ISA has prepared this submission for the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee’s Inquiry into the Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment (Quality and Integrity) Bill 2024 [Provisions].
The Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment (Quality and Integrity) Bill 2024 (the Bill) was released on Saturday 18 May, following the release of the Australian Government’s Draft International Education and Skills Strategic Framework (the Draft Framework) on Saturday 11 May 2024.
The documents are interdependent and appear to be a conflation of regulatory reforms related to integrity concerns, and regulatory powers enabling the Australian Government to actively manage provider activities and overseas student study outcomes to serve Australia’s longer-term strategic interests.
In this submission, ISA will refer to both the Bill and the Draft Framework and will advocate for regulatory exemptions for the school sector from provisions in the Bill, where fitting, and for the Government to reconsider the appropriateness of combining regulatory reform of education services with strategic intent in legislation.