In August 2009 Deputy Prime Minister the Hon Julia Gillard MP asked the Hon Bruce Baird AM to review the Education Services for Overseas Students (ESOS) Act 2000 and report back to Government with changes designed to ensure Australia continues to offer world-class quality international education.
The review considered the need for enhancements to the ESOS legal framework in four key areas set out in the Terms of Reference: supporting the interests of students; delivering quality as the cornerstone of Australian education; effective regulation; and sustainability of the international education sector.
Mr Baird has now completed his review and has presented his final report to Government with recommendations for how the legislation can be strengthened to better protect international students and the integrity of the Australian international education sector.
The report, Stronger, Simpler, Smarter ESOS: Supporting International Students, sets out the issues facing the sector and makes a number of recommendations along two central themes:
- ensuring students are better supported through improved information, management of education agents, stronger consumer protection mechanisms and enhanced support to study and live in Australia, including having somewhere to go when problems arise
- improving regulation of Australia’s international education sector and ways to make ESOS stronger, simpler and smarter to ensure Australia maintains its reputation as a high quality study destination.
ESOS Review Final Report – February 2010 (pdf 1.15mb)
ESOS Review Final Report – February 2010 (rtf 3mb)
On Tuesday 9 March 2010 Deputy Prime Minister the Hon Julia Gillard MP welcomed the release of the ESOS review final report into the legislation that governs international education in Australia and agreed to begin work on implementing a number of recommendations immediately.
ESOS review interim report
On 3 December 2009 Mr Baird released an interim report on the review of the ESOS Act. The report sets out his initial observations.
ESOS Review Interim Report – November 2009 pdf
ESOS Review Interim Report – November 2009 rtf
Issues paper
On 23 September 2009 Mr Baird released an issues paper and called for written submissions to the review via email or an online forum. Submissions closed on 30 October 2009.
ESOS Review Issues Paper – September 2009 (pdf 146kb)
ESOS Review Issues Paper – September 2009 (rtf 544kb)
Submissions to the ESOS review
Around 150 formal submissions to the ESOS review were received and are available online via the links below:
Submissions received A-L
Submissions received M-Z
Please note: the ESOS review accepted confidential submissions from organisations/individuals where requested.
Consultations
During the consultation period, Mr Baird held forums with students and providers from the tertiary, English language and school sectors, involving some 200 individuals. He also met with state and territory government officials, regulatory bodies, student organisations, industry bodies and diplomatic missions.