The Department of
Education, Skills and Employment is proposing amendments to the Education
Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (ESOS Act) that will improve the
regulation of supplementary courses and allow charges collected under the ESOS
Act to be refunded in special circumstances.
Improving regulation
of supplementary courses for overseas students
The ESOS Act and its associated legislative framework
provide important protections to overseas students studying in Australia as
well as supporting the integrity of the student visa system.
However, the regulatory requirements may be less necessary
for certain types of ‘supplementary’ study, where an overseas student already
studying a course in Australia wishes to undertake extra study outside of their
substantive program. For example, students seeking to work in the hospitality,
construction, retail and healthcare sectors require specific qualifications
including first aid and barista courses, responsible service of alcohol,
hygienic food preparation or white cards.
To make it easier for overseas students to study
supplementary courses, and for education providers to offer to them, the department
is proposing to:
1.
Narrow the definition of “course” in the ESOS
Act to exclude supplementary courses from the need to be registered on CRICOS;
2.
Give the Minister responsible for international
education the power to make exemptions for certain courses from the ESOS Act
requirements.
The department’s paper outlining the
framework for the proposed changes and the legislative amendments required to
give them effect can be found here.
Enabling CRICOS registration charges to
be refunded
Education providers pay charges to be
registered on the Commonwealth Register of Courses and Institutions for
Overseas Students (CRICOS) and to deliver courses to overseas students.
Currently, there is no legislative authority under the ESOS Act and its
associate framework to refund these charges.
To allow flexible sector responses in the
future, the department is proposing to amend the ESOS Act to allow charges
collected under the Act to be refunded under special circumstances.
The department’s fact sheet on the
proposed changes can be found here.
Request for comment
The department is seeking the views of stakeholders in the
international education system on these proposed changes.
Please use the template provided here to make your submission, including
considering the questions provided when developing your comments.
The department is accepting feedback on
these proposed changes to the ESOS Act until 5pm AEST Friday 9 October 2020.
Please provide your
comments to ESOS-PolicyTeam@dese.gov.au.