The Department of Education, Skills and Employment is seeking the views of education providers and international education stakeholders on proposed amendments to cost recovery arrangements for the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS), which were announced as part of the 2021-22 Budget.
The changes to apply from 1 January 2022 reflect the requirements of the Australian Government’s Charging Framework which works to ensure that whoever creates a need for regulation should bear the cost of the regulation being provided, rather than those costs being met by taxpayers more broadly.
The new charging arrangements represent an overall reduction in the department’s collection of CRICOS charges to the international education sector. Charges for individual education providers will vary depending on their size and sector(s) of operation.
The revised charging arrangements will:
- remove the Entry to Market Charge for all providers
- introduce application-based fees for School Registration and School Registration Renewal
- modify the department’s current Annual Registration Charge renamed to the CRICOS Annual Registration Levy (CARL)
The charging arrangements relate to the department’s role in regulating all CRICOS-registered education providers through:
- oversight of the regulation for all CRICOS providers in accordance with the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (ESOS Act)
- management of the Provider Registration and International Student Management System (PRISMS)
- the department’s role as an ESOS Agency that regulates school providers.
The department will amend the ESOS Act, the ESOS (Registration Charges) Act 1997 and associated regulations to implement these new charging arrangements. The revised CRICOS charging arrangements will apply from 1 January 2022.
Read the department’s consultation paper on the proposed changes.
Final implementation arrangements will be outlined in a subsequent Cost Recovery Implementation Statement that will be released later this year.
Revised cost recovery arrangements in the education sector by the department, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) and the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) previously scheduled for introduction from 1 July 2021 will now commence from 1 January 2022.
TEQSA and ASQA will consult separately with higher education and skills and training providers on the CRICOS charges that form part of their whole of agency revised cost recovery models.
Request for comment
The department is seeking the views of stakeholders in the international education sector on these proposed changes.
Please use the submission form to respond.
The department is accepting feedback on these proposed changes until 11.59 pm AEST Tuesday 1 June 2021.