HIGHER EDUCATION SUPPORT AMENDMENT (UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON) BILL 2010
Tuesday, 25 May 2010 04:01
DARREN CHEESEMAN SPEECH ON HIGHER EDUCATION SUPPORT AMENDMENT (UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON) BILL 2010Mr Speaker, it is my privilege again to speak on another higher education bill.
I have spoken on the most of the higher education bills in this first term of the Rudd Government because I have a particular interest in the future of our higher education system.
My interest stems from a range of reasons.
Firstly, I am interested in contributing to what the Rudd government is doing is undertaking, which is one of the great reform periods of Australian higher education.
The Rudd Government is setting our higher education sector up for the challenges of the future.
And there lies the second reason for my interest .
In my own electorate, Deakin University is of utmost importance to our region's future.
Deakin University is one of the keys to the great challenge for our region, which is to move to the high tech knowledge-based industries of the future.
And the third reason for my interest in higher education is more personal Mr Speaker, having been a student representative when attending Ballarat University, I believe I have a bit of a duty to put something back into the system that served me so well.
Mr Speaker, this Bill provides for an amendment to the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA) to add the University College London as a Table C provider, who can offer assistance to eligible domestic students through the Commonwealth's FEE-HELP Assistance Scheme.
It is anticipated that the bill will not commence until after the start of Semester 1, 2010.
In order not to disadvantage any students wishing to seek FEE-HELP assistance for units of study they undertake with the University College London during semester 1 of 2010, the bill has a retrospective commencement of 1 January 2010.
Mr Speaker, this comes as a result of a request from the institution itself.
In 2009 University College London made a request to the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations to be included in HESA as a Table C provider.
I think the application by the College is actually a big tick for our higher education system.
It shows that some of the world's best regarded higher education institutions want to be integrated into our system.
The University College London is ranked 4th in the 2009 UK Times Higher Education QS World University rankings.
Mr Speaker, quite a lot of work has been done by the Department to sort through the issues of quality assurance.
The University College London has worked with the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations to make sure that they meet the same quality and accountability requirements that private higher education providers in Australia are required to meet.
The University College London will continue to be required to meet the quality and accountability requirements of HESA including to be audited by the Australian Universities Quality Agency every five years.
So this is a pretty straight forward Bill Mr Speaker, nothing too controversial.
I won't therefore take up my full allotment of time.
But I would just like to take this opportunity when we are discussing a Bill in regards to the internationalisation of higher education institutions to put on record my views about the importance of overseas students in Australia.
Mr Speaker, this is particularly important in the light of some of the recent episodes we have had that have captured state, national and international headlines.
Mr Speaker, international commerce in student education is now big business in our region, in Australia and across many countries of the world.
I believe the overseas students who come to our shores add significantly to the richness of our culture, as well as to our local economies.
In Greater Geelong we have thousands of students who come to study at Deakin University, which now has a growing international reputation.
There are about 25% of the 32,000 students who study at Deakin who come from overseas to study here.
Many of these students study and stay in Geelong.
They add to our economy.
The come and play sports in our local communities and add a dimension there.
I know the Deakin University Soccer Club for example, would not be half of what it is without these visiting overseas students.
Mr Speaker our region, and Australia, have some wonderful opportunities in developing a massive export industry by marketing the quality of our higher education system to the rest of the world.
This is the sort of industry where Australia has some tremendous natural advantages.
We have a great higher education system, a real quality system, which is getting better and better under the reforms of the Rudd Government.
We have a stable political system.
And we all know that, comparatively, we have one of the safest countries in the world.
We all know that we can always improve the levels of tolerance in our society. We should never rest on our laurels with that.
But the educational products we offer, the society we offer and a cost of living that is modest relative to many other countries makes us a very attractive destination.
And this Bill shows how at every opportunity we are seeking to improve arrangements in our higher education system to make it user friendly and accessible.
So, in short, I strongly support this amendment Mr Speaker.
It is another small step in internationalising education in developing relationships with other countries and in giving students from different countries to a chance to study and learn in and about other parts of the world.
And that can only help in developing our knowledge, in understanding and learning about others.
And so I recommend this Bill to the House Mr Speaker.
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