Avoiding regulatory responsibility and its impact on student loan programs: how to really understand the Education Legislation Amendment (Provider Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2017

The Education Legislation Amendment (Provider Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2017 was introduced to Parliament on 1 June 2017, the reforms aim to ensure the quality of providers moving from the vocational education and training (VET) sector into the higher education and international sectors. Regulatory responsibilities for Australia's tertiary education sector are divided between the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA), the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), the Commonwealth Department of Education and Training (DET) and some state departments. The effectiveness of that regulation aims to minimise the need for students to have recourse to generic consumer protection. The Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) and a variety of other student entitlement and grant programs operate within this regulated environment.

In this paper, the author discusses the implications of the new Bill for higher education providers and its potential contribution to regulation in the tertiary education sector. The author suggests that the real solution being offered may be a tightening and restriction of student loan programs, where the sector is bifurcated into 'trustworthy' education providers whose students can access government assistance and marginal providers where domestic, as well as international students, are required to pay full fee fees upfront for their courses and do so in an environment in which there is inadequate enforcement of regulatory protections.

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