Commonwealth of Australia Explanatory Memoranda

[Index] [Search] [Download] [Bill] [Help]

TERTIARY EDUCATION QUALITY AND STANDARDS AGENCY (CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS) BILL 2011

                                 2010 - 2011







               THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA







                                   SENATE




  TERTIARY EDUCATION QUALITY AND STANDARDS AGENCY (CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS
                   AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS) BILL 2011




                    SUPPLEMENTARY EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM



             Amendments to be moved on behalf of the Government




  (Circulated by authority of the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills,
                        Jobs and Workplace Relations)










GENERAL OUTLINE

The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Consequential
Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2011 (the TEQSA Consequential
Amendments and Transitional Provisions Bill) deals with consequential and
transitional matters relating to the Tertiary Education Quality and
Standards Agency Bill 2011 (TEQSA Bill).

On 10 May 2011, the Senate's Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
Legislation Committee released its report on the TEQSA Bill. Among other
things, the Committee recommended that the TEQSA Bill be amended:

    . to explicitly provide that universities have the authority to self-
      accredit courses of study, except where TEQSA limits or removes that
      authority consistent with the basic principles of regulation stated in
      Part 2 of the TEQSA Bill (Recommendation 1)
    . to provide for a nine month maximum period for TEQSA to accredit a
      course under subclause 49(2) and a further nine months under subclause
      49(3) (Recommendation 6).


Amendments 3 to 7 make consequential amendments to give effect to
Recommendation 1 concerning universities and self-accrediting courses of
study.

Amendment 9 makes a consequential amendment to give effect to
Recommendation 6 concerning the time within which TEQSA accredit courses
(in circumstances where a provider's application for accreditation had not
been decided by the relevant State or Territory registration authority at
the transition time).  Amendment 8 makes a similar consequential amendment
concerning the time within which TEQSA registers providers (in
circumstances where a body's application for registration had not been
decided at transition time).  In both cases, the time is to be reduced from
12 months to 9 months.

Amendments 1 and 2 provide clarification of the meaning of designated
authority for the purposes of proposed clause 7A of the Education Services
for Overseas Students Act 2000.


FINANCIAL IMPACT

There is no direct financial impact on Government revenue arising from
these amendments.
NOTES ON AMENDMENTS

Amendments 1 and 2

Item 4 of the TEQSA Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions
Bill would insert a new section 7A into the Education Services for Overseas
Students Act 2000 (ESOS Act) to define the meaning of a designated
authority for the purposes of the ESOS Act.

The purpose of amendment 1, which substitutes a new section 7A, is to
clarify that:

   1. to the extent that a provider of education for overseas students
      provides courses for which it is required to be registered with TEQSA,
      TEQSA will be the designated authority for the provider, and

   2. to the extent that a provider of education to overseas students
      provides courses for which it is required be registered with the NVR,
      the NVR will be the designated authority for the provider, and

   3. to the extent that a provider of education to overseas students
      provides English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students, or
      Foundation programs, the Minister may determine the designated
      authority for the provider, and

   4. to the extent that a provider of education to overseas students is
      providing other courses for which it is not caught by items 1 to 3 of
      the table in subclause (1), the person responsible under the law of
      the State for approving providers to provide courses to overseas
      students for the State will be the designated authority for the
      provider.

Where a provider has more than one designated authority as a result of the
operation of the of the items in the table in subsection 7A(1), subsection
7A(2) gives power to the Minister to determine by legislative instrument
that one or more entities are the designated authority for the State in
relation to the provider and to specify the circumstances in which each of
those entities is the designated authority.

Amendment 2 is a consequential amendment due to amendment 1 renumbering
subsection 7A(4) as subsection 7A(3).

The following is an example of how this clause could operate for a provider
which is a secondary school with international students where the school
also provides vocational education and training courses to some of its
overseas students and provides English Language Intensive Courses for
Overseas Students:

Item 2 in the table in subsection 7A(1) would operate so that to the extent
that the provider was providing vocational education and training courses
for overseas students where the provider was required to be NVR registered
to provide the courses, the designated authority for the provider would be
the NVR.

