Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health) Share this | Hansard source

Today I rise to speak on the Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment (Streamlining Regulation) Bill 2015 and the Education Services for Overseas Students (Registration Charges) Amendment (Streamlining Regulation) Bill 2015.

I will state from the outset that Labor offers reserved support for this legislative package but does remain concerned with several of the specifics of the bills. Broadly, there are two aspects to the bill. One is to update the legislative arrangements to reflect the establishment of the national regulators for post-secondary education, which are TEQSA, regulating the higher education sector; and ASQA, regulating the VET sector. The second part is to roll back provisions legislated by Labor which provide protections for students against private providers taking their money and not delivering the education that students expect.

International education is critically important for Australia, both economically and socially. Each year, international education contributes about $15 billion to the Australian economy. We often hear a lot about our nation being built on mining and agriculture, so many people are surprised to learn that international education is our third biggest export overall. Others are also surprised to learn that it is our No. 1 export service industry. Clearly, international education is an essential contributor to our broader economy and one that we must constantly work hard to protect, secure and help grow. This can be done by ensuring that high-quality education offerings are available to international students and that a qualification from Australia is a globally recognised passport to opportunities around the world.

International education not only contributes significantly to our economy but also helps to build closer relationships with our neighbours. International students undertaking studies in Australia offer a wonderful opportunity for cultural exchange and the promotion of cooperation and collaboration in people-to-people contexts with countries around the world

The benefits of international education are significant and that is why we must continue to work hard to protect our reputation as a high-quality provider of educational services and protect international students from being exploited by a minority of unscrupulous operators. When it comes to international education, protecting and safeguarding quality is key to ensuring that Australia has a strong reputation abroad. We know students from overseas will only study in countries that can demonstrate the highest standards in quality, safety and the provision of educational services.

The Howard government had a lax and naive disregard for robust protections for our international education sector, and that did have an impact on confidence. Between 2008 and 2011, 54 educational providers to overseas students collapsed, impacting 13,000 students and triggering a major crisis in Australia's international education market—a market Australia relies on significantly. Of those 13,000 students affected by the collapse of the 54 providers, only 312 students received refunds from their educational institutions.

In government, Labor had to act swiftly to clean up the mess left by the former Howard government. In government, Labor established a range of protections and implemented a range of measures to protect the reputation of our international education provision and established national regulators for both higher and vocational education. We also added additional protections to prevent students from being left out of pocket, if a provider collapsed or folded.

Labor introduced a number of important protections to ensure confidence, including the Tuition Protection Service, a national insurance-type scheme which steps in when a provider collapses and either ensures that an affected student can access another course at another college or provides that student with a refund for training not delivered. In addition, there were a number of other reforms that Labor initiated, ensuring that integrity was restored to Australia's international education industry.

And it has been successful. Between July 2012 and December 2014, we have seen significantly fewer colleges closing, with only 12 colleges closing and only 1,332 students affected. That is a significant reduction from the 13,000 who were affected before these changes were implemented. In 2014, we saw a mere three colleges close. This indicates a substantial and successful reduction from the previous years in institutions not being able to provide the service that they had charged for.

While we know that the vast majority of providers do the right thing in delivering a high-quality experience to our international students, one bad apple can affect the whole industry's reputation. This does affect confidence in the sector, and I think the recent exposure of exploitation and sham contracting arrangements at Australia Post and 7-Eleven involving almost exclusively international students should raise some concern. If it is not regulated properly and if questionable operators are left unchecked, honest players in the market and honest, high-quality education operators will suffer.

With this in mind there is sufficient reason to be concerned that some elements of the legislation before the House will potentially have the impact of watering down protections for international students. In this regard, Labor does have further questions as to whether the proposed amendments to the Tuition Protection Service will increase risk for the international education industry as well as possibly placing students at risk. That is why it is this parliament's obligation to ensure that the policy settings are right and that the regulators are given the tools they need to properly protect students from exploitation, mismanagement and dishonest dealings by a few unscrupulous operators.

There are elements of the bill which Labor is absolutely prepared to support, including the streamlining of the Education Services for Overseas Students Act with the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act and the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act. We are absolutely willing to support reducing unnecessary red tape, but what we do not want to see is the watering down of protections for our international students and, indeed, of those protections that would threaten international education, which is our big export industry.

We do maintain concerns with some elements of the package, as I have indicated. I do recognise that this package does have support from many parts of the education sector who do want to see this bill passed. However, on a matter of such importance, it does deserve careful consideration to ensure that the safeguards are put in place and that the changes that are made do not have unintended consequences. Labor will continue to scrutinise this bill as it makes its passage through both houses and does reserve its right to make amendments in the Senate if needed. I am informed that it has been sent to a Senate legislation committee that will report back in November.

The international reputation of Australia's universities and vocational education providers deserves nothing less. We do need to protect our international students and we do need to protect Australia's reputation as a high-quality provider when it comes to international education. This is important both for students and for our economy.

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