Senate Committee hearing into changes to the ESOS Act and the imposition of student caps

Let me start this post by thanking the colleagues who encouraged me to make a recent submission to the Senate Education and Employment Committee. The submission focussed on my recent analysis of anomalies in how the student caps have been applied to some providers. I’ve posted much of that analysis in recent news updates here on my website.

In providing a submission to the inquiry, I was given the opportunity to share my analysis in detail with members of the Committee, in today’s hearing into the ESOS Amendment (Quality and Integrity) Bill 2024.

I wish to also express my thanks to the members of the Committee who afforded me the opportunity to provide my insights and give evidence on what is clearly a very difficult and contested topi. All Committee members showed genuine interest in the anomalies I have identified in the student cap allocations.

While I’ve shared a good portion of my analysis publicly, I was also pleased to provide the full details that I’d given to my clients, to members of the Senate Committee and public servants who had a role in calculating the caps. (As always, I have asked that if any errors are identified in my analysis I would be pleased to correct them.)

If you didn’t have time to watch the hearing livestream – a recording is available on the ParlView website. (If you’re interested in my segment, it was session 2 which begins at approximately the 9.05 am mark).

A very good (and much shorter) written summary of the day’s hearing is also available on the Koala News website.

And a final thank you to all the amazing people in the sector who were kind enough to send me feedback this morning on my evidence. It can sometimes feel a little isolating running your own business and operating solo (even when you deliberately choose that approach). To have the confidence and support of so many people across the sector is an incredible privilege and means such a lot – thank you!