Bills Digest no. 123 2008–09
Higher Education Support Amendment (VET FEE-HELP and
Providers) Bill 2009
WARNING:
This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as
introduced and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest
does not have any official legal status. Other sources should be
consulted to determine the subsequent official status of the
Bill.
CONTENTS
Passage history
Purpose
Background
Financial implications
Main provisions
Contact officer & copyright details
Passage history
Date
introduced: 18 March
2009
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Education
Commencement:
The day after Royal
Assent
Links: The
relevant links to the Bill, Explanatory Memorandum and second
reading speech can be accessed via BillsNet, which is at http://www.aph.gov.au/bills/.
When Bills have been passed they can be found at ComLaw, which is
at http://www.comlaw.gov.au/.
The Bill amends the Higher Education Support Act 2003
(the Act) to:
- Make clear that access to VET FEE-HELP is only available for
units of study that are essential for the awarding of the approved
qualification and not for units that are in excess of that
requirement
- Ensure that the measures relating to the revocation of
vocational education and training (VET) providers are consistent
with the provisions in the Act relating to the revocation of higher
education providers, by allowing the Minister to revoke the
approval of a body corporate as a VET provider in cases where the
body no longer offers at least one VET course of study, or is no
longer established at law, or no longer carries on business in
Australia, or no longer has its central management control in
Australia
- Speed up access to the higher education FEE-HELP and VET
FEE-HELP by enabling providers to offer this support to students
immediately following the registration of the provider s notice of
approval on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments (FRLI)
as allowed for under the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
At the same time the amendments ensure that if a notice of approval
then ceases to have effect for example by being disallowed by
Parliament under Part 5 the Legislative Instruments Act
2003, any rights and responsibilities accrued under the Act
will not be affected.
Income contingent loans (ICLs) for
students such as those that have been available in the higher
education sector for some time were extended to the VET sector for
the first time in 2007. Part of the rationale for their
introduction was that government support arrangements in the two
sectors were inequitable in that while higher education students
had access to government support through ICLs, VET students
studying for qualifications at the same level did not. To date,
limited to those qualifications that are common to both the higher
education and VET sectors Diploma, Advanced Diploma, Graduate
Diploma, and Graduate Certificate courses ICLs were introduced in
VET by using the existent framework for the higher education
FEE-HELP loans provided for by the Higher Education Support
Amendment (Extending Fee-Help for VET Diploma, Advanced Diploma,
Graduate Diploma and Graduate Certificate Courses) Act
2007.
Initially VET ICLs were only made available for
full-fee Diploma, Advanced Diploma, Graduate
Diploma, and Graduate Certificate courses and on condition that
there be credit transfer arrangements in place to credit the
qualification towards a higher education award, and also that the
providers be bodies corporate. At the time there were concerns that
these conditions might in practice limit access to the loans.
Credit transfer arrangements needed to be negotiated between
individual providers in the two sectors and Technical and Further
Education (TAFE) providers in some states were not then bodies
corporate. [1]
However, it would appear that the number of providers applying
for access to VET FEE-HELP has been on the increase. As of 20 March
2009 there were 12 approved VET providers, and some 15 others on
the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments awaiting the
parliamentary disallowance period.[2] This may in part be because in practice the credit
transfer arrangements as provided for by the VET FEE-HELP
Guidelines, are perhaps not quite as limiting as they might have
been. To qualify, VET providers must have in place at least one VET
credit transfer arrangement for at least one of [the] courses on
offer.[3] In addition
since the introduction of VET FEE-HELP some states have also
incorporated their TAFEs.[4]
Furthermore, there is currently
before the Parliament other proposed legislation that is likely to
add to demand from providers for access to VET FEE-HELP.[5] This legislation would
provide for greater flexibility by reducing the level of
legislative prescription on eligibility. In its place more of the
conditions for eligibility would be specified in the VET FEE-HELP
Guidelines which are legislative instruments.[6] Specific areas where this flexibility
may be exercised include allowing for a reduction in the value of a
student s loan debt, relaxing the credit transfer requirements for
eligible courses, and establishing different requirements for
different students or ones that may relate only to some students
taking a particular unit of study.
