Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

EDUCATION SERVICES FOR OVERSEAS STUDENTS ACT 2000 - SECT 9

Recommendation by designated authority

             (1)  A designated authority for a State may recommend that an approved provider for that State be registered under this Act to provide a specified course for that State to overseas students.

          (1A)  A designated authority for a State must use a risk-management approach when considering whether to recommend that an approved provider should be registered.

Registration by Secretary

             (2)  The Secretary must register the provider if:

                     (a)  the provider is:

                              (i)  a resident of Australia; or

                             (ii)  a Table C provider (within the meaning of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 ); and

                    (aa)  the provider has paid the first entry to market charge (unless the provider is exempt from the requirement to do so under regulations made under subsection 6(4) of the Education Services for Overseas Students (Registration Charges) Act 1997 ); and

                     (b)  either:

                              (i)  the provider has paid its first annual Fund contribution (see Part 5); or

                             (ii)  the provider would be exempt under subsection 24(2) from paying annual Fund contributions if the provider were a registered provider; and

                   (ba)  either:

                              (i)  the provider is a member of a tuition assurance scheme that is established in accordance with the regulations made for the purposes of paragraph 22(1)(a) and that covers the course; or

                             (ii)  the provider is exempt from the requirements of section 22 under regulations made for the purposes of subsection 22(3); and

                     (c)  the designated authority has given the Secretary a certificate, in the form approved by the Secretary for the purposes of this paragraph for the State, that:

                              (i)  relates to the provider's compliance with the national code; and

                             (ii)  states that the provider has the principal purpose of providing education; and

                            (iii)  states that the provider has clearly demonstrated the capacity to provide education of a satisfactory standard (including by having an appropriate business model and access to adequate financial resources, for example); and

                                  (iiia)    if applicable, states that the provider meets the ELICOS Standards; and

                                  (iiib)    if applicable, states that the provider meets the Foundation Program Standards; and

                            (iv)  states the results of the designated authority's risk assessment of the provider; and

                             (v)  states the conditions (if any) that should apply to the provider's registration for the course in the State, in view of the results of that risk assessment; and

                            (vi)  states the period (of not more than 5 years) for which the provider should be registered for the course in the State; and

                    (ca)  except in the case of a provider mentioned in subsection 9B(1)--the designated authority has told the Secretary in writing that the provider has satisfied the designated authority that the provider is fit and proper to be registered; and

                     (d)  the Secretary has no reason to believe that the provider:

                              (i)  is not complying, or will not comply, with this Act or the national code; or

                             (ii)  does not have the principal purpose of providing education; or

                            (iii)  does not have the clearly demonstrated capacity to provide education of a satisfactory standard; and

Note:       The Secretary must notify the relevant designated authority if the Secretary has reason to believe that any of the matters set out in this paragraph apply: see section 14.

                     (e)  the provider is not liable for an annual registration charge, a second or third entry to market charge or late payment penalty that remains unpaid after it became due for payment.

             (3)  The Secretary must not register the provider in any other circumstances.

             (4)  Nothing in subsection (2) creates a duty for the Secretary to seek any information about the matters mentioned.

             (8)  Subparagraph (2)(c)(i) does not apply when there is not a national code in force.

Higher education providers

             (9)  For the purposes of subparagraphs (2)(c)(ii) and (2)(d)(ii), a higher education provider is taken to have the principal purpose of providing education if its principal purpose is either or both of the following:

                     (a)  providing education;

                     (b)  conducting research.

Registering providers for a period

           (10)  At the time the Secretary registers an approved provider, the Secretary must determine that the provider is registered for a specified period that is:

                     (a)  more than 2 years; but

                     (b)  no more than 5 years.

        (10A)  To avoid doubt, subsection (10) does not limit the Minister's power under section 83 to cancel a registered provider's registration within the first 2 years of the provider's registration.

        (10B)  If:

                     (a)  a registered provider's registration for a course for a State is due to expire; and

                     (b)  before that expiry, the designated authority for the State makes a recommendation that the provider continue to be registered to provide the course for the State; and

                     (c)  by the time the provider's registration would otherwise expire, the Secretary has not yet made a decision whether to register the provider;

the provider's registration for the course for the State is taken to continue until the Secretary makes his or her decision.

           (11)  If an approved provider's registration for a course is due to expire before the course has finished, the provider's registration does not expire until the provider has provided the remainder of the course to the students who were enrolled in that course before the registration was due to expire.