Tim Ayres (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Industry and Innovation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That these bills be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speeches read as follows

ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW TRIBUNAL AND OTHER LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2025

I move that this Bill be now read a second time.

The Administrative Review Tribunal (the ART) commenced operation on 14 October 2024, replacing the former Administrative Appeals Tribunal as Australia's federal merits review body.

The ART provides an independent mechanism of review of government decisions made under more than 400 Commonwealth Acts—a function that is critical to Australia's system of government and maintaining public confidence in our institutions.

This Government created the ART to replace its dysfunctional predecessor based on the fundamental belief in the importance of merits review.

And in that spirit, this Government is therefore committed to ensuring the ART has the tools it needs to deliver efficient and high-quality review of government decisions.

One of the Tribunal's objectives under the Administrative Review Tribunal Act 2024 (ART Act) is to ensure that applications to the Tribunal are resolved as quickly, and with as little formality and expense, as a proper consideration of the matters before the Tribunal permits.

This objective recognises that not every review is the same, and that the Tribunal should provide a meaningful opportunity for review in a way that is appropriate to the circumstances of the matter.

That is: merits review processes should be proportionate.

The time and resources expended to determine a matter should reflect the complexity of the issues, and the importance of what is at stake.

To be clear, this does not mean that efficiency should come at the expense of quality decision-making.

Rather, it requires that a balance be struck.

Proportionate and efficient review procedures ensure that the Tribunal can make decisions efficiently and without delay.

Efficient and timely decision-making is particularly important in the context of the Tribunal's reviews of migration decisions—such as reviews of decisions to refuse visas.

Onshore applicants seeking review of a decision to refuse the grant of certain visas are entitled to stay in Australia on a bridging visa for the duration of the merits review process.

In this context, efficient review procedures are important to reduce delays in decision-making, provide genuine applicants with the benefit of a timely and effective remedy, and strengthen the integrity of the migration system.

Backlogs and extended wait times at the Tribunal stage create incentives for non-genuine applicants to apply for review in order to extend their stay in Australia.

For genuine applicants, this creates an access to justice issue as the large volume of non-genuine applications that must be dealt with mean that they can wait months or years for a decision.

This point was emphasised in the Rapid Review into the Exploitation of Australia's Visa System, delivered by Ms Christine Nixon AO APM in March 2023.

Since early 2024, the Tribunal has experienced a significant surge in applications for review of decisions to refuse student visas.

This has further highlighted the importance of ensuring the Tribunal is equipped with the tools it needs to provide quick and efficient merits review.

The Administrative Review Tribunal and Other Legislation Amendment Bill enhances the Tribunal's powers and procedures to ensure the Tribunal can achieve this objective.

In particular, the Bill expands the Tribunal's ability to make decisions based on written materials, without holding an oral hearing.

Currently, the Tribunal is required to conduct an oral hearing in all proceedings before it, unless narrow exceptions apply. Oral hearings are time and resource intensive. A one-size-fits-all approach that requires that oral hearings be conducted in all matters is unnecessarily rigid.

The Bill would give the Tribunal additional flexibility and ensure that review procedures are proportionate to the circumstances of the case.

Amendments to the Migration Act

The Bill would amend the Migration Act 1958 to require the Tribunal to make decisions without conducting an oral hearing in reviews of certain migration decisions.

This will specifically include decisions to refuse to grant a student visa, and could be expanded by regulation to include decisions in relation to other kinds of temporary visas.

Critically, permanent and protection visas are excluded from this regime in recognition that the matters in contention can be more complex—and in the case of protection matters—generally involves a more vulnerable cohort of applicant.

Informed by the Nixon Review, which noted that the merits review process should be proportionate, the Government believes it is appropriate that reviews of student visas be determined 'on the papers', having regard to:

These amendments would establish an efficient and proportionate method of review, while ensuring that applicants are given a meaningful opportunity to present their case to the Tribunal in writing.

Applications which would be required to be reviewed 'on the papers' would be subject to a new review procedure set out in the Migration Act.

