TERTIARY EDUCATION QUALITY AND STANDARDS AGENCY (CHARGES) AMENDMENT BILL 2021 Explanatory Memorandum

Commonwealth of Australia Explanatory Memoranda

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TERTIARY EDUCATION QUALITY AND STANDARDS AGENCY (CHARGES) AMENDMENT BILL 2021

2019 - 2020 - 2021 THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TERTIARY EDUCATION QUALITY AND STANDARDS AGENCY (CHARGES) AMENDMENT BILL 2021 EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM (Circulated by authority of the Minister for Education and Youth, the Hon Alan Tudge MP)

TABLE OF CONTENTS GLOSSARY ........................................................................................................................................................ 1 OUTLINE .......................................................................................................................................................... 2 FINANCIAL IMPACT STATEMENT ...................................................................................................................... 2 CONSULTATION ............................................................................................................................................... 2 STATEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY WITH HUMAN RIGHTS................................................................................... 3 NOTES ON CLAUSES ......................................................................................................................................... 4 Schedule 1--Amendments ............................................................................................................................... 5 i

GLOSSARY Abbreviation Definition CRICOS Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students OBPR Office of Best Practice Regulation Registration Charges Act Education Services for Overseas Students (Registration Charges) Act 1997 Registration Charges Bill Education Services for Overseas Students (Registration Charges) Amendment Bill 2021 TEQSA Charges Act Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Charges) Act 2021 The Bill Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Charges) Amendment Bill 2021 The department Department of Education, Skills and Employment 1

TERTIARY EDUCATION QUALITY AND STANDARDS AGENCY (CHARGES) AMENDMENT BILL 2021 OUTLINE The Australian Government decided, as part of the 2021-22 Budget, to implement an updated cost recovery model for registration on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS) and associated regulation costs. These changes will be achieved through amendments in four separate bills:  the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Charges) Amendment Bill 2021 (Bill) will amend the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Charges) Act 2021 (TEQSA Charges Act)  the Education Services for Overseas Students (Registration Charges) Amendment Bill 2021 (Registration Charges Bill) will amend the Education Services for Overseas Students (Registration Charges) Act 1997 (Registration Charges Act)  the ESOS Amendment (Cost Recovery and Other Measures) Bill 2021 will amend the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000  the Education Services for Overseas Students (TPS Levies) Amendment Bill 2021 will amend the Education Services for Overseas Students (TPS Levies) Act 2012 The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) is Australia's independent national quality assurance and regulatory agency for higher education. A new registered higher education provider charge to recover the costs of TEQSA's sector risk monitoring and regulatory oversight activities is proposed to be established by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Charges) Bill 2021. That Bill contains references to the annual registration charge and entry to market charge, both of which are proposed to be repealed by the Registration Charges Bill 2021 to make way for the new charging arrangements. This Bill, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Charges) Amendment Bill 2021, makes a technical change that is consequential upon those proposed amendments. FINANCIAL IMPACT STATEMENT The changes proposed by this Bill have no financial impact on the Commonwealth or registered providers. CONSULTATION The department undertook public consultation in January 2020 and May 2021. No substantive issues were identified during the consultation period that warranted changing the model. 2

STATEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY WITH HUMAN RIGHTS Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Charges) Amendment Bill 2021 The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Charges) Amendment Bill 2021 (the Bill) is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011. Overview of the Bill The Australian Government decided, as part of the 2021-22 Budget, to implement an updated cost recovery model for registration on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS) and associated regulation costs. These changes will be achieved through amendments in four separate bills:  the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Charges) Amendment Bill 2021 (Bill) will amend the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Charges) Act 2021  the Education Services for Overseas Students (Registration Charges) Amendment Bill 2021 (Registration Charges Bill) will amend the Education Services for Overseas Students (Registration Charges) Act 1997  the ESOS Amendment (Cost Recovery and Other Measures) Bill 2021 will amend the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000  the Education Services for Overseas Students (TPS Levies) Amendment Bill 2021 will amend the Education Services for Overseas Students (TPS Levies) Act 2012 The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) is Australia's independent national quality assurance and regulatory agency for higher education. A new registered higher education provider charge to recover the costs of TEQSA's sector risk monitoring and regulatory oversight activities is proposed to be established by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Charges) Bill 2021. That Bill contains references to the annual registration charge and entry to market charge, both of which are proposed to be repealed by the Registration Charges Bill to make way for the new charging arrangements. Human rights implications This Bill does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms as the amendments proposed by the Bill are merely technical. Conclusion The Bill is compatible with human rights because it does not raise any human rights issues. Minister for Education and Youth, the Hon Alan Tudge MP 3

TERTIARY EDUCATION QUALITY AND STANDARDS AGENCY (CHARGES) AMENDMENT BILL 2021 NOTES ON CLAUSES Clause 1: Short title 1. This provision specifies the short title of the Act, which is how it is to be cited. Clause 2: Commencement 2. The table in this clause sets out the commencement date for when the Bill's provisions commence. 3. The whole of the Bill will only commence, and will commence immediately, once both the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Charges) Act 2021 and the Education Services for Overseas Students (Registration Charges) Amendment Act 2021 have commenced. If either of these Acts do not commence, then this Bill will not commence. 4. The Bill proposes to make amendments to the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Charges) Act 2021, should it be enacted, noting the Bill for that proposed Act is currently a Bill before Parliament. The proposed amendments made in this Bill will remove references to charges which will only become obsolete once the Education Services for Overseas Students (Registration Charges) Amendment Act 2021 commences (the Bill for that Act is also being introduced as part of this package of bills). Therefore, this Bill requires both Acts to have commenced for the amendments to be required. Clause 3: Schedules 5. This clause gives effect to the provisions in Schedule 1 to the Bill. 4

Schedule 1--Amendments Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Charges) Act 2021 1. The Bill will amend the TEQSA Charges Act to remove references to the charging framework which will be replaced by amendments contained in the Registration Charges Act. Item 1: Subsection 7(4) 2. Subsection 7(4) of the TEQSA Charges Act provides that, in considering the Commonwealth's likely costs in connection with TEQSA's performance of its functions under a Commonwealth law, the Minister is to disregard any costs that are likely to be offset by: a) fees determined by TEQSA under section 158 of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011; or b) an annual registration charge or entry to market charge imposed under the Education Services for Overseas Students (Registration Charges) Act 1997. 3. Item 1 repeals all of subsection 7(4) and replaces it without reference to the annual registration charge or entry to market charge, both of which will be repealed by the Registration Charges Bill. The entire provision is repealed to remove the separate paragraphs to read as follows: For the purposes of subsection (3), disregard any costs that are likely to be offset by fees determined by TEQSA under section 158 of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011. 5

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