Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you again to Senator Ruston. There are a number of initiatives that the Minister for Education and the government have already announced in the relatively short period of time since the government took office. We have commenced with simplification of the assessment level framework and have extended the scope of streamlined visa processing for international students, which is very much welcomed by the sector. We have announced $522 million in grants and fellowships, which will support 1,177 research projects which are recommended by the Australian Research Council. We are working very hard to reduce the heavy burden of compliance and regulation on our universities, an issue which was raised regularly with those of us who had any contact with those institutions under the previous government. We are committed to creating an advisory council which will help to deregulate the industry and report on cost savings to universities and other achievements resulting from that deregulation. As senators may have become aware, we are also taking stock— (Time expired)