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senate vote 2021-08-05#6

Edited by mackay staff

on 2021-09-10 09:53:09

Title

  • Bills — Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Charges) Bill 2021, Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Amendment (Cost Recovery) Bill 2021; Second Reading
  • Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Charges) Bill 2021 and another - Second Reading - Agree with bills' main idea

Description

  • <p class="speaker">Scott Ryan</p>
  • <p>The question now is that the bills be read a second time.</p>
  • The majority voted in favour of a [motion](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?gid=2021-08-05.76.1) to agree with the bills' main idea. In parliamentary jargon, they voted to read the bills for a [second time](https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/how-parliament-works/bills-and-laws/making-a-law-in-the-australian-parliament/). This means that they can now discuss them in more detail.
  • ### What is the bills' main idea?
  • According to the [bills digest](https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/bd/bd2021a/21bd067), the two bills were introduced:
  • > *to create a framework for the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), Australia’s independent national higher education regulator, to begin phasing-in cost recovery arrangements from 1 January 2022.*
  • In other words, the bill will allow TEQSA to seek more money from universities to cover certain government costs in respect to the tertiary sector. Read the bills digest for more detail on what costs will be recovered from universities.
  • This bill is controversial in light of the dire financial situation most Australian universities are now in, mostly due to a combination of government funding cuts and COVID-related drops in international student intakes.