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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-05-11 Daily Xml
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ADELAIDE PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Employment, Training and Further Education, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for Road Safety, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (14:49): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: South Australia is recognised for the quality of the education and training that it provides to international students. The South Australian government actively works on providing international students with a high quality education and training experience in a safe and supportive environment. Commonwealth and state governments have recently agreed several reforms to strengthen the regulation of education and training providers to international students. These initiatives, such as recommendations in the Baird review of the Education Services for Overseas Students Act, including reviewing the registration of all international education providers, have a strong focus on improving regulatory and consumer protection arrangements to underpin quality and provide further support to international students.

Responsibility for regulation of international education and training providers is shared between the commonwealth and states and territories. In South Australia, the Department of Further Education, Employment, Science and Technology is responding to these reforms by increasing the audits of private colleges offering training to international students. Honourable members may be aware of recent concerns raised publicly about one such college, the Adelaide Pacific International College.

I can inform the house today that the Department of Further Education, Employment, Science and Technology, in accordance with the Training and Skills Development Act 2008, carried out a monitoring audit of Adelaide Pacific International College in March this year. I am informed that the audit found the college to be noncompliant with the Australian Quality Training Framework standards. This is a framework that prescribes conditions, protocols and standards that a training provider must meet to ensure quality training and to continue to meet its conditions as a registered training organisation under the act. The audit by DFEEST has been carried out in cooperation with the commonwealth government, and the provider is alleged to be noncompliant with 12 of the 14 standards under the commonwealth's national code.

On Friday, 7 May this year the delegate of the South Australian Training and Skills Commission, the Chief Executive of DFEEST (Mr Raymond Garrand), served notice to the college of its intention to cancel its registration as a registered training organisation, and has given the college chief executive 28 days to respond in accordance with the Training and Skills Development Act. No decision about the suspension or cancellation of the registration of the college by the state regulator has been made, and it is important that we allow due process in the matter. It is entirely and properly a matter for the delegate under South Australian law, and I am told that no decision about the college's registration will be taken by Mr Garrand until the management of the college has been afforded the opportunity to respond to the allegations within 28 days.

Also, on 7 May 2010 I have been advised that the commonwealth Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations served notice to the college of its intention to suspend or cancel the college registration as a provider to international students. The college has been given until 5pm today by the commonwealth to respond to its notice.

I repeat that the final result in this matter is not known. However, should the registration of the college be suspended or cancelled, I assure the house that the welfare of the students is a paramount consideration. The state and commonwealth have measures in place to make certain that students will be looked after. For example, under the Tuition Assurance Scheme, students will be offered a place in an equivalent course with an alternative provider. Under this scheme, students who paid fees in advance to the college will not be charged a second time for these services.

The college is registered to offer courses in aged care, automotive, community welfare and business. There are about 450 international students studying at the college, and the majority of them are from India. I stress that the welfare of students is what is most important. With this in mind, the delegate of the Training and Skills Commission has told me that students have been sent a letter informing them of the audit and that they are obliged to attend classes under their student visa conditions until a final determination is made. South Australia is also the first place in Australia to establish a rapid response task force to work with the commonwealth and to provide a quick first point of contact and support for any international students who are affected.

Students of the college are also being encouraged to contact the office of Therese O'Leary, the South Australian Training Advocate. The South Australian Training Advocate, which is the only service of its kind in Australia, is an independent statutory authority with the power to act for students to resolve problems, conduct independent investigations and appeal disputed issues.

I am certain that Ms O'Leary and her staff will make certain that student issues are resolved as quickly as possible and with minimum inconvenience. Indeed, I understand that steps are being taken that, in the event of a suspension or closure of the college, extra resources are to be allocated to help the Training Advocate.

I have contacted Mr Amit Dasgupta, the Consul-General of India based in Sydney, to make him aware of the current situation and the South Australian government's assurance of the welfare of students. I thank him for his support and his good work. The action taken so far underlines that South Australia is serious about ensuring quality and protecting the high reputation we have in quality training. We are also serious about our duty of care to students who are living so far away from home.

The South Australian government is dedicated to the quality of education and training provided to international students. The house can be certain that all providers of education and training in South Australia will continue to be closely monitored and audited regularly, and wherever necessary appropriate action will be taken on colleges that do not meet the requirements of the state and commonwealth legislation and regulations.

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