it has become increasingly clear that action is not being taken to protect one of our greatest industries—one that has every potential for sustainable growth. We are in the early stages of suffering a syndrome that those of us in Sydney’s north-western suburbs know only too well whereby appropriate action is not taken in a timely manner in the form of infrastructure investment to provide dividends for generations to come.

Several weeks ago I inspected the clever yet simple prefabricated budget student accommodation buildings constructed over the past few years at the Australian National University. ANU has taken proactive measures to provide real options to the overseas student market and has markedly reduced the rental pressure on the surrounding residential neighbourhoods in the process. It gave me no surprise to learn that the ANU is ranked as the No. 1 university in Australia on the ranking guide mentioned earlier.

I also note that several days ago the University of Canberra announced their intention to follow the lead set by ANU and convert a block of offices in neighbouring Belconnen into student accommodation. Aside from the obvious and immediate assistance this would provide to the university’s standing in the overseas student market, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Canberra, Professor Stephen Parker, was quoted by ABC News as saying:

In many way it’s the big issue for Canberra about Tertiary education and for the community, because if you’ve got students out there renting houses that aren’t really suitable for them, then they’re making housing less available, less affordable for members of the community.

It is imperative that a program is commenced to provide high-standard budget student accommodation with a unique Australian experience for our overseas students. This will serve to broaden their educational experience and create a distinct point of difference and superiority to the conditions and services offered by other countries in an increasingly competitive overseas student market. This opportunity should not be missed.

I understand this bill is the first of two amendment bills on the legislation which will be debated in this House over the coming months and that the next bill also has correlation to the issues I am addressing today. I will be working to ensure that preliminary negotiations on the future legislation include discussions on a university’s duty of care to their overseas students, including access to budget accommodation options of sufficient quality. Incorporation of these standards can assist in the development and improvement of the ranking or grading system of universities to include the quality of the students’ overall university experience, thereby assisting those providers to promote their services in international markets. The focus of our parliament must not be to promote unnecessary regulation or bureaucracy and other burdens which weigh down the strong performers. Instead, we must motivate our great schools of learning to be proactive in attracting the best young minds of the world, giving them the standard of support they deserve and assisting them to reach their full potential. The flow-on benefits to our country will be significant.

The measures covered in this bill will go a small way towards addressing these numerous issues. With the key role that Macquarie University plays in Bennelong, and the important position that the industry holds in our national economy, I will be working towards implementation of greater and further reaching reforms into the future. I commend this bill to the House.

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