{"id":"F2005L02247","name":"Higher Education Provider Approval (No. 7 of 2005)","slug":"higher-education-provider-approval-no-7-of-2005","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":36600,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2005L02247-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-01","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Higher Education Provider Approval (No. 7 of 2005)","content":"INSTRUMENT OF APPROVAL\n\nCOMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA\n\nHigher Education Support Act 2003\n\nHigher Education Provider Approval (No. 7 of 2005)\n\nApproval and notice of approval pursuant to subsection 16-50 (1) of the Higher Education Support Act 2003.\n\nI, COLIN WALTERS, of the Department of Education, Science and Training, acting as a delegate pursuant to subsection 16-50 (1) of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (‘the HESA’) hereby approve and give notice of approval of the following body corporate as a Higher Education Provider:\n\nPerth Bible College\n\nIn accordance with section 16-55 of the HESA and subsection 12(3), paragraph 42(1)(b) and section 57(2) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003, this approval takes effect on the day after the last day on which a House of Parliament could have passed a resolution disallowing the notice.\n\nInformation as is specified in the Higher Education Provider Guidelines as information that must be provided to an applicant upon approval as a higher education provider is set out in Attachment 1 to this notice. Attachment 1 forms part of the contents of this notice.\n\nDated this …………………14………day of ……………July……………………2005.\n\nCOLIN WALTERS\n\nGroup Manager, Higher Education Group\n\nDepartment of Education, Science and Training\n\nAttachment 1\n\nINFORMATION REGARDING HIGHER EDUCATION PROVIDERS’ OBLIGATIONS IN RELATION TO THE QUALITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY REQUIREMENTS UNDER THE HIGHER EDUCATION SUPPORT ACT 2003 (‘the HESA’)\n\nIn accordance with subsection 16-50(4) of the HESA and Chapter 5 of the Higher Education Provider (HEP) Guidelines, the following information is provided to an approved Higher Education Provider (HEP) regarding its obligations under the quality and accountability requirements:\n\nFinancial Viability Requirements (Subdivision 19-B of the Act)\n\n-   A HEP must meet the financial viability requirements set out in Subdivision 19-B of the HESA\\*.\n\nQuality Requirements(Subdivision 19-C of the Act)\n\n-   A HEP must meet the quality requirements set out in Subdivision 19-C of the HESA\\* and must comply with the requirements of the Higher Education Provider Guidelines\\*\\*.\n\nFairness Requirements (Subdivision 19-D of the Act)\n\n-   A HEP must meet the fairness requirements set out in Subdivision 19-D of the HESA\\* and must comply with the requirements of the Higher Education Provider Guidelines\\*\\*.\n\nCompliance Requirements (Subdivision 19-E of the Act)\n\n-   A HEP must meet the compliance requirements set out in Subdivision 19-E of the HESA\\* and must comply with the requirements of the HESA, the regulations and relevant guidelines.\n\nContribution and fee requirements – subdivision 19F of the HESA\n\n-   A HEP must meet the contribution and fee requirements set out in Subdivision 19-F of the HESA\\* and must comply with the requirements of the Higher Education Provider Guidelines\\*\\* and the Commonwealth Grant Scheme Guidelines\\*\\*.\n\nNOTE: Subject to the passage of legislation, the criteria that are currently set out in the Commonwealth Grant Scheme Guidelines\\*\\* for determining incidental fees will be moved to the Higher Education Provider Guidelines\\*\\*.\n\n\\* The HESA is available at: http://[www.comlaw.gov.au](http://www.comlaw.gov.au)\n\n\\*\\* The Higher Education Provider Guidelines and the Commonwealth Grant Scheme Guidelines are available at: [http://www.backingaustraliasfuture.gov.au/guidelines/hep\\_guide.htm](http://www.backingaustraliasfuture.gov.au/guidelines/hep_guide.htm)","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This instrument is a routine approval notice that records and gives effect to the approval of a single body (Perth Bible College) as an approved higher education provider under the HESA. It does not expand or alter the statutory scope of the HESA itself; instead it applies the existing legislative framework to one provider and points to existing subdivisions and guidelines that set ongoing obligations. The attachment’s references to guidelines and the note about relocating incidental‑fee criteria show administrative (guideline‑level) flexibility but do not change the Act’s substantive scope."},"complexity_factors":["Very short instrument (one-page approval plus single-page attachment).","Cross-references to multiple HESA subdivisions (19-B to 19-F) rather than reproducing text, requiring readers to consult the primary Act for detail.","Reliance on external non-legislative instruments: Higher Education Provider Guidelines and Commonwealth Grant Scheme Guidelines (administrative rulemaking creates conditional complexity).","Use of disallowance-period timing (Legislative Instruments Act cross-reference) to determine commencement date.","Conditional note about future legislative change relocates criteria for incidental fees from CGS Guidelines to HEP Guidelines — introduces prospective uncertainty."],"plain_english_summary":"**What this instrument does (mechanically)**\n\n- This is a formal approval under the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA) naming **Perth Bible College** as a “Higher Education Provider”. The delegate (an officer of the Department of Education, Science and Training) gives that approval under subsection 16-50(1) of the HESA.\n- The approval takes legal effect the day after the parliamentary disallowance period for the notice expires (that is, after a House of Parliament can no longer disallow it under the Legislative Instruments Act 2003).\n- Attachment 1 is part of the notice and tells the approved provider what statutory obligations it must meet. Those obligations are not restated in full here; instead the attachment refers to specific subdivisions of the HESA and to Departmental guidelines and Commonwealth Grant Scheme (CGS) guidelines.\n\n**Who is affected**\n\n- Perth Bible College is the direct and immediate beneficiary: it is formally recorded as an approved Higher Education Provider under the HESA.