In accordance with item 3 in the table, the Minister would determine the
designated authority for the provider to the extent that it was providing
English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students.

For the other school courses provided by the provider, item 4 in the table
would operate so that to the extent the provider is providing those other
school courses to overseas students the designated authority for the
provider would be the person responsible under the law of the relevant
State for approving providers to provide courses to overseas students for
the State.

Further, because the provider is covered by more than one item in the
table, the Minister could, at his or her discretion, determine that one or
more entities are the designated authorities for the provider.

In accordance with subsection 7A(3) and item 3 of the table, the Minister
could, for example, determine that the NVR is the designated authority for
the provider to the extent it provides English Language Intensive Courses
for Overseas Students.  The Minister could also, for example, decide not to
make any determination under subsection 7A(2). Therefore, in this example
the provider would have 2 designated authorities: ie

   1. The NVR (to the extent that it was providing courses for which it was
      required to be NVR registered and to the extent it was providing
      English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students by operation
      of the Minister's determination under subsection 7A(3)); and
   2. The person responsible under the law of the State for approving
      providers to provide courses to overseas students for the State (to
      the extent it was providing its school courses for overseas students).




Amendments 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7

Amendments 1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 to the TEQSA Bill would give
effect to Recommendation 1 of the report of the Senate's Education,
Employment and Workplace Relations Legislation Committee that the TEQSA
Bill explicitly provide that universities have the authority to self-
accredit courses of study, except where TEQSA limits or removes that
authority consistent with the basic principles of regulation stated in Part
2 of the TEQSA Bill.

Amendments 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 to the TEQSA Consequential Amendments and
Transitional Provisions Bill would make further consequential amendments to
the Higher Education Support Act 2003 to implement Recommendation 1.




Amendment 9

Amendments 14 and 15 to the TEQSA Bill would give effect to Recommendation
6 of the report of the Senate's Education, Employment and Workplace
Relations Legislation Committee that the TEQSA Bill be amended to provide
for a nine month maximum period for TEQSA to accredit a course under
subclause 49(2) and a further nine months under subclause 49(3).

Part 5 of Schedule 3 of the TEQSA Consequential Amendments and Transitional
Provisions Bill deals with providers who have applied for accreditation or
re-accreditation of a course of study with the relevant State or Territory
authority, but whose application has not been decided at the transition
time - whereby the application may be transferred to TEQSA for TEQSA to
make a decision on accreditation under the TEQSA Act.

Amendment 9 to the TEQSA Consequential Amendments and Transitional
Provisions Bill is a consequential amendment to amendments 14 and 15 to the
TEQSA Bill and would change the reference to 12 months in item 2 of the
Table at subclause 25(3) of Schedule 3 of the TEQSA Consequential
Amendments and Transitional Provisions Bill to 9 months.





Amendment 8

Part 3 of Schedule 3 of the TEQSA Consequential Amendments and Transitional
Provisions Bill deals with bodies who have applied for registration or re-
registration as a higher education provider with the relevant State or
Territory registration authority, but whose application has not been
decided at the transition time - whereby the application may be transferred
to TEQSA for TEQSA to make a decision on registration under the TEQSA Act.

Amendment 8 to the TEQSA Consequential Amendments and Transitional
Provisions Bill is a consequential amendment to amendments 7 and 8 to the
TEQSA Bill and would change the reference to 12 months in item 2 of the
Table at subclause 15(3) of Schedule 3 of the TEQSA Consequential
Amendments and Transitional Provisions Bill to 9 months.

Amendments 7 and 8 to the TEQSA Bill would make similar changes to
subclauses 21(2) and 21(3) of the TEQSA Bill to require TEQSA to make a
decision on an application for registration as a registered higher
education provider within 9 months of receiving it (instead of 12 months),
or a longer period of up to a further 9 months if circumstances beyond
TEQSA's control mean additional time is needed (instead of up to a further
12 months).