No teeth – but plenty of tension

Unlike the Senate inquiry into the youth allowance, the Greens-sponsored Senate inquiry into international education won’t play any specific legislative role. But it will still have plenty of scope to embarrass, according to a Melbourne-based international education expert. “This is a Pandora’s box. This could go anywhere,” said Professor Paul Rodan, director of the International Education Research Centre at CQUniversity’s Melbourne campus. The inquiry into youth allowance is just one of the legislative mechanisms the Greens and other senators are pursuing to wind back some of the income support changes announced in the May federal budget. It’s a relatively quick inquiry, due for completion by 30 August – just a couple of weeks into the spring parliamentary sittings, and well in time to influence any subsequent votes on budget Bills. And notwithstanding the outcomes of this inquiry, Greens education spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has already indicated that her party will try to amend the budget legislation, with a view to deferring the changes to youth allowance eligibility arrangements by a year. But the inquiry into international education isn’t related to any specific Bill making its way through the parliamentary chambers. And even if it was, the inquiry isn’t due to report until 16 November – just 10 days out from the last sitting day of the year, when some senators may be more interested in international summer holiday destinations than the plight of international students. All this limits the potential impact of the committee conducting the international education inquiry, Rodan told Campus Review. “Anything they come up with is only a series of findings and recommendations. The government has no obligation whatsoever to follow any of it up. And if it’s resource-intensive, you could imagine they’d have every incentive not to.” Nevertheless, Rodan said he was surprised that the Greens had managed to establish the inquiry. “The government mightn’t want this, and the opposition mightn’t want it either. Things may come out that happened on both their watches. “It’s like what Sir Humphrey Appleby said – you never set up inquiries where you don’t know the outcome. It’s so open, and there are people out in the industry with views. It’s going to be very interesting.” There’s not much detail yet on how the inquiry will operate, Rodan said. “I don’t know what approach they’re going to take. If they call for submissions, every university and a lot of other providers and professional bodies will clearly put one in. But whether they’re going to subpoena witnesses; whether they’re going to follow up submissions with interviews – they haven’t clarified how they’re going to proceed.” Federal-state demarcations may also hamper the inquiry, Rodan added. “If you look at the terms of reference, several of those dot points are state responsibilities. Canberra doesn’t control the police, it doesn’t control local accommodation. Social inclusion; getting students involved in extra curricular activity – these are hardly things the Commonwealth can fix at the stroke of a pen. “But what it does control, and where there’s potential for some interesting outcomes, is visa requirements. That’s a very hot issue.”