Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

Labor supports the Education Legislation Amendment (2021 Measures No. 2) Bill 2021. This bill makes administrative changes to the Higher Education Support Act and the Education Services for Overseas Students Act. It is designed to fix uncontroversial and recognised issues in the existing legislation.

The bill amends the citizenship requirements within the Higher Education Loan Program to ensure that students on humanitarian visas do not lose access for travelling overseas after spending five years in Australia, and empowers the minister to extend availability of HELP from 1 January 2022 to students who have previously held permanent humanitarian visas. This is a worthwhile change that improves access to Australia's world-class higher education system for visa holders.

The bill also contains a number of other technical amendments.