Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

As has been discussed and as was discussed, as I understand it, in the context of the committee hearings, the arrangements which are not in scope that I referred to in relation to the rules—exempt arrangements—will be those that deal with minor administrative or logistical matters; for example, travel visa applications, accommodation, the submission of paperwork, the timing of conferences or conference sessions and variations to arrangements that don't alter the substance of the arrangement. Part of the process will using the task force established within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for this purpose to work with state and territory governments and local governments and their respective agencies, as well as universities, to inform, as this process gets underway, the six-month period during which universities will be required to bring forward those arrangements that they have with universities which fall within the definition—those which don't have institutional autonomy. I think it is important to remind ourselves that we are not talking about every arrangement that a university has with another university. It is about arrangements that universities have with universities that don't enjoy institutional autonomy. Those are the discussions which the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Minister for Education and myself have been having, through this process, with universities.