Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the Education Services for Overseas Students Legislation Amendment Bill 2010. I had the privilege of working in two jurisdictions in which I also had an association with institutions that provided for overseas students. What I found most rewarding was that those young people would come to Australia, study here and then go back to their home countries. They took back messages about the quality of life and the strength of the opportunities they had here, which enabled them to acquire the skills necessary for the disciplines that they went into and which also gave them the opportunity of going into tertiary pathways.

I welcome the bill because it will strengthen the registration criteria for providers of educational services to overseas students and introduce a risk management approach for the regulation of these providers, which is critical in terms of its viability in the economy of Australia and also in protecting students. We must not forget that education is now Australia’s third biggest export sector. In 2009 it generated $18.6 billion and supported approximately 125,000 jobs across this country; therefore, it is a substantial area of our economy. It is an area that I hope we will continue to expand to provide opportunities for overseas students consistent with the direction that we established under the Colombo Plan. In 1990 Australia welcomed 47,000 international students. By 2000 this number had grown to 188,000. In 2009 nearly 500,000 students were studying in Australia, with more than 360,000 starting their courses in that year. Our international students come from 190 countries, from major cities and remote villages. What that brings is the richness of diversity and the richness of the culture from which they come, and it also enables people within our own universities and educational institutions to acquire an understanding of another culture that is rich in so many facets of art, dance, customs and food.

I strongly endorse schedule 2 item 2, which provides for the amendments to the Ombudsman Act 1976 to establish the Overseas Student Ombudsman within the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman, as proposed under section 19ZI. The proposal to establish the Overseas Student Ombudsman within the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman will provide overseas students with an avenue for having their concerns and grievances addressed, something which they have not previously had. That is critical in providing integrity and a sense of surety for a student’s course of study and also in students knowing, in instances where there is an issue that is of real concern to them, that they have an independent umpire they can appeal to who will address their issues—as opposed to having the issue addressed exclusively by the educational provider, who may not be supportive of the grievance or the concerns they raise. But equally it sends a strong message to the providers and agents that the Australian government is committed to a strong and vibrant overseas education sector. It also sends a strong message to overseas students that they are welcomed and valued for the contribution that they make to Australia whilst they are studying here.

We have all been exposed to media reports of unethical behaviour within the sector, including colleges closing, which meant lost fees and incomplete courses of study, leaving students in limbo and creating uncertainty. We are all familiar with the assaults on individual Indian students in their community, which has also caused problems in the international community. However, it is not uniform in its practice, and to Australia’s credit we have demonstrated that they are always welcome. We will occasionally have those people who, for different reasons, choose to single out individuals for the wrong purposes altogether. These issues may have tarnished Australia’s image, and may have been reflected in commentary, but our response as a nation and by government has been very strong. This now provides an avenue for those students who have experiences like that to seek the assistance of an ombudsman. Student grievances have included personal welfare concerns, housing, employment and transport. There have been complaints about the quality of education provided, about the administrative practices of education providers and about the ethical standards of immigration and education.

I had the privilege of being pro-chancellor of Edith Cowan University, where we certainly targeted full-fee paying students from overseas to be involved and to enrol in our particular disciplines that we were expanding into. But, equally, as a university we were wanting to contribute back to the development of an overseas country, creating opportunities for the growth and the development of human capital, so that the skills acquired within Australia would be commensurate with the skills within the region—but, equally, in the long term, so that overseas students might also be attracted back to vacancies that occur within our own country, contributing to the economy and to the population within Australia.

I read with interest the Council of Australian Governments International Students Strategy for Australia 2010–2014 when it was released, because of my prior work within the education sector and more recently because of the work being undertaken by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health and Ageing. We heard of overseas trained doctors who come with experience but are required to go through a process that checks and tests the rigour of their training. It would have been easier, in many senses, for them to have studied and trained here, because they would have left university with qualifications of the nature that we require for the registration of the profession. And certainly, as doctors, even though they are caught within a process, they contribute very strongly to the provision of health services within rural and remote regions of Australia. The growth of the overseas student sector in the long term has the capacity to provide for those skills shortages that we will be faced with as the mining sector continues to grow.

In 2009 the Commonwealth government also brought forward a review of the Education Services for Overseas Students Act, the ESOS Act, and its associated acts and regulations. On 9 March 2010 the Commonwealth government released the Education Services for Overseas Students Act review report—Stronger, Simpler, Smarter ESOS: Supporting international studentsand agreed to begin work to implement some of the recommendations immediately. The report made a number of recommendations, with 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, and

… improving regulation of Australia’s international education sector and ways to streamline Education Services for Overseas Students to ensure Australia maintains its reputation as a high-quality study destination.

I am sure that the proposed changes that have been put forward will enhance the industry that we are developing. Those changes will ensure that the principal purpose of providers will be to provide education; that they have a demonstrated capacity to provide education of a satisfactory standard that does not diminish or damage Australia’s reputation in the provision of education for overseas students; that they will be required to demonstrate access to financial resources; that they have a sustainable business model; and that they have the capability of providing the education programs that students enrol for and governance and management structures to support the delivery of education of a satisfactory standard.

Naturally, the increase of student numbers has resulted in growing numbers of international education providers, which has resulted in opportunistic arrangements whereby some operators established institutions which collapsed, leaving overseas students without a learning institution and out of pocket because refunds were not possible.

When I was researching this matter I was impressed by the following, which appears on an official Australian government webpage. It encourages an overseas student to enrol and study in Australia. It reads:

To start your journey, read on:

Live

Australia is one of the best places in the world to live while you learn. The standard of living is amongst the highest in the world, yet costs remain competitive. On your breaks from study, you will have a wide choice of activities to enrich your experience—from cultural festivals, concerts and museums, to major sporting events.

Learn

Australian education has a strong international reputation for excellence. Whether you study at a university, school, vocational or English language institute, you will receive a quality education that will form a strong foundation for your future success.

Grow

The benefits of living and learning in Australia are both personal and academic. Your years in Australia will give you the best platform to succeed in your career, and prepare you for the challenges of the work place. It won’t just be your mind that develops - your time in the classroom will change you as a person.

I liked what I read, and I would be tempted to enrol to study in Australia if I were an overseas student.

I support the proposed changes to the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 and the Ombudsman Act 1976. They will further strengthen the registration requirements for education providers delivering to overseas students with a specific focus on business sustainability; introduce a consistent risk management approach to the regulation of international education; limit the period of registration, allowing conditions to be placed on a provider’s registration according to risk; extend the range of non-compliant behaviour that could attract financial penalties to strengthen regulation; and also expand the role of the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

The international education sector is Australia’s third-largest source of export income, and it needs to be protected and enhanced. I therefore compliment the government on the legislation. I support a high-quality experience for international students to ensure a sustainable future for quality international education in Australia and ultimately for the region of which we are part—and for Australia’s economy, with the opportunity to have students who have acquired skills within our institutions that provide them with a pathway of learning and of experience that is underpinned by quality providers, providing students with a richness that will not be forgotten, so that ultimately they become ambassadors for our great country.

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