Kirsten Livermore (Capricornia, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Education) Share this | Hansard source

I move the amendment as circulated in my name:

               Schedule 1, page 5, after item 16 (after line 30), insert:

16A  Section 23

Repeal the section, substitute:

23  Annual registration charge

        (1)    The Secretary must give to each provider who is liable to pay an annual registration charge for a year a written notice stating the amount of the charge.

        (2)    A notice under this section must be given to a provider by the last business day of January of the year.

        (3)    Subject to subsection (4), a registered provider must pay the annual registration charge for which the provider is liable by the last business day of February of the year.

        (4)    If the notice has not been given to a provider by the last business day of January, the annual registration charge for which the provider is liable must be paid within 28 days of the day on which the notice was given to the provider.

Providers under the ESOS system are required to pay an annual charge to maintain their CRICOS registration. That payment is due each year by the last day of February. One of the amendments contained in the Education Services for Overseas Students Legislation Amendment (2006 Measures No. 1) Bill 2006, which we have been debating here today, provides for automatic suspension of a provider’s registration if payment of the ARC is not made on the due date, which is, as I said, the last day of February.

A problem that has been brought to our attention is that the amount of the ARC payable by a provider relies on agreement between the provider and DEST of the total enrolments of international students in the previous year. It is quite possible for there to be discrepancies between the figures used by the provider and those claimed by DEST. This can affect the amount to be paid and take some time to resolve. In these circumstances, it seems quite unfair for DEST to be threatening automatic suspension of registration for non-payment when under the present system DEST is under no obligation to detail the extent of the provider’s liability.

The prospect of automatic suspension for non-payment as proposed by the amendment to section 23 of the act is of great concern to the Australian Vice-Chancellors Committee. The AVCC—

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