The review would be conducted entirely on the basis of written materials, without the Tribunal holding an oral hearing.

There would no limit to the information applicants would be able to present to the Tribunal in support of their case, and nothing to constrain an applicant from making their full and forthright case in writing.

Key features of the review procedure include:

To be clear: the Bill is not a reaction to the current migration caseload facing the Tribunal.

That caseload is a symptom of the inflexibility of the current framework; a policy issue that this Bill seeks to cure.

The Bill would also empower the Governor-General to prescribe other temporary visa types that should be considered on the papers.

As an important safeguard, the Parliament would of course retain its ability to disallow regulations if it judged it appropriate to do so.

Amendments to the ART Act

This Bill would also amend the ART Act to give the Tribunal additional flexibility about how it makes decisions in relation to other kinds of cases.

The Bill expands the circumstances in which the Tribunal can choose to make a decision based on written materials and without holding an oral hearing.

The Tribunal would be able to do so if it appears to the Tribunal that:

This recognises that procedural fairness does not require that an oral hearing is required in every case. What is required to conduct a fair review will hinge on the facts of each matter.

In light of this, it is appropriate that Members have discretion to adapt Tribunal procedure to achieve fair and just review in a manner that is efficient and proportionate to the complexity of the matter before them, across the Tribunal's varied jurisdiction.

This new discretion will ensure that simple matters with straightforward issues can be determined as efficiently as possible, enabling a proportionate allocation of Tribunal resources.

An important safeguard is that, before deciding to dispense with an oral hearing, the Tribunal must consult the parties about this and take the parties' submissions into account.

Conclusion

The Administrative Review Tribunal has a crucial role in enabling members of the community to seek fair, quick and inexpensive review of government decisions.

This Bill will support the tailoring of the Tribunal's procedures in a way that is proportionate to the matters and issues before the ART.

This Government is committed to merits review and maintaining public trust in the ART.

This Bill further strengthens the Tribunal by empowering it with the tools necessary to make decisions in an efficient and timely manner, while ensuring applicants have a meaningful opportunity to present their case to the Tribunal.

I commend the Bill to the House.

EDUCATION LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (INTEGRITY AND OTHER MEASURES) BILL 2025

Mr Speaker,

This Bill makes a number of changes to improve integrity, improve access and improve the information we collect about the education system.

First, it strengthens the integrity of the international education sector.

Second, it expands access for Indigenous students to study medicine by uncapping Commonwealth Supported Places in medical courses.

And third, it introduces measures in early childhood education and care to improve data collection and strengthen the integrity of subsidy administration.

International education measures

Mr Speaker,

International education is an important national asset.

It brings tens of billions of dollars into the economy each year.

It also builds friendships and long-term connections around the world.

And in the world we live in this is more important than ever.

But it is also a target for unscrupulous individuals trying to make a quick buck.

In September 2022 we announced the Parkinson Review of the Migration System.

And in January 2023 the Nixon Rapid Review into the Exploitation of Australia's Visa System.

These reviews identified integrity issues in international education, and we moved quickly on a number of recommendations of those reviews.

This Bill is the next step.

The reviews made it clear we have a problem with collusive and unscrupulous practices between some agents and providers.

In response, the Bill inserts a new definition of "education agent" which better captures their activities.

It strengthens the "fit and proper" test for providers.

This means that greater scrutiny will apply where there are cross-ownership arrangements between providers and agents, and where providers are under investigation for serious offences.

It also inserts a definition of "education agent commission". This will allow for complementary amendments to be made to the National Code of Practice for Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students 2018 to ban commissions from being paid to education agents for onshore student transfers.

And it gives the Education Department clearer powers to collect and share information on commissions. This will help providers to choose reputable agents and shut out those who put students at risk.

The Minister for Education will also be able to pause new applications for providers or course registration for up to 12 months where needed, so agencies can focus resources on integrity issues.

The Bill also requires prospective providers to first deliver courses to domestic students for two years before they can apply to teach overseas students as evidence of their commitment to quality education.

