22nd Jun 2023, 3:56 PM – Senate National Vocational Education and Training Regulator (Data Streamlining) Amendment Bill 2023 - Third Reading - Pass the bill

A large majority supported passing the bill in the Senate. In parliamentary jargon, they voted to give it a third reading. Since the bill had already passed in the House of Representatives, it will now become law.

What does the bill do?

According to the explanatory memorandum:

The purpose of the Bill is to better support data collection and other related measures being implemented as part of the VET Data Streamlining (VDS) reforms.

The Bill seeks to amend the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 (the Act) to support data collection and arrangements in relation to the use and disclosure of Vocational Education Training (VET) data and will allow skills ministers to delegate their powers to agree to all, or parts, of the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator ( Data Provision Requirements) Instrument 2020 (the DPRs) to other individuals or bodies, such as senior officials of the Commonwealth and States and Territories.

The amendments will ensure that the information collected from students and training providers, and the data systems being built to facilitate the transfer of that data into the national Vocational Education and Training (VET) data set, are flexible and responsive to the needs of governments and other users of VET data.

Note that the explanatory memorandum is a document that is written by Members of Parliament and not the parliamentary library, so are often biased in favour of the bill they are describing.