Education Legislation Amendment (Startup Year and Other Measures) Bill 2023

The majority voted against amendment (1) on sheet 1965 revised, which was introduced by Victorian Senator Sarah Henderson (Liberal), meaning it was not successful.

What do the amendments do?

Senator Henderson explained that:

This is a very important proposal to provide that, before the Startup Year program is rolled out in full, the universities or the government require the universities to conduct a pilot.

Amendment text

(1) Schedule 1, item 25, page 9 (after line 17), after Division 128A, insert:

Division 128AA — Accelerator program course pilot

128AA-1 Accelerator program course pilot

(1) The Minister must cause an accelerator program course pilot to be conducted.

(2) Without limiting the matters that may be included in the STARTUP-HELP Guidelines, those guidelines must:

(a) nominate at least one, but no more than 2, higher education providers to conduct the pilot (the nominated higher education providers); and

(b) prescribe requirements in relation to the conduct of the pilot; and

(c) provide for an independent review of the pilot; and

(d) prescribe requirements in relation to the conduct of the independent review; and

(e) provide that a report of the independent review be tabled in each House of the Parliament.

(3) A higher education provider (other than the nominated higher education providers) must not enrol a person in an accelerator program course until the pilot is completed.

(4) The pilot must be completed no later than 2 years after the commencement of this section.

(5) For the purposes of subsections (3) and (4), the pilot is completed when the report of the independent review of the pilot is tabled in each House of the Parliament.

(6) For the purposes of entitlement to STARTUP-HELP assistance under subsection 128B-1(1), the pilot is an accelerator program course.