The registration of providers that fail to deliver a course to overseas students for 12 consecutive months will also be cancelled to help deal with 'phoenixing'.

The Bill also allows, with agreement from the Minister for Skills and Training, the Minister for Education to suspend or cancel courses with systemic quality issues, limited skills value, or where needed in the public interest.

Together, these reforms make it harder for dodgy operators to enter or remain in the sector, while supporting the majority of providers who are doing the right thing.

The Bill also amends the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act (TEQSA).

Providers will now require authorisation from TEQSA to deliver Australian degrees offshore.

This means that students who study with an Australian provider overseas will have the same confidence in the quality of an Australian qualification as those who study here.

Authorised providers will need to notify TEQSA of new or changed offshore delivery arrangements and report annually on their activities. This will give regulators the information they need to monitor quality and address risks early.

The amendments are designed to provide oversight of offshore arrangements while also minimising the regulatory burden on Australian providers.

The amendments are light-touch, set transitional arrangements that take into account existing offshore arrangements, and utilise information that providers already hold.

These changes safeguard our reputation as a world leader in education, here and overseas.

Indigenous medical students measure

Mr Speaker,

Indigenous Australians are significantly underrepresented in our health workforce.

They account for 3.8 per cent of the population, but only 1.25 per cent of the health workforce.

That percentage is even lower amongst doctors.

Less than 1 per cent of doctors identified as Indigenous.

The Universities Accord recommended that we uncap Commonwealth Supported Places for Indigenous medical students to help address this.

In the election earlier this year we promised to do this.

This Bill delivers on that promise.

It means every Indigenous student who meets the entry requirements for medicine will have a Commonwealth Supported Place.

Evidence shows Indigenous Australians are more likely to have a positive healthcare experience from an Indigenous healthcare worker because of their unique skill sets and cultural knowledge and understanding.

We also know that Indigenous doctors are more likely to work in Indigenous community health services and in regional, rural and remote areas.

These communities also have some of the highest demand for doctors in the country.

This is an important reform that will help increase the number of Indigenous doctors in Australia.

Last year we uncapped funding for all Indigenous students enrolling in non-medical bachelor degrees at a public university.

It has already had a positive impact.

Last year the number of Indigenous students enrolled in a university course increased by five per cent.

This year it increased by a further three per cent.

Next year we will take the next step and expand this demand driven system to all Australians from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Early childhood education and care measures

Mr Speaker,

The third part of this Bill strengthens integrity and transparency in early childhood education and care.

Every year the Australian Government invests more than $16 billion in the Child Care Subsidy.

We are committed to building a universal early childhood education and care system that is safe, affordable and accessible for every family.

To do that we need a better understanding of the costs of delivering early education and care.

And this Bill will help us do that.

In MYEFO last year we committed $10.4 million over two years for the Early Education Service Delivery Prices project.

This Bill gives that project the legislative support it needs.

It amends the Family Assistance Administration Act to allow the Secretary of my Department to compel providers that are constitutional corporations—if necessary—to provide cost-related data.

Data will be sought voluntarily in the first instance. But this power is important to help ensure that information is accurate, comprehensive and representative.

Getting a better understanding of the reasonable costs to deliver early childhood education and care services around the country will help us to deliver evidence-based reforms.

The Bill also makes three further changes in early education and care.

It expands the ability to use and disclose protected information, strengthening data governance, supporting transparency and ensuring continuity in reporting.

The Bill also aligns the date of effect of Child Care Subsidy reconciliation decisions with the date they take effect in the Child Care Subsidy system and in line with policy intent.

This fixes inconsistencies that have been an issue since 2018, leading to over and under-payments.

Conclusion

Mr Speaker,

In conclusion, this Bill:

All important and necessary reforms, and I commend them to the House.

Dorinda Cox (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In accordance with standing order 115(3), further consideration of these bills is now adjourned to 24 November 2025.

Ordered that the bills be listed on the Notice Paper as separate orders of the day.