PREAMBLE
On 17 October 1996, the Senate referred the Higher Education Legislation
Amendment Bill 1996 to the Senate Employment, Education and Training
Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 21 November 1996.
The Committee received 25 submissions, and conducted public hearings
at Parliament House, Canberra on 28 October and 8 November 1996. A list
of submissions and witnesses appears in the Appendix to this report.
The Bill proposes to amend the Higher Education Funding Act 1988
to:
- supplement funding payable to higher education institutions for superannuation
expenditure, grants to open learning organisations, teaching hospitals,
grants for approved special capital projects and vary the limits on
total funds available for certain grants;
- introduce new income thresholds for the compulsory repayment of accumulated
Higher Education Contribution (HEC) debt;
- remove the existing income threshold for the voluntary repayment of
accumulated HEC debt;
- introduce three contribution bands for students under the Higher Education
Contribution Scheme (HECS), based on the type of units of study undertaken,
in accordance with guidelines;
- allow institutions to charge fees to domestic students for undergraduate
study, in accordance with guidelines;
- introduce to a new system of merit scholarships for undergraduate
study;
- allow the Open Learning Agency of Australia (OLA) to charge for delivering
units of study; and
- provide advances of operating grants for purposes determined by the
Minister.
The Bill also proposes to amend Maritime College Act 1978 to make
a consequential amendment to enable the College to charge undergraduate
fees on the same basis as other institutions.
Footnotes
[1] See the 'Outline' of the Higher Education
Legislation Amendment Bill 1996: Explanatory Memorandum, pp.1-2. See
also the Second Reading of the Bill, House Hansard, pp.5022-3.