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1996
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF
AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
EDUCATION
SERVICES FOR OVERSEAS STUDENTS (REGISTRATION CHARGES) BILL
1996
EXPLANATORY
MEMORANDUM
(Circulated
by authority of the Minister for Employment, Education, Training and Youth
Affairs, Senator the Hon Amanda Vanstone)
78882 CAt. No. 96 5122 5 ISBN 0644 477873
EDUCATION SERVICES FOR OVERSEAS STUDENTS
(REGISTRATION CHARGES) BILL 1996
OUTLINE
The Education Services for Overseas Students (Registration of Providers
and Financial Regulation) Act 1991 requires all providers of education and
training services to overseas students to be registered on the Commonwealth
Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS). The
maintenance of CRICOS is currently undertaken by the Commonwealth Government at
no cost to the approximately 1000 listed providers.
The Bill
establishes a Provider Registration Charge scheme in respect of the CRICOS. It
establishes an annual charge for all providers registered on CRICOS during a
calendar year and an initial charge to be paid by a provider when they are first
registered on CRICOS. The charges payable by providers for initial and ongoing
registration on CRICOS reflect the cost to the Commonwealth of maintaining
CRICOS.
This Bill is complementary to the Education Services for
Overseas Students (Registration of Providers and Financial Regulation) Amendment
Bill (No. 2) 1996 which establishes the administrative arrangements for
management of the Provider Registration Charge scheme within the existing
requirements of the Education Services for Overseas Students (Registration of
Providers and Financial Regulation) Act 1991, including provision for a
charge to reinstate the registration of suspended providers on CRICOS and for a
late payment penalty. It also imposes an obligation on providers to maintain
records and to produce these records to the Secretary if the Secretary requests
the information in writing.
The Bills provide for indexation of charges
against the All Groups Consumer Price Index.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The Education Services for Overseas Students (Registration of Providers
and Financial Regulation) Amendment Bill (No. 2) 1996 and the Education
Services for Overseas Students (Registration Charges) Bill 1996 will give
effect to the Provider Registration Charge scheme.
The estimated net
revenue under the Provider Registration Charge scheme is approximately $500,000
in the 1996-97 financial year and $1,000,000 per annum in succeeding financial
years.
Estimated direct costs associated with collection of the charge
are $33,500 in the 1996-97 financial year and $18,500 per annum
thereafter.
The estimated net savings to the Department of Employment,
Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DEETYA), after direct costs, are $466,500
in the 1996-97 financial year and $981,500 per annum thereafter.
NOTES ON CLAUSES
Clause 1 - Short Title
Clause 1 sets out the short title
of the proposed Act.
Clause 2 -
Commencement
Clause 2 provides for the commencement of the
proposed Act on the day the Education Services for Overseas Students
(Registration of Providers and Financial Regulation) Amendment Act (No. 2)
1996.
Clause 3 - Crown to be Bound
Clause 3
binds the Crown in each of its capacities - meaning the Crown in right of the
Commonwealth, of each of the States, of the Australian Capital Territory and of
the Northern Territory.
Clause 4 - Interpretation
Clause
4 provides that expressions used in this Act that are also used in the
Education Services for Overseas Students (Registration of Providers and
Financial Regulation) Act 1991 have the same meaning as in that Act, unless
the contrary intention appears.
Clause 5 - Annual Registration
Charge
Clause 5 provides that a provider of education services
for overseas students who is registered on 1 January of a year is liable to pay
a registration charge for that year based on the total number of enrolments for
the provider in the previous year according to the table in this clause.
Subclause 5(2) sets out a table specifying the amounts of charge on the
basis of total enrolments. Subclause 5(3) provides that the total
enrolments for a provider is worked out by adding together the number of
enrolments of overseas students for each course provided by the provider in the
year and subclause 5(4) provides that each student who is enrolled for
the course at any time during the year counts as one enrolment. Subclause
5(5) provides that, a course that spans 2 or more years is taken to be a
separate course in each of those years.
Clause 6- Initial Registration
Charge
Clause 6 provides that an initial registration charge
is to be imposed on all providers upon becoming registered according to the
formula in this clause which provides that the amount of the initial
registration charge is $300 multiplied by the number of remaining months divided
by 12 where remaining months is the number of complete months that remain in the
year after the provider becomes registered. The $300 amount is the base figure
as it is the lowest amount payable as annual registration charge and a new
provider paying an initial registration charge would not have had any previous
enrolments so that the lowest annual charge amount is charged.
Clause
7 - Indexation of Amounts
Clause 7 provides for the indexation
of the amounts contained in clauses 5 and 6. Subclause 7(1) provides
that the clause applies for the purpose of working out the amount of initial
registration charge or annual registration charge for any year after 1997.
Subclause 7(2) provides that each amount of charge set out in subclause
5(2) and the amount specified in the formula in sub clause 6(2) are to be
adjusted for the current year by multiplying the amounts that applied to the
year before by the indexation factor worked out using the formula index number
for the recent September quarter (where that means the September quarter in the
year before the current year) divided by the index number for the previous
September quarter (where that means the September quarter before the recent
September quarter). Index number, for a quarter, means the All Groups Consumer
Price Index number that is the weighted average of the 8 capital cities and is
published by the Australian Statistician for that quarter. Subclauses 7(3),
(4) and (5) provide for rounding up and down in relation to numbers arrived
at under subclause 7(2) and changes in the reference base for the Consumer Price
Index.
Clause 8 - Imposition of Charges
Clause 8
provides for the imposition of the annual registration charge and the initial
registration charge by virtue of this provision.
Clause 9 -
Transitional Arrangements for 1997
Clause 9 provides that if
this Act does not commence before 1 January 1997, then clause 5 applies for 1997
as if the reference to “1 January of a year” were a reference to
“the day this Act commenced”.