Chapter 1Introduction
Purpose of the bill
1.1The purpose of the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator (Data Streamlining) Amendment Bill 2023 (bill) is to amend the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 (NVETR Act) to better support data collection and other related measures being implemented as part of the Vocational Education and Training (VET) Data Streamlining reforms.
1.2According to the Minister's second reading speech, these changes 'will enhance both the quality and relevance of VET by making timely and quality VET activity data available to governments, regulators, training providers, students and the VET sector as a whole'.
1.3Several minor consequential amendments to the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator (Transitional Provisions) Act 2011 (NVETR Transitional Provisions Act) are also contained in the bill.
Background
1.4The NVETR Act establishes the National VET Regulator (NVR) and a framework to provide nationally consistent regulation across the VET sector. As the current NVR, the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) is responsible for the regulation of approximately 90 per cent of Australia's registered training organisations (RTOs).
National VET data reporting
1.5To inform the regulation of the sector, the NVETR Act imposes an obligation on RTOs to report data in accordance with the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator (Data Provision Requirements) Instrument 2020 (DPRs). TheDPRs sets out the requirement for providers to supply ASQA with data upon request, and to submit quality indicator data at least annually.
1.6The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) is responsible for collecting, managing, analysing, and communicating research and statistics about the VET sector. The data must conform to the Australian Vocational Education and Training Management Information Statistical Standard (AVETMISS), as per the National VET Data Policy. The data collected is used by 'government policy makers, VET regulators, independent researchers, training providers, employers and students to help inform decisions surrounding their respective interests in vocational educational and training'.
1.7Currently, the NVETR Act imposes limitations on the use and disclosure of information collected under the DPRs. According to the bill's Explanatory Memorandum (EM), the 'current limitations mean for example, that potential students may not have a ready source of information to inform their decision to study, or the courses they might undertake'.
1.8Any changes to the DPRs, including any decision to collect new information from VET students or their training providers, requires the endorsement of the Ministerial Council, which comprises Commonwealth, State and Territory Skills Ministers. The EM states that this 'involves unnecessary administration and makes the data standard less responsive to the needs of individual jurisdictions' and limits the 'ability of jurisdictions to collect information they need to administer their own programs'.
Improving the collection and use of VET activity data
1.9In July 2020, the Commonwealth and state and territory governments agreed to the Heads of Agreement for Skills Reform, which committed to improvements in the VET sector, including increasing data collection and analysis to support regular assessment of governments' policies and performance.
1.10The VET Data Streamlining program was established to improve the timeliness and quality of VET activity data, including introducing:
modern technology that enables real-time submission of VET activity data;
a new VET Information Standard to replace the existing AVETMISS; and
updated regulatory and governance settings.
1.11According to the EM, the bill will support these reforms by ensuring that 'the information collected from students and training providers, and the data systems being built to facilitate the transfer of that data into the national [VET] data set, are flexible and responsive to the needs of governments and other users of VET data'.
Overview of the bill
1.12The bill seeks to amend a number of provisions in the NVETR Act to better support data collection and arrangements in relation to the use and disclosure of national VET data and allow skills ministers to delegate their powers to agree to all, or parts, of the DPRs to other individuals or bodies.
Definitions
1.13For the purposes of the proposed amendments, the bill would insert definitions to distinguish between VET data systems used by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) and other entities, such as state and territory authorities, and those operated and maintained by the Commonwealth.
Delegation of powers
1.14The bill would amend the NVETR Act to enable the Ministerial Council to delegate their powers to agree to all, or parts, of the DPRs to other individuals or bodies, such as senior officials of the Commonwealth and states and territories. This would allow the DPRs to be 'amended more readily and without Ministerial Council approval for specified circumstances that the Ministerial Council considers appropriate'.
Granting of exemptions
1.15The bill would explicitly incorporate the authorisation for the NVR to make an administrative decision to exempt an RTO from providing data that is prescribed by the DPRs. As a result, decisions made relying on this amendment to the NVETR Act would not be subject to merits review. According to the EM, this would be 'consistent with the current position in relation to decisions as to whether to grant an exemption from the requirement to report data which are made under the National VET Data Policy'.
Release of information
1.16The bill would enable the Secretary of DEWR to release information (which excludes personal information, unless the personal information is the name of the RTO) to the public about VET training, subject only to ministerial agreement. The proposed amendments would allow the Secretary to disclose information for the purposes of the NVETR Act, the department or a Commonwealth authority, where that information has been disclosed to the department by NCVER in accordance with current requirements.
Information management
1.17The bill would add a provision to the NVETR Act to allow the Secretary of DEWR to make a determination permitting the collection, use or disclosure of information for the purposes of designing, building, operating, maintaining or testing a VET data system. The EM notes that this could include 'circumstances covering systems used by state training authorities, and RTOs, including via student management system providers, to collect and transfer data provided by RTOs to meet their obligations under the DPRs'.
1.18The circumstances in which the Secretary could make such a determination in respect of a VET data system that is not a National VET data system would be limited. The Secretary would need to be satisfied that the circumstances specified 'are for the purpose of facilitating the provision of data in accordance with the DPRs or any equivalent requirements in a non-referring state'.
Minor consequential amendments
1.19The bill would amend the NVETR Transitional Provisions Act to provide that the proposed amendments to the NVETR Act would apply to the use, disclosure or release of information before, on or after the commencement of the bill, and that DPRs made before the commencement of the bill would remain in force.
Consideration by other parliamentary committees
1.20When examining a bill, the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee (committee) considers any relevant comments published by the Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills (Scrutiny Committee) and the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights (Human Rights Committee).
1.21The Scrutiny Committee considered the bill in its Scrutiny Digest 3 of 2023 and stated that it had no comment on the bill.
1.22The Human Rights Committee did not make any comment on the bill. However, the statement of compatibility with human rights concluded that the bill is compatible with human rights because 'it advances the right to education and work, while taking appropriate measures to protect the right to privacy'.
Conduct of the committee's inquiry
1.23On 23 March 2023, the Senate referred the provisions of the bill to the committee for inquiry and report by 14 April 2023.
1.24The committee advertised the inquiry on its website and invited submissions by 4 April 2023. The committee received eight submissions which are listed at Appendix 1 of this report. The public submissions are available on the committee's website.
1.25The committee held a public hearing in Canberra on 5 April 2023. A list of the witnesses who gave evidence at the hearing is included at Appendix 2.
1.26The committee thanks those individuals and organisations who contributed to the inquiry by preparing written submissions and giving evidence at the public hearing.