IEAA News

IEAA endorses Chaney report, with resourcing proviso

Written by: Helen Zimmerman, 27 Feb 2013

The International Education Association of Australia (IEAA) has strongly endorsed the work of Michael Chaney AO and the International Education Advisory Council (IEAC) in their ‘Australia – Educating Globally’ report, released by Tertiary Education Minister Chris Bowen today.

IEAA President Helen Zimmerman endorsed the 35 recommendations and seven themes contained in the report noting that they were in accord with the concerns and issues that IEAA has been advocating for some years now.

“We welcome the collaborative approach that Mr Chaney and his Council adopted from the outset and it is clear from this report that they have listened to the concerns and challenges raised by many stakeholders across the sector,” Ms Zimmerman said.

Key messages that IEAA endorses from the report include:

• The creation of a Ministerial Coordinating Council on International Education (MCCIE)
• The regulation of education institutions should be proportionate to risk
• An enhanced focus on student services such as accommodation and public transport concessions, with the aim of ensuring equality of treatment for domestic and international students
• Acceptance of the need for separate state and territory government strategies to promptly integrate with and complement a nationally endorsed international education strategy
• The Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE) test as it is being applied to student visas be reviewed after 12 months of operation
• Expedited streamlined visa processing for low immigration risk providers
• The importance of ongoing development of academic language and academic literacies together with strong communication skills for all students.

Ms Zimmerman noted that while all of the above features of the report are laudable, IEAA has some concerns regarding the potential resourcing of key recommendations in the report.

“The fact that the proposed Ministerial Coordinating Council for International Education (MCCIE) will only meet twice a year will be insufficient to ensure active engagement by stakeholders and implementation by governments. There was also hope that a five-year strategy would be forthcoming, but this has now been pushed back into the Council’s proposed workplan,” she said.

“Additionally, if Australia is to come closer to meeting OECD-nation average education spending, and follow through on the Asia Century White Paper initiatives, then the Federal Government will need to provide genuine additional resources for this important report to meet the expectations it has now raised,” Ms Zimmerman concluded.

Media contacts
Helen Zimmerman
IEAA President
0412 274 338

Phil Honeywood
IEAA Executive Director
0409 964 363