On 23 June 2010 the Minister for Education the Hon Julia Gillard announced further details of the implementation of the Government’s response to the Baird Review recommendations and introduced the first set of changes to Parliament.
The Government’s response to the Baird Review recommendations will be implemented in stages through changes to the Education Services for Overseas Students (ESOS) Act 2000 and the ESOS regulations and National Code.
The initial changes introduced to Parliament include:
- strengthening the registration criteria to ensure sustainability of management and business practices
- introducing a consistent approach to risk management at entry and for ongoing monitoring throughout registration
- enabling conditions to be placed on a provider’s registration and limiting the period of registration to support risk management
- introducing financial penalties for a broader range of non-compliant behaviour
- publishing targets and regularly reporting on all regulatory activities undertaken
- expanding the role of the Commonwealth Ombudsman for external complaints relating to private providers.
These changes will build on recent amendments to the ESOS Act, and the re-registration measure, to raise entry standards for international education and enable regulators to more effectively manage risk and enforce legislation compliance.
More information on these proposed changes is available in the Question and Answer document:
Proposed changes to ESOS - Q&A (pdf 108kb)
Proposed changes to ESOS - Q&A (rtf 45kb)
Consultation on the next set of legislative changes, primarily related to risk management and tuition protection, will commence shortly.
The Government has already started consulting on proposed changes to regulations for student recruitment practices, both onshore and offshore. Over the coming months there will be further consultation on proposed changes to the regulations and the National Code on issues such as:
- ensuring courses are delivered in ways that support quality and student visa integrity
- ensuring appropriate English language entry levels and supports are in place
- strengthening external complaints and appeals processes
- simplifying student transfers
- improving the information providers must make available to students.
More information on the consultation process will be available soon.
Review of the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000
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.
Following extensive consultation with the international education sector, Mr Baird presented his final report to Government on Tuesday 9 March 2010 with recommendations for how the legislation can be changed to better protect international students and the integrity of the Australian international education sector.
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.
ESOS review final report
The final 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)