Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

Sorry to let you down, Senator Henderson, but we will not be supporting this amendment. It will be opposed in its current form as it does not fit with the rest of the Higher Education Support Act and would introduce review mechanisms which would conflict with existing measures and create uncertainty across the HECS-HELP system. There are existing mechanisms in higher education legislation which address noncompliant delivery of courses by providers. These are sufficient to cover Startup Year. In addition, the working group and then the pilot program will be closely assessing and monitoring the quality of courses to be approved and offered, and we believe that is an appropriate pathway forward.