EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Education, Science and Training
Higher Education Legislation Amendment (2007 Measures No. 1) Act 2007
Proclamation
Content of Proclamation and Purpose
Item 2 of the table in subsection 2 (1) of the Higher Education Legislation Amendment (2007 Measures No. 1) Act 2007 (the Act) provides that Schedule 1 to the Act commences on a day to be fixed by Proclamation. However, if any of the provisions of Schedule 1 do not commence within 12 months of the date the Act receives the Royal Assent, then those provisions commence on the first day after the end of that 12 month period. The Act received the royal assent on 28 May 2007.
The purpose of the Proclamation was to fix 31 December 2007 as the day on which Schedule 1 to the Act commences. Schedule 1 to the Act amends the Higher Education Support Act 2003 to implement the revised National Protocols for Higher Education Approval Processes (the National Protocols). The National Protocols regulate the recognition of new universities, the operation of overseas universities in Australia and the accreditation of courses offered by providers of higher education. These changes to the Higher Education Support Act 2003 will:
- align key definitions with those used in the revised National Protocols and the Australian Qualifications Framework;
- reflect new arrangements for the National Protocols to apply to all new and existing higher education institutions (the Protocols previously applied only to new institutions);
- allow for approval and regulation of the new types of higher education institutions, as defined in the revised National Protocols, as Higher Education Providers;
- align the definition of ‘to operate’ with that used in the revised National Protocols; and
- allow for new types of higher education institutions, as defined in the revised Protocols, to apply for approval to operate in the External Territories.
Items 2 to 6 of Schedule 3 to the Act commence on 1 January 2008 and all other provisions of the Act commenced on Royal Assent on 28 May 2007.
The Proclamation is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
Consultation
The amendments provided for in Schedule 1 to the Act give effect to the revised National Protocols which were agreed by the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) in July 2006. MCEETYA also agreed that the changes to the National Protocols covered by Schedule 1 should commence on 31 December 2007 to allow sufficient time for the Commonwealth and the States and mainland Territories to make the necessary legislative changes.
Commencement
The Proclamation provides that Schedule 1 to the Act commences on 31 December 2007.