ESOS reform discussion guide
The Department of Education’s ESOS reform discussion guide: online study and younger overseas students is the most critical item on the advocacy agenda at present. I raised the items listed in the paper at the recent English Australia branch meetings based on our ongoing discussions with DoE related to the ESOS review and return to compliance. Hopefully, you were able to join one of DoE’s webinars this week but if not, the sessions are being recorded. We will also set up additional member-specific forums as this process continues.
It's fair to say that the area of most contention is where “the department seeks views on a proposal to modify the ELICOS Standards 2018 to clarify that up to 50 per cent of scheduled course contact may be delivered online while retaining the minimum of 20 hours scheduled course contact per week.”
English Australia attended the Department of Education’s International Education Stakeholder Forum on Monday 27 March. We raised initial concerns related to the lack of clarity around regulatory controls, the need for greater specifications around the definition of ‘online’, and the timeline of the potential reforms. DoE reflected on the points raised in our formal and informal feedback in their webinar held this week.
English Australia will be seeking input from our members through a short member-only survey. I also welcome any specific comments, please email me directly (brettblacker@englishaustralia.com.au).
Return to compliance - 1 July 2023
I have been meeting regularly with the Department of Education, ASQA, and TEQSA on the return to compliance process. All ELICOS providers should be preparing to return to full compliance with all aspects of ESOS, the National Code, and the ELICOS standards by 30 June 2023. Colleges are encouraged to contact their regulatory body if there are any circumstances that may preclude them from meeting the requirements, and a request for a material change process will need to be followed. If any member college has questions related to the requirements, please contact me to discuss this matter.
The Chair of the Board, Kerry Sutcliffe and I are meeting with the senior executive team of TEQSA next Thursday 5 April 2023 as part of our annual strategic dialogue. Please let me know if you have any matters that you would like to be raised with TEQSA.
Visa update
I attended the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) EVCC committee meeting on 23 March 2023 and took the opportunity to voice members’ concerns related to the use of the COVID-19 Pandemic Event (subclass 408) visa. DHA noted that the visa continues to remain as a temporary measure, however, they would not confirm a specific end date. I’m continuing to lobby the Department to cease access for student visa holders and have commenced working with some media outlets to raise issues with this visa via public forums.
DHA has dedicated significant resources to reduce the backlog in visa lodgements, and overall, we have seen visa processing times improve significantly. However, I raised issues related to inconsistencies in visa processing. I had been working with Department to understand the impact of the inconsistencies in visa processing over the past 12 months on provider EL updates (March 2023). DHA noted that they had investigated the matter, with the data showing 69 providers’ EL ratings had improved, 81 providers’ EL ratings had declined, and 1086 providers remained the same. DHA believe that due to the low volume of variations, the SSVF Provider EL rating framework will operate under normal processes. The March 2023 Provider updates have not yet occurred.
Please find a link to the DHA Provider update - January and February 2023.
Inquiry into Australia’s tourism and international education sectors
As noted in previous updates, English Australia, with the support of our members, has been responding to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade – Trade Subcommittee’s Inquiry into Australia’s tourism and international education sectors. English Australia and NEAS were invited to participate in the Public Hearing on Thursday, 2 March 2023. The public hearing provided the opportunity to highlight a number of points that we put forward in our submission and to promote the value and quality of Australia’s ELICOS sector.
Addressing the teacher shortage
English Australia continues to work on initiatives that are addressing the teacher shortage being experienced in our sector. We’ve had a large number of roles added to our website's Job Centre, so thank you to all members who have been utilising this service. Please be reminded that English Australia members are able to post job vacancies free of charge on our Job Centre, and please contact the Secretariat if you have any current roles that you would like to have promoted.
We recently sent out a Job alert email to our database of teachers and college managers highlighting the positions available. Given that there are a record number of roles on our site, we have also put an 'English teachers wanted' job ad on Seek, which links to the Job Centre, to attract a wider audience of potential candidates. I’m pleased to note that the ad has already gained significant traction with inquiries generated via our site. There are also some more senior roles on the site, but the majority are teacher positions.
English Australia also produced a video featuring a number of ELICOS teachers talking about what they love about the profession and encouraging new teachers to join. Please feel free to share this as widely as possible.
March Branch meetings
It was great to catch up with many of you in person at the English Australia State/Territory Branch meetings this month. The hot topics for discussion were the potential ESOS reforms with in-depth discussions on the opportunities and risks of amendments to the ELICOS Standards related to online teaching. Teacher recruitment was also a focus along with the need for professional development support for new teachers. Other topics covered were accommodation shortages and state/territory-specific professional development activities. Thanks to everyone that joined the meetings, and the sharing of intel across the member community at these meetings is a major benefit for you to utilise. I look forward to seeing you all at the June member forum, and annual national survey presentations.
Call for papers and nominations now open
English Australia will celebrate our 40th Anniversary at our annual conference this year in Sydney, and preparations for the event are well underway. We are now seeking abstract submissions from members of the ELICOS community who wish to present at this highly anticipated face-to-face event. We have also just opened our 2023 English Australia Award nominations. Please consider nominating your colleagues, as these prestigious awards recognise individuals and organisations who make outstanding contributions to raising the professionalism of the English language sector of international education in Australia and celebrate their achievements.
State PD Fests
March saw our state PD Fests continue with QLD PD Fest being held at UQ College on 18 March and VIC PD Fest being held at VU English on 25 March. We are extremely proud of our state branches for bringing our ELICOS communities together for these incredible days of professional learning and community building and we look forward to SA and WA PD Fests in May.
Action Research Workshop
The first workshop for the 2023 Action Research in ELICOS Program was held on 9-10 March with ELICOS teachers from around Australia coming together at Navitas English Sydney for two days of learning and collaboration with English Australia and Professor Anne Burns. We look forward to watching these teachers’ action research projects on the theme of ‘Feedback for ongoing learning’ evolve over the next six months. We extend our special thanks to Cambridge, our long-term partner for the Action Research Program.
If there are any matters that you wish to discuss further, please feel free to reach out to me.