Katie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the Education Legislation Amendment (2021 Measures No. 2) Bill 2021. The amendments proposed in this bill may be small, but their impact is significant for those individuals affected by them. I understand that many who come to Australia do so to build a better life for themselves and their families, and a large part of this includes access to our world-class higher education system. The flow-on effects of this benefit the entire cross-section of society, from the individual getting a skilled post-study job to the family who are having improved living standards as a result to a better educated population who can then engage with the better paying jobs that are now proliferating in the age of the knowledge economy.

The primary aim of the this education legislation amendment is to protect a vulnerable cohort of students, former permanent humanitarian visa holders, by helping them to retain their Higher Education Loan Program eligibility and therefore participate in the economy, an outcome where all of us will reap the rewards. Anyone who plans for the future needs certainty, and that need for certainty is no different for visa-holding students in the higher education sector. That certainty then leads to students' continued investment in the higher education sector, as well as incentivising new students now and into the future. Certainty allows all students to excel in their education and confidently participate in and contribute to the economy. That is exactly what this bill will ensure.

The schedule 1 amendments to the Higher Education Support Act 2003 are designed to help extend HELP eligibility to former permanent humanitarian visa holders, assisting a vulnerable cohort of students to participate in and contribute to the Australian economy. Currently the travel component of a permanent humanitarian visa ceases after a five-year period. If a permanent humanitarian visa holder travels outside of Australia after that time frame, they must apply for a resident return visa to return to their permanent residency status in Australia. This measure allows former permanent humanitarian visa holders who transition to a different visa due to travelling outside of Australia to retain their HELP eligibility. A former permanent humanitarian visa holder in this situation would otherwise lose their HELP eligibility.

The measures in this bill correct the unintended consequence that was not considered during the drafting of the citizenship and residency requirements for HELP. Correcting this oversight supports positive outcomes for the student and also indirectly the taxpayer, as it prevents the student from losing their HELP eligibility partway through their course. We all know that, if a student loses their HELP eligibility, they may be unable to complete their qualification and therefore work in their chosen field. This means that they remain liable for their HELP debt already incurred. In this case, Australian employers and society lose out because of this untapped talent not realising their full potential.

The minister for education will determine the applicable visa subclasses that retains HELP eligibility for former permanent humanitarian visa holders to ensure these amendments remain flexible and responsive to any future changes to the 1958 Migration Act. There were 4,346 permanent humanitarian visa holders who accessed a HELP loan in 2019. The measure in this bill will ensure this small cohort continue to have HELP eligibility and are aligned with other eligible Australian residents.

Measures included in this bill also make minor technical amendments to improve the operation of the Higher Education Support Act. This small set of amendments will improve efficiency in the system, ultimately saving money for taxpayers. This bill will require higher education providers to refund upfront payments made by students and any associated payments providers received from the Commonwealth in relation to a student's HELP loan where that loan is recredited under the Higher Education Support Act.

This bill will also amend the definition of 'grandfathered students' to clarify that an ongoing course includes a course that has been restructured by a higher education provider and to ensure that students do not lose their status as grandfathered students as a result of the default by a provider.

Importantly, this bill will make a technical correction to clarify that Indigenous languages are included in funding cluster 3 of the Higher Education Support Act and are not classified as foreign languages but rather native languages. It's amazing that this wasn't the case previously—that Indigenous languages weren't regarded as native to this continent.

Lastly, this bill will repeal sections under the Higher Education Support Act that are no longer required due to other amendments making other minor consequential amendments to the act. Another small amendment in this bill makes changes to the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000. The Education Services for Overseas Students Act provides important protections for international students by ensuring rigorous standards are applied to any course delivered to international students. This protects international students' investments in Australian education and upholds the integrity of the visa system at the same time. But, of course, it also speaks to the greater and higher cause of ensuring that our education system retains its brand of excellence.

The tuition protection scheme is a critical pillar of our international education legislative framework. It aids international students whose education providers are unable to fully deliver their course of study and who may need to seek refunds. These amendments work to protect the role of the tuition protection scheme as a refunder of last resort. They will guarantee that providers who cease to be registered or go into liquidation continue to meet their obligations. This ensures that overseas students do not rely on government and taxpayer refunds. These amendments bolster the sustainability of the Overseas Students Tuition Fund and reduce the likelihood of taxpayer funds being needed to replenish it in the future. These amendments support the efficient operation of the tuition protection scheme and the Education Services for Overseas Students Act more generally and complement the measures the Morrison government has already put in place to support the international education sector through the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including significant regulatory and fee relief and deregulatory measures.

We all know that COVID-19 is raging around the globe, but the Morrison government has stood firmly behind our higher education sector, whether it has been providing continuing and ongoing support to the sector through billions of dollars of investment in 2020 or increasing funding for research to help them through the transition that has happened because the international student intake has significantly decreased through no fault of the universities. We know that the higher education sector has suffered with the loss of international students throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. These amendments will work to promote long-term investment in our institutions by giving students the certainty that they require to commit to an Australian education and also by tightening up inefficiencies to open up more opportunities for higher education. Therefore, this bill is a triple win: a win for students, a win for Australian education institutions and a win for the taxpayer.

The amendments proposed in this bill are reasonable, sensible and pragmatic. Though most of these amendments are minor in nature, I believe that the impact on the sector will be important. This bill not only helps permanent humanitarian refugee visa holders—a noble goal in itself—but also increases certainty, driving further investment in our higher education sector which in turn opens up funding for additional university research. Simultaneously this bill reduces the burden on taxpayers, through increasing efficiency and correcting oversights in the system. I'm particularly pleased that this bill finally acknowledges that Indigenous languages are native languages, not foreign languages, in this country. I commend this bill to the House.

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