Matt Williams (Hindmarsh, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak about the Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment (Streamlining Regulation) Bill 2015. The amendments to the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 reduce the regulatory burden on education institutions and enhance the quality and reputation of international education while maintaining protection for students. The bills propose significant deregulatory savings for educational institutions totalling $76 million each year across all sectors. The bills are the result of extensive consultations with international education stakeholders, who have worked closely with the government to develop these reforms and strongly support the changes. Working with industry to get the best outcome for the sector is what this government is all about.

The bills deliver on recommendations of the 2013 review of higher education regulation by reducing duplication across the Education Services for Overseas Students Act, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 and the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011. The bills will streamline the current registration, monitoring and quality assurance processes for education institutions to create a more seamless system—again, a better system with less compliance, less regulation.

We must continue to find ways to improve the effectiveness of our university and tertiary education sector. I want to take this opportunity to commend some universities in my home state of South Australia for the work they are doing at improving the effectiveness of their operations. The University of Adelaide is one example of a new platform to accelerate innovation and commercialisation of their research findings. They recently launched Adelaide Commercial, which will license research applications, generate spin-out companies and manage intellectual property on behalf of the university. I know that the minister for science, sitting in the chamber today, would be most interested in what they are doing in that respect. It will increase the impact from the translation of research into commercial outcomes. That is what we want to see: more commercial outcomes out of our universities partnering with industry. And it will help drive economic development. This is something that the Vice-Chancellor of Adelaide University, Professor Warren Bebbington, is very focused on. As he says, it will mean more jobs for South Australians, which is very important as we are facing some challenging employment situations going forward.

The University of Adelaide ranks third in the Group of Eight and fourth nationally in commercialisation and contract research income and generated $41.5 million in 2014, so they are doing some good things there. They have world-class research expertise in many areas, including advanced manufacturing, engineering, agriculture, defence and security, energy and mining, environment and health. These are many of the areas that this government is focusing on through its industry growth centres.

The University of Adelaide has recently moved up the prestigious Times Higher Education international rankings, which were released recently, breaking into the top 150 for the first time. What they are doing will help recruit more international students and the best academics from around the world to the state. It will also help attract more research support from the government and industry.

The University of Adelaide recently launched a major new research hub that will add significant value to Australia's $6 billion-a-year copper industry.

Mr Champion interjecting—

I hear the member for Wakefield is supportive of such an initiative, which is good to hear from that side of the chamber.

The Australian Research Council Research Hub for Australian Copper-Uranium, based at the University of Adelaide, involves key industry, university and government partners in South Australia and nationally. Partners include BHP Billiton, OZ Minerals, the Defence Science and Technology Group—a great Australian government operation—Flinders University, Monash University and the University of Queensland. As you can see, it is a collaboration between many universities and industry.

Before I finish, I commend Flinders University—another of my alma maters—on its new appointment to the South Australian Chair of Restorative Care to transform South Australia into a state that is at the forefront of active, healthy ageing and wellness. The ACH Group, a very large and significant aged-care provider, has jointly invested in the establishment of the new position at Flinders University in recognition of the importance of restoration and rehabilitation to the future of aged care. Dr Rungie, the ACH Group's chief executive, said that health and ageing was a future growth area for jobs, with a projected 1,500 per year across Australia being required until at least 2050. These are the sectors that will be growing in the future. They will provide opportunities for both the young and old to work in the industries that have potential and face demand from so many sectors. Through this bill the government is helping universities to be more efficient. All South Australian universities are doing some great things, and I have touched on some this afternoon, including partnering with industry to reach their potential. I commend the bill to the House.

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