Division Description Changes — Bills — Higher Education Support Amendment (Response to the Australian Universities Accord Interim Report) Bill 2023; Second Reading — 19th Oct 2023

Change	Division
senate vote 2023-10-19#7 Edited by mackay staff on 2024-02-04 09:33:41	Title Bills — Higher Education Support Amendment (Response to the Australian Universities Accord Interim Report) Bill 2023; Second Reading Higher Education Support Amendment (Response to the Australian Universities Accord Interim Report) Bill 2023 - Second Reading - Agree with the bill's main idea Description ~~<p class="speaker">Sue Lines</p>~~ ~~<p>The question is that the bill be now read a second time.</p>~~ The majority voted in favour of a [motion](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?gid=2023-10-19.48.1) to agree with the main idea of the bill. In parliamentary jargon, they voted to read the bill a second time. This means they can now discuss the bill in more detail. ### What does the bill do? According to the [bills digest](https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/bd/bd2324a/24bd12) (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](https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id:legislation/billhome/r7060) (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. ~~<p></p>~~

~~Sue Lines~~
~~The question is that the bill be now read a second time.~~
The majority voted in favour of a [motion](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?gid=2023-10-19.48.1) to agree with the main idea of the bill. In parliamentary jargon, they voted to read the bill a second time. This means they can now discuss the bill in more detail.
### What does the bill do?
According to the [bills digest](https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/bd/bd2324a/24bd12) (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](https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id:legislation/billhome/r7060) (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.*
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