CHAPTER 1


CHAPTER 1

Introduction and Overview

Reference

1.1      On 21 March 2013, the Senate referred the provisions of the Student Identifiers Bill 2013 (the bill) to the Senate Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Legislation Committee (the committee) for inquiry and report by 18 June 2013.[1]

Conduct of inquiry

1.2      The committee advertised in the Australian on 27 March 2013, calling for public submissions to the inquiry by 30 April 2013. Details of the inquiry were also made available on the committee's website.[2]

1.3      The committee also contacted a number of organisations inviting submissions to the inquiry. Submissions were received from 14 individuals and organisations, as detailed in Appendix 1.

Background

1.4      At the direction of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), in 2010 the Ministerial Council for Tertiary Education and Employment developed a business case for a unique student identifier (USI). The USI was to be developed for the vocational education and training (VET) sector.

1.5      Following the consideration of a preparatory business case, in February 2011 the COAG further directed the Ministerial Council for Tertiary Education and Employment to develop a final business case for a VET USI that was nationally coherent, could transfer for use across other education sectors, would separate education and personal information and could accommodate similar existing systems. The business case included a broad public consultation and an examination of the legal, governance and privacy issues.

1.6      In April 2012 the COAG agreed to the introduction of a national scheme enabling students to access their VET results centrally using a USI.

Purpose of the bill

1.7      The bill was introduced in the House of Representatives by the then Parliamentary Secretary for Higher Education and Skills, the Hon. Sharon Bird MP, on 20 March 2013. The intention of the bill is to establish the Student Identifiers Agency (the agency) to coordinate VET data.

1.8      Through the establishment of the agency, the bill aims to:

  • enable individuals to access a consolidated transcript of all nationally recognised training undertaken after 1 January 2014;
  • ensure that various registered training organisations (RTOs) can easily confirm pre-requisite data for assessing further study by students; and
  • allow policy makers and researchers to access anonymous enrolment and results data to help understand enrolment patterns and pathways, evaluate education for disadvantaged people and inform and support relevant government subsidy programs.[3]

1.9      According to the Financial Impact Statement, the student identifier scheme would cost $21.6 million over four years from 2012–13 to 2015–16. The agency would be funded using an existing allocation to the National Training System Commonwealth Own Purpose Expenditure program.[4]

Consideration by the human rights and scrutiny committees

1.10    The Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills considered the bill and sought clarification and advice from the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research, the Hon. Craig Emerson MP, on a number of clauses. These address the delegation of legislative power (Clause 21); merits review for refusing to provide a student access to their USI (Clause 25); the delegation of legislative powers (Clause 53); and provisions for the delegation of legislative power incorporating material by reference (Clause 57).[5]

1.11    The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights has also examined the bill and concluded that '...the bill promotes the rights to education and to work and any limitations on those rights are reasonable.'[6] However, that committee sought clarification from the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research on how provisions relating to the collection, use and disclosure of USIs are consistent with the right to privacy.[7] The Committee also sought clarification of the circumstances in which exemptions to the requirement for a USI are permitted under the bill.[8]

1.12    At the time of tabling the Minister's responses have not been published. This Committee trusts that the issues identified will be resolved prior to passage of the bill.

Regulation Impact Statement

1.13    A Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) included in the EM examined the business case for the USI from the Ministerial Council for Tertiary Education and Employment. The RIS evaluated the four options presented in the business case including costs and benefits associated with each of the options.  

1.14    The RIS identified privacy and confidentiality issues as a significant factor for implementing the USI in any form. Privacy advocates noted these sensitivities through a multiple-stage consultation process from 2010 to 2012.[9]

1.15    The RIS concluded that measures for centralising and streamlining all VET training records was a necessary component for any future reform agenda in the sector. Of the four options canvassed, a national level USI scheme was favoured as striking the best balance between cost and potential benefit.[10]

Acknowledgement

1.16    The committee thanks those organisations and individuals who contributed to this inquiry by preparing written submissions.

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