in focus 21 june 2010
National Monday Update Issue:
Government intervention in International Education continues negative impact
ACPET's concerted campaign upon the devastating effect of the continued decline in international student enrolments arising from stark shifts in Government policies and practices will continue to escalate in the coming weeks. This week ACPET will meet in Canberra with a further six Senators to build on a program of similar briefings provided over recent weeks.
Significant last week was the agreement by the Senate to delay the introduction of the Migration Amendment (Visa Capping) Bill 2010. The delaying of this Bill to allow proper review of the Immigration Minister’s intentions has been a key focus of our meetings with Senators. Our submission to the Senate emphasised principles of natural justice, transparent governance, and consequences of the legislation upon international education's capacity to deliver skills for Australian industry. Many thanks to those members who assisted in preparing the final document.
Our submission to the Senate also highlighted that poor change management on the part of the Australian Government has given Australian training providers no effective lead time to adapt, nor existing students an opportunity to cope adequately with the changes that have occurred. This in turn has imperiled one of Australia's most significant export industries.
Findings of a comprehensive chronology of Government policy intervention in impacting international education by the Australian Parliamentary Library support ACPET’s assertions. The chronology of Government activity which references ACPET's own research with Access Economics highlights the uncertain policy environment in which international education operates and notes that it has clearly suited the Australian Government's purpose to construct a solid link between trade, education and immigration and that modifying the link between migration and international education requires great care.
ACPET has argued strongly that any change in this area of policy requires a facilitative rather than a destructive approach and that institutions with a demonstrated commitment to quality student outcomes and sustainable business practices and their students both current and intending must not be sacrificed to blunt policy interventions by Government.
A comprehensive statement of these and other ongoing developments and opportunities in the international sector are outlined in the revised International Engagement section of this week's NMU and I encourage all members to take a moment to review these articles
In the domestic arena the AQTF conditions and standards have been agreed by the National Quality Council and an implementation plan adopted. Unfortunately supporting documentation in the form of User Guides for RTOs remain incomplete and it is ACPET’s sincere hope that these will be available to RTOs before the 1 July implementation date. Of some comfort is an agreement to our calls for transitional arrangements that will apply in relation to compliance with Conditions 5 and 6, relating to collection of student fees in advance, and requirements for a unique student identifier and provision of AVETMISS compliant data.
A summary of changes to AQTF is available on our website and we are currently negotiating dates for a national seminar series to support members to make the transition.
Please do not hesitate to contact me (Andrew [dot] Smith [at] acpet [dot] edu [dot] au (click to email )Andrew [dot] Smith [at] acpet [dot] edu [dot] au (Andrew Smith)) to discuss any of the above or to provide your ideas and input into the ongoing development of the Council.