Amendments to Education Services for Overseas Students Act

Amendments to the Education Services for Overseas Students Act (ESOS Act) take effect from today, 1 July 2016. These amendments designate the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) as the ESOS agency for some providers.

The changes will simplify and streamline registration processes for training providers delivering courses to overseas students (CRICOS providers).

The key changes include:

• ASQA can now directly register providers on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS).
• ASQA will directly monitor provider compliance with the ESOS legislative framework.
• The maximum registration period for a CRICOS provider has been extended from five years to seven years­—aligning with the maximum period of registration for registered training organisations (RTOs).
• Where appropriate, ASQA can now align RTO and CRICOS registration end dates, allowing providers to apply to renew both registrations at the same time.
• Providers may in some circumstances now apply for internal review of decisions made by ASQA under the ESOS Act.

For more information, please refer to the Department of Education and Training’s fact sheet about registration under the ESOS Act for VET courses and ELICOS courses.