September 26, 2024
Senator Tony Sheldon Chair, Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee
In providing a short supplementary response to the Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment (Quality and Integrity) Bill 2024 [Provisions] (ESOS Amendment Bill) the Group of Eight (Go8) provides additional evidence for the consideration of the Committee and reaffirms that it is absolutely committed to adopting a more sophisticated approach to international education that backs in integrity and quality and takes a nuanced approach to managed growth in the system.
However, we remain firmly of the view that this Bill will not achieve this goal. Instead, it will inflict significant damage on Australia’s leading services export – international education – with flow on effects to the economy and our international reputation.
The Go8 consents to this submission being published and has no wish for any of it to be treated as confidential.
In reiterating its opposition to Parts 7 and 8 of the ESOS Amendment Bill, the Go8 briefly addresses developments since the first Go8 submission that are critical for the consideration of this Bill.
On 19 September 2024, a document was tabled in the Senate confirming 2025 indicative international student profiles (caps) for individual universities and for the first time – to the knowledge of the Go8 – Government estimates for 2024 university new overseas student commencement (NOSC) numbers.[1] For the Go8, these figures indicate a cut of 22,700 international students from 2024 to the 2025 capped levels or approximately 28 per cent.
If this comes to pass, then the Go8 estimates that this will translate into a loss of $5.9 billion in economic activity for the nation – approximately – 0.25 per cent of GDP – and 24,700 jobs.
For its part, the Government seems to be flying blind to the impact that caps will have on the nation. There is no published Treasury analysis of the economic impact of caps in 2025 and beyond. There is also no analysis of the lowering of the international student contribution to net overseas migration (NOM) already in place due to the significant reforms to student and post-study visas introduced by the Migration Strategy released in December 2023.
There also remains no published Policy Impact Statement for Parts 7 and 8 of the Bill.
Additionally, included in the tabled document on 19 September 2024 were letters sent by the Minister for Education, the Hon Jason Clare MP on 16 September 2024 to all university Vice Chancellors. In these letters, the Minister stated that the Government will consider only two approaches to international education, both of which the Go8 considers to be highly damaging.
The first is a rushed and unworkable implementation of caps through the ESOS Amendment Bill. Should the Bill not pass, then the Government will ensure that “Ministerial Direction 107 will remain in place to allow the Government to achieve its goal of reducing the level of migration.” This is despite the Minister’s own admission that Ministerial Direction 107 is “throttling” the system.
Neither of these options is acceptable.
The Go8 remains committed to responsible management of Australia’s international education sector, which can be achieved through institutions negotiating directly with Government on their respective international education strategies and target levels for enrolling international students.
The Go8 reiterates the position in our first submission that this responsible management cannot be achieved by parts 7 and 8 of the Bill and instead should be implemented through the use of existing Mission Based Compacts.
To assist in the considerations of the Committee the Go8 has attached a brief description of an amendment designed to implement the use of Mission Based Compacts.
Appendix – Primary recommendations from the Primary Go8 submission
- Public providers, universities and TAFE are not subject to the provisions of Part 7 or Part 8 of the ESOS Amendment Bill which provide for the Minister for Education to set enrolment limits on international students and for the punishments that apply for exceeding an enrolment limit.
- Parts 1 to 6 of the ESOS Amendment Bill which include measures to improve the integrity and transparency of Australia’s international education system are retained.
- That the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee recommend that the Government use Mission Based Compacts negotiations to establish-evidence based and institutionally appropriate managed growth targets for international student enrolments at each Australian university, and that these targets be set 18 months in advance of the year in which they apply.
Proposed House amendments to the Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment (Quality and Integrity) Bill 2024: An alternative mechanism for national planning of international student enrolments at universities
- Insert a definition in section 5 of the principal Act of a ‘Table A provider’ and ‘Table B provider’ as
per s.16-15(1) of the Higher Education Support Act 2003. - Amend the Bill so that the Minister may only set a total enrolment limit or a course enrolment limit,
on the number of overseas students for registered providers that are not Table A providers or Table B
providers as defined, by excluding such providers from the operation of proposed ss.26B(1), 26C(1),
26E(1), and 26F(1).
The suggested drafting for proposed s.26B(1) would be:
The Minister may, by legislative instrument, determine a limit (the total enrolment limit) on the number
of overseas students that may be enrolled with a registered provider other than a Table A provider or
a Table B provider in a specified class of registered providers in respect of one or more specified
years.
A similar approach is suggested for proposed ss.26C(1), 26E(1), and 26F(1). - Amend the Bill so that a mission based compact (within the meaning of Higher Education Support
Act, s.19-110(3)) for a Table A provider or a Table B provider must include a statement of the
provider’s strategy for enrolling international students and its target levels of enrolment for
international students.
This would require an amendment to the Higher Education Support Act 2003, s.19-110(3)) , for
example,
(3) The mission based compact must include:
…
(f) a statement of the provider’s strategy and target levels for enrolling international students
Explanation
Concerns regarding the overall international student profile or quality of a Table A or Table B provider under the Higher Education Support Act should be resolved through clear reference in the proposed ESOS Act amendments to the existing legislative and regulatory mechanisms, and through broader government processes.
For reasons of simplicity, and efficiency, national planning to achieve sustainable growth of international student enrolments at universities will be most effective through direct reference in the ESOS Amendment Bill to the existing regulatory framework, including requiring the negotiation of mission-based compacts to include targets for international student enrolments. Inserting legislative reference to mission-based compacts and sustainable growth is the most appropriate and efficient mechanism for the Government and individual universities to negotiate the shape and profile of the student body.
This approach would achieve the desired outcome of clearly setting sustainable growth targets and avoid inadvertently diminishing the value of international education to the Australian economy and community or adversely affecting high quality providers that are meeting regulatory and societal expectations. It would also be in line with community expectations about regulatory power and protect against unpredictable use of direct ministerial control in the longer term. Guidance on international student enrolments in mission-based compacts would assist the Minister to set enrolment limits for other providers so that overall international student enrolments are consistent with Government policy settings for Net Overseas Migration and population growth.
(Background: Table A and Table B providers are required to enter into mission-based compacts by the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (s.19-110). Current compacts are published on the Department’s website (www.education.gov.au/collections/higher-educationproviders-2024-mission-based-compacts). Implicitly, agreement on a mission-based compact is a condition of a Commonwealth grant to that provider. In practice compacts are negotiated by consensus between provider and Minister. They provide statements of strategy for a variety of key university functions.)
[1] https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Tabled_Documents/7455
