Joyce Steven: Education Amendment Bill (No 4) — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Joyce Steven: Education Amendment Bill (No 4) — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 11 August 2011. Volume:674;Page:20578. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister for Tertiary Education) 
: 
 I move  
That the Education Amendment Bill (No 4) be now read a second time 
. I would like to thank the members of the Education and Science Committee for their prompt consideration of this complex and technical bill. I also wish to thank those individuals who and organisations that made submissions. The select committee carefully considered the submissions and made some changes to improve the bill. The Education Amendment Bill (No 4) has three objectives: firstly to increase transparency and accountability in the tertiary education system by enabling the regulation of compulsory student services fees; secondly to facilitate the expansion of international education by establishing the new Crown agency Education New Zealand; and thirdly to improve regulation of the tertiary education system by updating and reinforcing the New Zealand Qualifications Authority’s legal arrangements. 
The committee has made amendments to clarify the accountability arrangements for the use of compulsory student services fees. These clarifications make it clear that the Minister for Tertiary Education can give a direction listing the categories of student services an institution may use the compulsory fee for and that the fee fixed by tertiary institutions is limited to covering services from within those categories only. I have considered the minority view that does not support the proposed changes to compulsory student services fees. We know that changes are needed given that compulsory fees across universities increased 102 percent between 2009 and 2010. Therefore I consider that the provisions in the bill are necessary to improve the accountability and transparency of student services fees by ensuring that students are consulted on the categories and levels of compulsory fees and that institutions adequately report on how those fees are used. 
The bill establishes a new Crown agency for international education to drive growth and innovation in this important sector. The committee has made some minor changes to those provisions. First the committee has clarified that the Minister can give only terms of reference on the topics that the stakeholder advisory committee may advise the board on rather than specifying the content of that advice. The original specificity was unintended. Second the committee removed the general exemption for Education New Zealand from the Commerce Act 1986. It has provided for Education New Zealand to seek exemptions on a case-by-case basis instead. 
The bill strengthens the regulation of private training establishments. These changes include raising the threshold for private training establishment registration and giving the New Zealand Qualifications Authority greater powers to deal with non-compliance. The committee made a number of technical changes that will improve the practical application of the new regulatory regime. The bill also modernises the legal arrangements of the authority. The committee made a number of technical changes as well as requiring that an officer inspecting a private training establishment must provide a list of all documents removed and return the originals unless this would prejudice any investigation. 
The committee supported changing the legal name of Career Services to Careers New Zealand. Careers New Zealand will provide leadership co-ordination and resources to the groups involved in influencing career decisions. The name change reflects the organisation having a wider focus as a national leader in the careers sphere. The Government intends to support the amendments recommended by the majority of the committee including the Career Services amendments. 
At the appropriate time I will be moving a Supplementary Order Paper addressing two aspects of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority’s new legal arrangements. First the scope of the authority’s rule-making powers regarding the use of standards in degrees and postgraduate qualifications needs to be clarified. Second under the bill as currently drafted the authority has duplicate powers to impose conditions on consents to assess against standards. That was unintended and should be corrected. 
In conclusion this bill will improve the transparency of and accountability for tertiary education in New Zealand. It will also support the growth of our international education sector and ensure that our reputation as a provider of high-quality education continues. I now commend the Education Amendment Bill (No 4) to the House.