Page 3603 - Week 12 - Thursday, 13 October 1994
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The legislation we are proposing allows only government-approved institutions to provide education and training services to international students. The rigorous approval process aims to ensure that the industry has the ability to provide the services they say they will and to provide them at the required standard. The approval and registration process will assess intending providers for their financial viability, course accreditation, provision of suitable facilities and equipment, and insurance against fire and public liability. It will also assess their policies regarding their relationship with students, including their refund policies, student contracts, promotional materials, support services and mechanisms to deal appropriately with grievances. Once providers gain approval, they will be entered into both the ACT and national registers of providers. The ACT Accreditation Agency will administer approval and registration processes in the ACT, facilitating continuity of service from accreditation of the courses through to approval to offer them overseas.
A vital feature of the legislation is that it strengthens rules applying to trust accounts containing students' fees and requires providers' participation in tuition assurance schemes. Providers will be required to deposit course money into trust accounts and draw on that money only as services are provided to students. Accounts will be drawn on on a pro rata basis and no more than once a week. They will also be required to provide the ACT Accreditation Agency with audited periodic reports on the operation of those accounts and to join a tuition assurance scheme. That scheme will be a bona fide industry association. The scheme will provide, in the event of the failure of an institution, for either the placement of students with an alternative provider or the refund of tuition fees. Exemptions from the tuition assurance scheme will be available to providers who do not receive fees or receive them in arrears, or who procure either insurance to cover their full liability, a bank guarantee or a guarantee from a parent organisation.
The Bill I am presenting today will help towards achieving national consistency in the supply of services to overseas students through compliance with the Ministerial Council, which sets the agreed standards for States and Territories. This legislation is also designed to complement the Commonwealth Education Services for Overseas Students Act. Once our ACT legislation is in place, the sections of the Commonwealth legislation dealing with financial arrangements and tuition assurance will become our responsibility.
In the ACT the relevant sections of the Commonwealth legislation will be rolled back to coincide with the commencement of the proposed Territory legislation next year. On issues which relate to immigration and student health cover, providers will continue to deal with the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth will not issue visas and health insurance for intending students unless the providers with whom the students intend to study are listed on the national register. It will also retain rights of suspension and cancellation, particularly where it considers a provider to be engaging in misleading or deceptive conduct.
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