Angie Bell (Moncrieff, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to hear that those on the other side agree with these bills. We know that, before COVID-19 hit, the Gold Coast international education sector contributed $1.6 billion to the local economy and $40 billion to the national economy. It has taken a hard hit. It was the first sector to be damaged, and unfortunately it will be the last one to recover.

Before I outline the detail in these bills, I would like to highlight the assistance that the federal government has delivered for international education providers since the pandemic hit. JobKeeper, of course, was a huge help to education providers in Moncrieff, across the Gold Coast and, indeed, across the country. Australians should know that it's the Morrison government that has assisted Queenslanders, including international education providers, with $30 billion of financial support already delivered.

We continue to support individuals through the South-East Queensland lockdown with COVID-19 disaster payments of up to $750 a week—and I'm very pleased that the lockdown was lifted yesterday at 4 pm. Those who were in lockdown can apply from yesterday through Services Australia, and I encourage those who've lost work hours to do so. We on this side continue to stand behind Australians as we always have. In April this year the Morrison government provided more than $53 million of targeted support for international education providers most affected by COVID-19 border closures. The measures have benefited thousands of domestic and international students and Australian businesses who support local jobs.

Let me outline for Australians what these measures are and then some real life examples from my electorate. There are an extra 5,000 short-course places for domestic students, and around 100 eligible non-university higher education providers—or NUHEPs, as they're known—in 2021-22 are being supported with $21.6 million in funding. Short courses are to be offered in any discipline. This will support NUHEPs affected by the decline in international enrolments to pivot their businesses to domestic delivery. Priority has been given to those on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students, known as CRICOS. Around 30,000 existing and prospective students will benefit from lower fees through the extension of FEE-HELP loan fee exemption until the end of this year.

An innovation fund was announced as part of the $53.6 million package of measures to support international education providers in the 2021-22 federal budget. There is $9.7 million to establish the innovation grant fund to allow eligible private higher education and English language intensive courses for overseas students or ELICOS providers registered on CRICOS to apply for up to $150,000. Applicants were required to demonstrate the effect of border closures on business turnover, outline their efforts to adapt to the current operating environment and demonstrate how they would benefit from the grant funding. I can now report back to the House that three schools in my electorate of Moncrieff—Inforum Education Australia, Shafston International College and BROWNS English Language School—in just the last week have been awarded grants of $149,500 from this fund, which will help provide them the opportunity to adjust their business models, to grow their market base and to improve online delivery.

When I spoke to Richard Brown last week, he was still full of passion for his sector. We agree that this grant will by no means replace the students that they've lost or the revenue and the staff, but it will assist him to engage with stakeholders he needs to reinvent his business model. Richard told me that he very much appreciated this assistance, as it's been difficult to carry the blows of the last 18 months during the pandemic. His plea, in which I join, is for all Australians to get vaccinated as soon as possible so that the international education sector can once again thrive and prosper on the Gold Coast and indeed across the country.

Another important measure taken to help the sector is regulatory fee relief and this is what these four bills are particularly about. Some $17.7 million will see domestic fees and charges collected by CRICOS, TEQSA and ASQA waived until 31 December 2021. These measures have taken effect from 1 July this year. Regulatory fee relief will apply across the tertiary and international education sector and no action is required from providers; fees will automatically be waived. This will support the ongoing operations of more than 3,500 providers registered with ASQA as they deliver quality training to around four million students who access Australia's VET system each year.

The revised cost recovery arrangements for registrations on the CRICOS will commence from 1 January 2022. These bills give effect to the government's decision to implement an updated cost recovery model for the CRICOS, announced in 2021-22 budget, to better align the charging framework with the Australian government charging framework from 1 January 2022. The government had delayed the introduction of an updated cost recovery model for the Department of Education, Skills and Employment, along with TEQSA and ASQA, due to external factors including the COVID-19 pandemic.

Currently the Education Services for Overseas Students (Registration Charges) Act 1997 gives authority to the department to collect annual registration and entry-to-market charges on behalf of all ESOS agencies. The ESOS act sets out the ESOS agencies for different providers. Broadly, they are: ASQA and ESOS agencies for registered VET providers;TEQSA for registered higher education providers and the secretary of the department for school providers. The updated cost recovery model will involve the department, ASQA and TEQSA recovering their own costs related to CRICOS activities. The department will charge for its regulatory responsibility as the ESOS agency for school providers, and charge all CRICOS registered providers for its cross-sectoral CRICOS regulatory effort. This just means that education providers are going to be paying less in fees in the long run. The department has sought stakeholder feedback on the updated cost recovery model. A cost recovery implementation statement will be released later this year.

Now, while international education providers may question the timing of the new arrangements, they represent an overall reduction in the department's collection of CRICOS charges from the sector and will help to maintain the quality and reputation of Australia's international education sector, positioning it for recovery and hopefully regrowth into the future. It is a long road back, but the government are doing everything they can to assist this particular sector. The registration charges bill will provide the legislative authority for the department to stop collecting the EMC and ARC on behalf of all ESOS agencies. It will also enable the department to recover the costs of administering and regulating CRICOS providers' activities through a CRICOS annual registration charge for its cross-sectoral provider registration and international student management system and CRICOS activities, and administering the ESOS framework, along with a school initial registration charge and school renewal registration charge. It sounds quite complex, but we all know that this bundle of bills will help Australian education providers, and that's why those on the other side are agreeing to these bills.

The amount of charges will be prescribed by regulations setting out the amount or method for calculating the amount to be made by the Governor-General through the executive council. The cost recovery bill will amend the ESOS Act to require registered providers to be in good standing with all ESOS agencies in regard to their CRICOS regulatory fees and charges. It will also clarify the monitoring powers of ESOS agencies by making it explicit that they are able to undertake the function of a compliance audit on CRICOS registered providers they are the ESOS agency for. The bill will also amend the ESOS Act to make the CRICOS annual registration charge payable within a 30-day period beginning on the day after a written notice is given to the provider from the secretary of the department, instead of the last business day in February of the year. In practice, the annual charges will be required to be paid at a similar time through this amendment, though this amendment will allow future flexibility in the timing of annual charges if necessary for unforeseen circumstances. The amendments will require registered providers to pay the fees and charges relevant to them as and when they fall due, including any penalties for late payment. Failure by a provider to pay the relevant fees and charges will constitute a breach of its conditions of registration.

The Education Services for Overseas Students (TPS Levies) Amendment Bill 2021, also one of the bills in this bundle, will amend the Education Services for Overseas Students (TPS Levies) Act 2012 to add a definition of 'total enrolments' to the TPS levies act. This definition was previously contained in the registration charges act but is being repealed from that act as a consequence of this package of amendments. The definition will also clarify that an enrolment will be included in the calculation for the TPS levy when a student has an enrolment in a course and has also undertaken study in that relevant period.

Finally, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Charges) Amendment Bill 2021 will amend the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Charges) Act 2021 to remove references to the old charging framework. Thank goodness I'm almost at the end; I won't have to say TEQSA again! That's a summary of what these bills are for. They will help the international higher education sector. I commend the bills to the House.

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