19th Oct 2023, 1:52 PM – Senate Higher Education Support Amendment (Response to the Australian Universities Accord Interim Report) Bill 2023 - Third Reading - Pass the bill

The majority voted in favour of a motion to pass the bill in the Senate. In parliamentary jargon, they voted to read the bill a third time. This means the bill will now be sent back to the House of Representatives, where our MPs will consider whether they agree with the Senate amendments so the bill can become law.

What does the bill do?

According to the bills digest (which is a document prepared by the non-partisan parliamentary library):

The purpose of the Higher Education Support Amendment (Response to the Australian Universities Accord Interim Report) Bill 2023 (the Bill) is to amend the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA) to:

• uncap the number of Indigenous students who can enrol in a Commonwealth supported place (CSP) by extending eligibility of demand-driven funding to all Indigenous students, rather than only Indigenous students living in regional and remote areas

• remove the ‘unnecessarily harsh’ requirement—introduced as part of the Job-ready Graduates Package—that after 8 units of a bachelor degree, students need to maintain a pass rate of at least 50% to continue as a Commonwealth supported student and to be eligible for FEE-HELP assistance

• motivate higher education providers to provide appropriate support for students by requiring providers to have and comply with a ‘support for students’ policy to assist in identifying students at risk of falling behind and to support them to complete their study.

The Bill implements 2 priority actions recommended in the Australian Universities Accord Interim Report that require legislation.