Conduct of the inquiry
Labor senators note that when this bill was proposed for a referral to this committee it had a reporting date of 3 February 2020, instead the government chose to ignore this request and only give the committee two weeks to inquire into this bill and report by 27 November 2020.
This was insufficient time for consideration of this bill by senators, submitters, and the secretariat. In the end, the committee only received 12 submissions and gave the committee no realistic options to hold public hearings.
The process of calling for submissions, allowing people time to write detailed submissions, allowing senators time to consider the evidence and to write a quality and considered report takes more than two weeks.
To run an inquiry in such a manner shows contempt for the Senate, the witnesses and the issues. It also undermines that senate committee process.
Senators are asked to make serious judgements about important matters of public policy, but they must be given a satisfactory and appropriate amount of time to do it in.
Labor senators recommend that the government considers this before selecting such reporting dates in the future.
Labor senators would also like to thank the secretariat for what they have been able to achieve in this very short space of time.
The bill
Labor senators support this bill, however notes:
As a consequence of the rushed committee process, which did not allow for stakeholders to participate in public hearings; to explore in detail:
the increased threshold for eligibility to ‘vocational English’ and whether this will have a meaningful impact to increase participation and retention in language learning.
the merits of the department’s partnership with the Behavioural Economics Team in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to increase participation and retention in language learning.
the issues with the existing Deed of Standing Offer which is in place from 2017-18 to 2022-23.
The decision not to allocate any additional funding for the program and the impact of the changes on the resources of providers. The department’s submission states '…more migrants will be able to access free English tuition for longer and until they reach a higher level of proficiency'. It further states that '[e]nrolments are likely to reduce in 2020-21 and will return to pre-COVID levels in the second half of 2021-22'. However, funding decreases over the forward estimates from 2021-22. This contradicts the statement:
The Department estimates the proposed changes will be cost-neutral for providers under the existing contract, as the increase in access to the AMEP for students currently in Australia will be counteracted by the reduction in student numbers as a result of COVID-19 and border closures.
The strong concerns expressed by stakeholders to tie AMEP with the introduction of English language requirements for partner visa applicants:
'FECCA would welcome greater transparency and more detail when it comes to evaluation and testing of people’s English levels, especially related to partner visa.'
'RACS wishes to make clear that our support for this Bill does not extend in any way to support for future measures restricting access to permanent visa pathways for migrants.'
'ASRC’s support of the bill does not extend to support any possible future measures restricting access to permanent visa pathways for migrants.'
Senator the Hon Kim CarrSenator Anthony Chisholm
Deputy ChairSenator for Queensland