Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction) Share this | Hansard source

I thank all members for their contributions to this debate. The Higher Education Legislation Amendment (Provider Category Standards and Other Measures) Bill 2020 will amend the TEQSA Act 2011 to facilitate implementation of the recommendations of Emeritus Professor Coaldrake AO's review of the higher education provider category standards. It also makes a number of other amendments to the TEQSA Act and the Higher Education Support Act 2003 to simplify the structure of the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2015; guarantee higher education students will have future access to their student records, even if their institution ceases to operate; protect use of the word 'university' in Australian internet domain names; and confirm that higher education providers can use Indigenous student assistance grants to assist prospective and existing Indigenous students. The bill demonstrates the government's commitment to the needs of students, employers, higher education providers and the wider community through the creation of higher education standards that support a diverse, high-quality education sector and underpin the reputation and quality of our world-leading universities.

Following further consultation with the domain name administrator for the dot.au domain space since the bill was introduced, the government will introduce an amendment to replace item 29 in the bill with a new version. This amendment is designed to better align some technical aspects of the provision to the highly automated process the domain administrator uses to manage domain name applications. While the application and approval process will remain exactly the same, the new version of item 29 will ensure the administrator can't technically breach the law if a domain name licence is issued through an automated process before the applicant has sought the minister's consent to include the word 'university' in the domain name.

I would like to thank the Scrutiny of Bills Committee for its consideration of the bill and of the Minister for Education's response to its questions. I also thank the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee for its deliberation. I commend the bill.

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