Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Hansard source

The Senate is considering the Education Services for Overseas Students Legislation Amendment (2006 Measures No. 1) Bill 2006 and a related bill, which amend the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000, the ESOS Act. Australia is a market leader in the delivery of education to international students and this position is due in no small part to the effectiveness of the ESOS regulatory framework. However, in order to retain our competitive edge, Australia must continue to set the pace in the effective regulation of international education and training. The amendments to the ESOS Act in these bills demonstrate Australia’s ongoing commitment to be a world leader in this area and will ensure the continued delivery of high-quality education to overseas students.

The ESOS Act protects the reputation of Australia’s education and training export industry by regulating education and training providers, providing consumer protection for overseas students and ensuring the integrity of the student visa program. The evaluation of the ESOS Act made recommendations for improvement and clarification of provisions to support its effectiveness.

The amendments proposed in these bills will have a beneficial impact on each of the three main objects of the ESOS Act, firstly in respect of regulation of education and training providers. The ESOS Act safeguards the interests of overseas students by setting standards for education and training providers. All providers who deliver education and training to overseas students must first meet state based quality requirements and then be registered on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students. The amendments will ensure that all persons with positions of high managerial authority with the provider are subject to a fit and proper person test before the provider can be registered. As a result of the amendments, this test will also be able to be applied at any time during registration. These amendments will provide a further guarantee of the credentials of CRICOS registered providers by preventing persons with a history of noncompliance from taking up positions of responsibility with the provider.

The act also considers consumer protection for overseas students—consumer protection being central to the purposes of the ESOS Act. The amendments in these bills will refine the way in which the consumer protection mechanisms operate to protect the interests of students in the way intended. A sunset clause for claims on the ESOS Assurance Fund will provide the fund manager with more certainty regarding liabilities and assist with managing the fund’s assets. The fund manager will also be able to adjust a student’s refund in circumstances where academic credit or recognition of prior learning has been obtained.

Other amendments in these bills are designed to ensure effective support of a student in situations of provider default. For example, where a student accepts an offer of placement in a course as an alternative to a refund, that acceptance must now be in writing. And, in order to facilitate placement of a student in a suitable alternative course, a tuition assurance scheme will be able to access student information through the department.

The ESOS Act also supports the integrity of the migration system by placing obligations on registered providers to recruit only genuine students and to monitor and report on breaches of visa conditions relating to attendance and satisfactory academic performance. A breach of these visa conditions may result in the cancellation of a student’s visa. The revised national code, which is the product of extensive consultation with industry, will reflect a new approach to the visa conditions which focus on teaching, learning and assessment in each sector while maintaining the visa integrity intent of the act. The migration regulations will be amended to impose student visa conditions that support the revisions to the national code and these visa conditions will be prescribed in the Education Services for Overseas Students Regulations 2001, the ESOS Regulations.

The measures proposed in these bills are positive for overseas students and the international reputation of Australian education and training. They will further guarantee the quality of CRICOS registered providers and ensure that Australia continues to be a destination of choice for overseas students. I commend the bills to the Senate.

Question agreed to.

Bills read a second time.

EDUCATION SERVICES FOR OVERSEAS STUDENTS LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (2006 MEASURES No. 1) BILL 2006