Trish Crossin (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Education Services for Overseas Students Legislation Amendment (2006 Measures No. 1) Bill 2006 and the Education Services for Overseas Students Legislation Amendment (2006 Measures No. 2) Bill 2006 provide for education and training to overseas students in Australia. Overseas student education is regulated by the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000. The ESOS Act, as it is known, protects the reputation and integrity of our education export industry by ensuring overseas students get education for which they have paid and at consistent standards through registration of all providers of courses. Only providers registered on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students, known as CRICOS in the industry, are allowed to offer such education and training to overseas students.

The ESOS Act 2000 required the act to be reviewed within three years. This has been done, and the two bills being debated today are the first amendments arising from the review. Labor broadly support these changes, recognising the importance of education not only in general but also as an export industry for this country. International education is a major export industry if one can regard education in this way, and it earns $7 billion a year for Australia.

Protection of our reputation as a reliable, high-value provider of education to overseas students is essential in this highly competitive market. However, I want to constrain my remarks tonight and just talk to the extension of the ESOS Act to include the Christmas Island District High School, which is in a very small but significant and beautiful part of my electorate, Christmas Island, way out there in the Indian Ocean, closer to Asia than most parts of Australia.

When the current ESOS Act 2000 was being prepared, information from the Parliamentary Library said that consideration was given to extending its application to external territories, including Christmas Island. In fact, I have downloaded from the DEST website recommendations made by the review of the ESOS Act. Recommendation 3, ‘Scope of the ESOS legislation’, says:

The ESOS legislation is amended as appropriate to enable Christmas Island District High School to be registered on CRICOS for the purpose of delivering courses to overseas students, subject to the Western Australian Government committing to the placement of overseas students in appropriate tuition in the event Years 11 and 12 are discontinued at the High School.

Given the practical difficulties in extending mechanisms for approval, registration, accreditation and monitoring of compliance with the ESOS requirements and the limitations on the abilities of the industry to offer suitable alternative tuition should an external territories provider fail, it was decided to exclude them from the ESOS Act 2000 and hence from the provision of any education to overseas students. Since then the Christmas Island District High School has been trying unsuccessfully to get approval under this act to bring in overseas students. The review of the ESOS Act has re-examined the case for external territories.

Christmas Island is a very remote and isolated community, with a large proportion of the population coming from and having strong family links with South-East Asia, in particular Malaysia. It is a very strong and close community, and a very safe community in which to bring up kids. Only within the last two years has the Christmas Island District High School been able to offer courses of study right up to year 12. Years 11 and 12 had been offered on the island on a trial basis, but there has now been a commitment to continue offering these years. They have been getting some good results. The students are now able to stay on the island and complete their school studies instead of going to the mainland, usually Perth, although some still choose courses that require them to leave home. There is no obligation to complete years 11 and 12 on the island.

Christmas Island is a very pleasant, family oriented community. It has a good high school that is providing education to year 12. I know from my studies there that not only has the school raised this with me but also the tourist association, the chamber of commerce and the economic development committee have raised with me the potential of the island being able to offer years 11 and 12 to students from South-East Asia. Many of the families on the island have family ties back to South-East Asia and would very much like to bring family children down to Christmas Island to attend school there. Families back in South-East Asia would be happy to send their kids to Christmas Island, I understand, to attend school.

The school and the community are absolutely confident that, if given approval, they could house overseas students within family contexts—and we know there is plenty of accommodation on the island given the expansion that is occurring at the moment—and the school is adequately resourced to provide education for overseas students. All they need is the ability to get a CRICOS number under the ESOS Act.

Following the review of the ESOS Act, I wrote to the then minister, Mr Brendan Nelson, back in May. There was a change of minister and Minister Bishop was then appointed. I received a reply from her on 13 June. In her reply, Minister Bishop stated that the review report did include a recommendation for the ESOS Act to apply to Christmas Island District High School, but she went on to say:

I support this recommendation in principle ...

However, she did have concerns about the school’s ability to address the consumer protection provisions of the ESOS Act, in particular how overseas students would be managed if the school were unable to continue offering years 11 and 12.

I have recently contacted the school and spoken to the principal, Ian Francis. He assured me that he is very positive about the way things are developing. He says it looks like they may be approved mid-2007 and can then start with overseas students. He reassured me though that they also need time to organise details such as accommodation. Year 11 and 12 classes continue to expand and currently there are 28 enrolled, with no sign of any reduction. So it is a catch 22, really. Years 11 and 12 will continue; no doubt they will be further enhanced if in fact the school can attract and have students from overseas.

From where I sit, I can see a review of the ESOS Act, with a recommendation to extend it to Christmas Island. There are some reservations about whether the courses will continue, but all indications are that it is growing from strength to strength. The school has started the process of being able to demonstrate compliance under the requirements of the ESOS Act and its national code. While I realise that the ESOS Act applies to some matters which are far bigger for the nation, I would hope that by now the department has been able to work out the detail necessary to include little Christmas Island District High School under the act to enable them to at least apply for registration and get a CRICOS number, and commence taking overseas students, if not in 2007 then in 2008.

I understand that the National Code of Practice for Registration Authorities and Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students—commonly called the national code; a copy of which I have with me—had a final version produced in October 2006. A close reading of this code compared to the previous code showed that the previous code specifically mentioned an exclusion of Christmas Island District High School, and there is no mention of that in this final code. Perhaps Senator Colbeck might be able to get his advisers to advise me about that. I take it from this that if Christmas Island is not exempted then they are right to go. My suggestion, and why I have put up an amendment, is that this may well occur by good luck and good fortune rather than as a result of a deliberate exclusion in the act. The Labor Party is proposing that Christmas Island actually be specifically named in the act. In fact, I think one of our amendments is to have Christmas Island defined in this act as defined in section 4 of the Christmas Island Act. I do not think this in any way ensures that the island would start to offer courses for overseas students. They do need to comply under the national code and they do need to meet all of the requirements. But if they are specified in the act then that is a start.

There is goodwill, I think, from the government to allow this to happen. My suggestion and the Labor Party’s amendments would give some confidence to the Christmas Island community and the high school that at least this will shore up the process and then they can just continue as they are, seeking to become compliant under the act. I would urge the government to support this recommendation. And, as I said, Minister Bishop said in her reply to me that she supported this recommendation in principle. Time has moved on since June and I think the time is right now for us to actually extend Christmas Island as being defined under the act and provide them with the opportunity to get a CRICOS number so they can take this next endeavour one step further.