February Board Meeting
It was great to hold our English Australia Board meeting in person this month for the first time in several years. In addition to the governance items on the agenda, the Board undertook a strategic planning workshop as the foundation for our next strategic plan 2024-2027. The meetings were productive in considering the challenges facing the sector now and in the future.
40th Anniversary: Celebrating the past, present and future
English Australia’s 40th Anniversary provides us with the opportunity to reflect not only on our past, but also on our present, and what it means for our future. We were fortunate to be able to record the reflection of our Board under these themes at the recent Board meeting. We will be releasing a series of these short videos throughout the year. Members can view the clip in our newsletter where English Australia Chair, Kerry Sutcliffe, Director of Griffith English Language Institute speaks of the past four decades of the ELICOS sector and English Australia and what the highlights have been during her time in the industry.
Return to Compliance
The Return to Compliance position is at the forefront of my discussions with the Department of Education (DoE), TEQSA, and ASQA. English Australia took the lead in facilitating the regulator webinar on this topic on 1 December 2022, and I’ve continued to liaise with DoE and the regulators. The Department is still considering options for policy updates aligned with the Minister’sposition on the expansion of online delivery. However, I’m not confident that there will be ample time for industry consultation and policy amendment before 30 June 2023.
I was invited to join the ASQA Return to Compliance Working Group with the first meeting held on 24 February 2023. The meeting provided the opportunity to discuss potential issues and risks as providers are required to align operations back with all the requirements of the ESOS Act, National Code, and ELICOS Standards by 30 June 2023.
I will be reaching out to members in the coming month to seek your input on the opportunities and risks presented by the Return to Compliance position, and potential regulatory amendments.
Regulator Liaison
I am attending the first ASQA Provider Roundtable meeting today (28 February 2023). The agenda will focus on the RTO Standards implementation - to understand member feedback on issues of provider responsibility and self-assurance as they relate to the RTO standards pilot – noting the implementation of the new standards has now been confirmed at 1 Jan 2025, which is a 6-month extension. Information Transparency is on the agenda to understand member feedback on discussion questions previously distributed so that an approach can be agreed upon. Lastly, ASQA’s Strategic Review of Online Learning will be discussed to understand member feedback on updates of compliance.
English Australia will shortly be meeting with TEQSA as part of our annual dialogue. I welcome any feedback from our members on items to raise with TEQSA.
English Australia input into national inquiries
Thank you to all the English Australia members that provided input into our responses to the two Federal government inquiries in December 2022.
1) Inquiry into Migration System for Australia’s Future (Submission)
I met with the reviewers for the Inquiry into Australia’s tourism and international education sectors on 10 February 2023. I was pleased to note that the key themes the reviewers referenced from the inquiry and consultation aligned with the areas that we raised in our submission. Specifically, issues related to the application of SSVF and GTE, and the lack of clear pathways to migration. One area that the reviewers raised outside of the items in our submission related to concerns voiced by employers around English language proficiency. I noted that this concern was more an issue of community perception vs academic performance.
2) Inquiry into Australia’s tourism and international education sectors (Submission)
I am attending a public hearing with the subcommittee coordinating this inquiry on Thursday 2 March 2023. English Australia and NEAS will jointly attend the meeting, and I will be reinforcing the recommendations highlighted in our submission.
Annual ELICOS Survey
Please ensure that you take the time to complete the 2023 Annual ELICOS Market Survey before COB Friday, 3 March. The findings will be instrumental in guiding the strategic direction for your institutions, as well as our advocacy efforts, which will focus on the support that you each require. Please contact elicos@bonard.com if you require additional information or time to complete the survey.
PD Fests
We are excited to be able to bring back our state-based PD Fests in 2023 across all state branches and with the theme of ‘Celebrating community.’ These mini conferences offer a great way for teachers to gain access to fresh content and connect with other members of the ELICOS sector. It was great to have the NSW PD Fest kick off in style last weekend and special thanks to the team from UNSW Global for hosting the event.
The Bright Ideas competition is run in partnership with English Australia and Pearson and is a thought leadership initiative to increase opportunities for teachers and cultivate new ideas in English language teaching. Presenters at English Australia state PD Fests around the country will be eligible to enter into a competition to win a funded trip to present at the English Australia Conference in Sydney on 30 August – 1 September.
The winner of Bright Ideas from the NSW PD Fest was Filip Bigos, ILSC Sydney, for his session entitled: ‘No frills teaching: A materials-light approach in GE and EAP’.
Please reach out to me if you have any questions or any issues that your college is facing that have not been addressed. I am always happy to speak with our members.