Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment (Quality and Integrity) Bill 2024
The Law Council supports the intention of the Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment (Quality and Integrity) Bill 2024 (Cth)1, which will amend the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (Cth) to support the quality, integrity and sustainable growth of the international education sector.
The Bill seeks to address issues identified in the Rapid Review into the Exploitation of Australia’s Visa System 2 and the Government’s Migration Strategy 3 by introducing:
- further mandatory considerations in assessing whether an education provider is fit and proper to be registered;
- a requirement for the provision of information about education agents and education agent commissions to the Department of Education;
- further eligibility requirements to be satisfied prior to registration for conducting a course for international students;
- circumstances in which a provider’s registration can be automatically suspended or cancelled;
- Ministerial discretionary power to limit enrolments, and to either suspend or cancel a provider’s registration for a fixed period in relation to specific courses; and
- automatic suspension or cancellation of courses, either specified or of a class identified by the Minister in a legislative instrument.4
The Law Council, with particular thanks to its Migration Law Committee, provides its submission with emphasis on observing principles of procedural fairness, and with regard for the impact on international students and their migration status when studying in Australia on a visa.
Read the full submission below.
1 Parliament of Australia, Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment (Quality and Integrity) Bill 2024. <https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r7191>.
2 Christine Nixon AO, APM, Rapid Review into the Exploitation of Australia’s Visa System (Report, 31 March 2023) <https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/reports-and-pubs/files/nixon-review/nixon-review-exploitation-australia-visa-system.pdf>.
3 Commonwealth of Australia, Migration Strategy (Report, December 2023) <https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/programs-subsite/migration-strategy/Documents/migration-strategy.pdf>.
4 Explanatory Memorandum, Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment (Quality and Integrity) Bill 2024.
Last Updated on 15/08/2024
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