Australia’s Senate Committee on Education and Employment has scheduled an additional public hearing on the ESOS Bill.

The hearing, set for September 6, was not originally scheduled to take place and the newly organised date coincides with they day when the Committee was due to publish its report on the hearings.

It has not yet been specified who will be appearing before the Senate hearing, which will take place in Sydney.

Stakeholders previously expressed disdain for the government’s timing of releasing long-awaited details on enrolment caps for 2025, now known as national planning level. The government chose to release indicative caps the day after the second public hearing for the ESOS bill was held in Sydney on August 26.

The PIE News understands that public higher education providers have since been offered individual meetings with representatives from the Department of Education to discuss the methodology behind the individual caps, sent privately to public providers following the announcement.

Stakeholders have described the methodology as “complex” and “complicated”.

Speaking to The PIE, Neil Fitzroy, managing director for Australasia at Oxford International Education Group, noted the timeline in reviewing the ESOS legislation has been “unconventional”.

“Given the opposition has indicated broad support for the enrolment caps, it is considered likely that the bill ‘has the numbers’ in Senate,” said Fitzroy.

Although the announcement of the indicative caps was supposed to be a commitment by education minister Jason Clare to universities who were seeking clarity, Fitzroy questioned whether the approach could now be “backfiring”.

“Given the growing furore in sector, it was a risk to do so before Senate approval. It now appears an even greater gamble to do so whilst the Senate Committee review was still underway,” said Fitzroy.

“With only a small number of parliamentary sitting days left this year, the combination of Senate committee, Senate review, assent and then implementation – when mapped against recruitment cycles of students intending to join in early 2025 – is looking increasingly challenging,” he said.

My overarching concern here is that this constantly confused and chaotic messaging out of Australia all risks our hard fought position as a welcoming place for international students

Neil Fitzroy, OIEG

“The political reality could well determine it all does pass – but likely with disputed data, confused implementation and at what cost to our reputation?” posed Fitzroy.

“My overarching concern here is that this constantly confused and chaotic messaging out of Australia all risks our hard fought position as a welcoming place for international students.”