Education (Overseas Students) Bill 2018 Passes QLD Parliament

Friday 9 March 2018 @ 10.24 a.m. | Legal Research

After initially being introduced to the Queensland House of Assembly on 8 August 2017, and then re-introduced on 15 February 2018, the Education (Overseas Students) Bill 2018 (Qld) (the Bill) passed the Assembly on 6 March 2018.  It is now awaiting assent.

The Bill proposes to make miscellaneous amendments to the following Queensland legislation:

  • Education (General Provisions) Act 2006;
  • Education (Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority) Act 2014;
  • Trading (Allowable Hours) Act 1990; and
  • Working with Children (Risk Management and Screening) Act 2000.

The Education (Overseas Students) Act 1996 will also repealed.

Background

The Bill’s Committee Report [at p 2] indicates the Policy Objectives are to:

  • make minor and technical amendments to the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 and the Working with Children (Risk Management and Screening) Act 2000;
  • create a new regime for the regulation of providers of courses to overseas students and international student exchange programs; and
  • provide the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) with functions to administer new Senior Assessment and Tertiary Entrance systems, commencing for students entering Year 11 in 2019.

Current Regulation of Overseas Students

Currently, the regulation of overseas student education and training involves a co-operative model of shared responsibility between the Australian and Queensland governments. The current legislative framework comprises:

  • the Commonwealth Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (the Commonwealth Act);
  • the National Code of Practice for Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students 2017 (the National Code); and the
  • Queensland Education (Overseas Students) Act 1996 (the EOS Act).

The proposed introduction of a new regulatory regime is intended to better reflect the role and responsibilities of the Director-General as the Designated State Authority (the DSA) , and to ensure better alignment with the national framework and shared responsibility for compliance.

It is also hoped that the new legislation will improve Queensland’s compliance framework by introducing the capacity for the issuing of compliance notices and providing for the appointment of authorised persons.

Purpose of the Bill

The Hon G. Grace MP, in the Bill's Explanatory Speech of 15 February 2018, said:

“… The bill before the House today modernises the regulation of providers of courses to overseas students, establishes a new legislative regime for the regulation of providers of international student exchange programs and supports the implementation of the new senior assessment and tertiary entrance systems … The bill also includes amendments to the Trading (Allowable Hours) Act 1990 … In 2017 the parliament passed significant reforms to trading hours arrangements in Queensland, modernising and simplifying trading hours in the act for the benefit of the community, business and workers … ”

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Sources:

Education (Overseas Students) Bill 2018 (Qld) – Bill and Supporting information available from TimeBase LawOne Service

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