Although the new VET FEE-HELP
Guidelines that correspond to these proposed legislative changes
are not yet available the Government has signalled that the
immediate application of this flexibility would be to extend
availability of these loans to
government-subsidised Diploma and
Advanced Diploma courses in Victoria in support of that State s VET
reform agenda.[7] The
Commonwealth has offered similar support to any other State that
pursues reform in VET.[8]
The measures in the Bill that would
limit eligible units of study only to those that are essential for
the approved award provide some insight into the administrative
challenge posed by the expansion of ICLs into the VET sector. This
relates to defining and containing the VET ICLs within a framework
of VET units, modules and courses that is far broader than those
provided by the higher education sector.
The measures in this Bill relating
to the regulation of providers, while ostensibly technical in
nature, in effect are a response to the broadening policy
parameters for access to ICLs which are leading to the greater
number and diversity of providers seeking approval to offer higher
education FEE-HELP and VET FEE-HELP. The need to specify more
clearly conditions for the revocation of providers is indicative of
the broader range of providers that now can seek access to the ICLs
in both sectors. For example and by way of contrast with the higher
education sector, VET is provided through a national network of
over 4,000 public and private registered training
providers.[9] The
streamlined measures that would allow providers to offer the loans
immediately on the registration of their notice of approval, rather
than having to await the disallowance period as they currently do,
is likely to facilitate the processing of the increasing number of
applications and speed up access to the loans.
The Explanatory Memorandum states that there is no financial
impact associated with these specific amendments.
The Bill provides for technical amendments to support the
implementation of the policy framework for income contingent loans
established in other legislation. As a continuation of this policy
agenda, in isolation the amendments are therefore unlikely to be
controversial. As the Explanatory Memorandum provides a detailed
description of each item, only the major ones are highlighted
here.
Schedule 1 relates to the VET FEE-HELP
provisions including:
- Item 1 that inserts new paragraph
6(da) of Schedule 1A that requires that a
body corporate must offer at least one VET course of study before
the Minister may approve it as a VET provider
- Item 3 that inserts new clause
30A of Schedule 1A that provides that the
Minister may revoke a body s approval if it fails to meet the
requirements provided for in paragraph 6(a), that is if it is no
longer established at law, or no longer carries on business in
Australia, or no longer has its central management control in
Australia
- Item 5 that inserts new clause
32A of Schedule 1A that provides that the
Minister may revoke a body s approval if the body ceases to offer
VET courses of study, and
- Item 9 that inserts new clause
45A of Schedule 1A that does not entitle
a student for VET FEE-HELP assistance for any unit done by the
student that is more than required for the receipt of a VET
Diploma, VET Advanced Diploma, VET Graduate Diploma or a VET
Graduate certificate.
- Schedule 2 deals with the
provisions relating to the date of effect of the approval of
providers including:
- Items 2 and 6 that repeal and substitute
provisions for higher education and VET providers respectively,
that will allow for the Minister s decision to approve a body
corporate to take effect in accordance with the Legislative
Instruments Act 2003[10], and
- Items 4 and 8 that insert new provisions for
higher education and VET providers respectively make clear that in
the case of the cessation of a body as an approved provider
responsibilities and rights under the Act before the cessation of
the body as a provider will apply. These include that it will not
affect the operation of the Act; anything done or suffered by the
body; any right, privilege, obligation or liability acquired,
accrued or incurred; any penalty, forfeiture or punishment incurred
in respect of the body having been a provider; any investigation,
legal proceeding or remedy relating to such rights, privileges,
obligations, liabilities, penalties, forfeiture or punishment.
Members, Senators and Parliamentary staff can obtain further
information from the Parliamentary Library on (02) 6277
2724.
[1]. For an overview of the issues relating to the
introduction of VET FEE-HELP see Carol Kempner,
Higher Education Support Amendment (Extending Fee-Help for VET
Diploma and VET Advanced Diploma Courses) Bill 2007 , Bills
Digest, no.11, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 2007-08 and
Senate. Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Committee,
Higher Education Support Amendment (Extending FEE-HELP for VET
Diploma and VET Advanced Diploma Courses) Bill 2007
[Provisions], 2007.
[6]. For background on the provisions in this Bill see Carol
Kempner, Higher Education Legislation Amendment (Student Services
and Amenities, and Other Measures) Bill 2009 , Bills
Digest, no. 107, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 2008 09,
viewed 7 April 2009,
http://parlinfo/parlInfo/download/legislation/billsdgs/03YS6/upload_binary/03ys64.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22vet%20fee%20help%22.
Carol Kempner
8 May 2009
Bills Digest Service
Parliamentary Library
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