{"id":13483,"date":"2024-02-12T21:58:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-12T21:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.educli.com\/blog\/?p=13483"},"modified":"2026-03-03T11:20:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T11:20:56","slug":"new-legislation-introduced-to-curb-international-education-and-vocational-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.educli.com\/resources\/new-legislation-introduced-to-curb-international-education-and-vocational-training\/","title":{"rendered":"New Legislation introduced to curb international education and vocational training"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Australian government issued its long-awaited <\/span>Migration Strategy<\/span><\/a> on 11 December 2023 and announced <\/span>\u201cthe biggest reforms to migration in a generation.\u201d<\/span><\/i> Furthermore, on 7 February 2024, the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator (NVETR) legislative amendments were introduced into Parliament. The government is making an ongoing effort to clean up the vocational education and training industry, reduce the integrity risks posed by RTOs that are not genuine or unscrupulous, and attempt to curb the number of students who apply for programs. It is anticipated that additional legislation and changes will go into effect in the month of March.<\/span><\/p>\n

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As expected, the reforms will have a profound impact on the AUS$30 billion-per-year international education sector \u2013 and will certainly affect the flow of foreign students into the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Although the government has not yet mandated a cap on the number of international students, recent events make it abundantly clear that this is occurring. These events include high rates of visa refusal, cancellations of certificates of enrollment from leading Australian universities, and general turmoil in the industry.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The mission of the government to rebuild Australia’s migration system appears to be based on the complete and total reorganization of the industry. Have they not learned from the fact that the previous Labour administrations made the same mistakes and left the entire industry in shambles?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The government\u2019s strategy is to attract<\/span> \u201cpeople who are best placed to help build the skills base of Australia\u2019s workforce, boost exports and raise living standards.\u201d <\/span><\/i>Yet the current visa refusal rates tell a different story:<\/span> as <\/span>The Sydney Morning Herald<\/span><\/a> reported, <\/span>\u201cAustralia\u2019s net migration will be halved within two years in a dramatic move to slash the annual intake from a record high of 510,000 by imposing tougher tests on overseas students and turning away workers with low skills.\u201d<\/span><\/i> \u201cThis Strategy is about building back integrity into the system, with Treasury forecasts showing that migration is expected to decline substantially over the next financial year,<\/span><\/i>\u201d added <\/span>Minister for Home Affairs Clare O\u2019Neil<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Improving integrity of international education a priority<\/span><\/p>\n

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Supporting many of these measures, the government introduced a \u201cstudent visa integrity unit,\u201d, part of the Department of Home Affairs\u2019 which will receive initial funding of AUS$19 million, and additional AUS$38 million of funding to ASQA to \u201cstrengtheing the integrity unit\u201d as announced by the <\/span>Minister O\u2019Connor <\/span><\/a>in his speech at the <\/span>National Press Club<\/span><\/a> in October 2023.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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In his latest announcement on 7 February 2024, the <\/span>Minister O\u2019Connor <\/span><\/a>introduced <\/span>The National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Amendment (Strengthening Quality and Integrity in Vocational Education and Training No. 1) Bill 2024<\/span><\/a>, to tackle unscrupulous and non-genuine providers and improve the integrity of the nation\u2019s vocational education and training (VET) sector.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The key amendments in the Bill will:<\/b><\/p>\n

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