Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Hansard source

I will not delay the House for long. We have listened to the minister’s speech. Obviously, this is an amendment that the opposition sponsored in the Senate and that the member for Boothby, the former shadow minister, initiated in the first place. I will say just a few words about this amendment because I think we have a different view about the other amendments that are coming from the Senate.

The provision of education to overseas students in Australia is worth about $15.5 billion in export income and is our third largest export earner. It is critical that such a significant export be maintained. Concerning allegations have been made against some private education providers. Some students have reported, despite complying with all the requirements of studying in Australia, being asked by providers to pay additional fees over and above their agreed payments or risk having the college have their visas revoked. A series of training college closures in 2009 and a series of other related issues have contributed to a loss of confidence in our international education services, and our reputation as a high-quality provider is at risk because of the practices of some unscrupulous providers and education agents. Fraudulent practices can cause irreparable damage to this important industry, and it is time that the government matches its talk with the action needed to sort out these concerns.

Improving accountability not just of colleges and education agents but also of territory and state regulators is vital. This legislation was introduced in August last year two days before the minister announced her visit to India and, despite the minister reassuring the Indian government at length that the Rudd government was making moves to improve the quality of education services for overseas students, legislation has lingered for nearly seven months. The Rudd government could have acted more swiftly, by prioritising this legislation, to weed out the shonky operators from the majority of the solid performers and should have acted much sooner to reregister providers and leave out those that should not be part of this industry.

We support the requirement of reregistration of all education providers who are currently registered through the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students by December 2010. While we have acknowledged the legislation before us is a reasonable first step and will support it, we do not think it is as well targeted as it could and should be. This is why the coalition proposed some straightforward amendments aimed at tightening up the legislation and preventing students being duped by incompetent or dishonest providers. In particular, we introduced amendments aimed at ensuring regulatory bodies for a state follow a risk management approach when determining reregistration of providers. Risk management principles ought to cover areas such as the accreditation of employed staff and educational services, the length of time providers have been operating and a strengthened focus on financials. It is also critical that education agents are providing reliable and up-to-date information to prospective students.

I am pleased that the Senate last week supported our amendment that will push the states to commit to a more vigorous auditing process during the reregistration of providers and I am pleased that the government has accepted the amendment, as indicated by the minister today.

Question agreed to.

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