On 28 August 2014, the Minister for Education introduced the Higher Education and Research Reform Amendment Bill 2014 into the Australian Parliament. The Bill implements a range of higher education reform measures announced in the 2014-15 Budget. The Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) identifies the regulatory problem that the reforms are targeted to address, namely, that existing price controls for undergraduate and some postgraduate education at public universities distort the efficient functioning of the higher education market. In addition, current arrangements limit which institutions can deliver subsidised higher education, constraining competition within the market. Under the preferred option, registered higher education institutions (including public and private universities, and non‑university higher education institutions) would be allowed to set their own tuition fees for Commonwealth supported students, and the Australian Government would reduce its contribution towards tuition fees by an average of 20 per cent for new students. Institutions with 500 or more Commonwealth supported students would be required to direct 20 per cent of additional revenue raised to Commonwealth Scholarships to support access, participation and success for disadvantaged students. The RIS notes that the preferred option would give institutions the flexibility to structure their arrangements to suit their strategic goals and offer services at prices and in quantities that reflect their specific circumstances and the preferences of their students. The RIS notes that under this option prices for some courses would likely increase, while others may decrease. The RIS estimates that the preferred option would yield a net average annual reduction of around $9.8 million in regulatory costs. The RIS was certified by an Associate Secretary at the Department of Education and assessed as compliant with the Australian Government’s Guide to Regulation by the Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR). The OBPR did not consider that the RIS represented best practice, given the scale and significance of the higher education reforms and the likely impacts on the higher education market. In particular, the OBPR considered that the impact analysis was not sufficiently accessible to a range of stakeholders. As the reforms have been assessed by the OBPR as having a substantial impact on the sector and the economy, the Australian Government’s RIS process requires a post‑implementation review to be completed for the higher education reforms within five years of being implemented.
- OBPR Assessment Advice – RIS [
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