\n- The Department of Education (through its delegate) is the decision-maker and enforcer of ongoing obligations.\n- Indirectly, students, taxpayers and other higher education providers may be affected depending on whether approval leads to the provider seeking or receiving Commonwealth funding or enrolling students; the instrument itself does not grant or quantify funding.\n\n**What obligations the approval imposes on the provider**\n\nAttachment 1 tells the approved provider it must comply with the following HESA subdivisions and relevant guidelines (the attachment cross-references rather than reproduces the rules):\n\n- Financial viability requirements (Subdivision 19-B).\n- Quality requirements (Subdivision 19-C) and the Higher Education Provider Guidelines.\n- Fairness requirements (Subdivision 19-D) and the Higher Education Provider Guidelines.\n- Compliance requirements (Subdivision 19-E) and the HESA, its regulations and relevant guidelines.\n- Contribution and fee requirements (Subdivision 19-F), the Higher Education Provider Guidelines and the Commonwealth Grant Scheme Guidelines.\n\nThe attachment also contains a note that, subject to future legislation, criteria for “incidental fees” currently in the CGS Guidelines may be moved into the Higher Education Provider Guidelines.\n\n**Why this matters (official purpose and practical mechanics)**\n\n- Officially, the instrument registers a body corporate as an approved higher education provider and informs that body of the quality, accountability and other statutory requirements that accompany approval (see subsection 16-50(4) and Chapter 5 of the HEP Guidelines as cited).\n\n- In practical terms, approval changes behaviour by placing statutory obligations on the provider and by enabling the provider to operate in the higher education sector under HESA’s regulatory framework. That status is the prerequisite for the provider to be considered under HESA’s rules for participation in Commonwealth-supported programs and related funding, subject to the Act’s eligibility and any other criteria in the regulations and guidelines.\n\n**Costs, incentives and trade-offs (mechanical effects and implementation risks)**\n\n- Who pays: the approved provider bears direct costs of compliance — for example, meeting financial viability tests, quality assurance processes, reporting and any fee/contribution rules referenced in the CGS and HEP Guidelines. If the provider participates in Commonwealth funding schemes, taxpayers bear funding costs under the HESA framework (but this instrument does not itself commit any funding).\n- Who decides and how flexible the rules are: the delegate makes the approval decision; many operational details are set in ministerial or departmental guidelines (HEP Guidelines, CGS Guidelines). That means the specifics of compliance and fee rules can be updated administratively without amending the primary statute, which increases administrative flexibility but also creates reliance on non‑legislative instruments.\n- Compliance burden and implementation risk: cross‑referencing the HESA and external guidelines concentrates the compliance burden on the provider to follow those documents and respond to any future guideline changes. Providers must maintain financial and quality systems sufficient to satisfy the referenced HESA subdivisions and the guidelines.\n- Effects on competition and private operation: approval gives the named body formal status to operate under the HESA regulatory framework and may enable it to compete for students and (subject to meeting further conditions) for Commonwealth support. Compliance costs and procedural requirements may affect smaller or specialised providers disproportionately, since they have to meet the same statutory subdivisions and guideline requirements.\n\n**Concentrated benefits and diffuse costs**\n\n- Concentrated benefit: Perth Bible College gains the legal status and the opportunity to participate in the regulated higher education market under HESA.\n- Diffuse costs: ongoing compliance obligations and any Commonwealth funding (if later provided) disperse costs across the public (taxpayers) under the HESA funding framework; compliance costs fall directly on the provider.\n\n**Key statutory references in the instrument**\n\n- Approval power: subsection 16-50(1) HESA (delegate approves provider).\n- Information requirement: subsection 16-50(4) HESA (what must be provided on approval).\n- Obligations cited: Subdivisions 19-B (financial viability), 19-C (quality), 19-D (fairness), 19-E (compliance), 19-F (contribution and fee requirements).\n- Effect date mechanism: Legislative Instruments Act 2003 (s12(3), s42(1)(b), s57(2)) as cited in the instrument.\n\n"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This is a standard administrative approval instrument issued under the Higher Education Support Act 2003. It performs exactly the function intended by the parent Act: approving specific bodies as Higher Education Providers. There is no scope creep or expansion beyond the original statutory purpose."},"complexity_factors":["Single-purpose administrative instrument (approval of one specific provider)","Minimal conditional logic (only standard legislative references to commencement timing)","No defined terms section (relies on definitions in parent Act)","Straightforward structure: approval notice + attachment listing statutory obligations","Cross-references only to major subdivisions of the parent Act, not granular provisions","No exceptions, exemptions, or nested conditions"],"plain_english_summary":"Perth Bible College has been officially approved as a Higher Education Provider under the Higher Education Support Act 2003, a decision signed by Colin Walters. This lets the college access Commonwealth funding (including HELP loans and Commonwealth‑supported places) but also requires it to meet government rules on financial viability, education quality, student fairness, legal compliance and fee settings. The approval effectively licenses the private religious college to operate at the recognised higher‑education level with public funding access."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/higher-education-provider-approval-no-7-of-2005","history":"/api/acts/higher-education-provider-approval-no-7-of-2005/history","analysis":"/api/acts/higher-education-provider-approval-no-7-of-2005/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/higher-education-provider-approval-no-7-of-2005/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/higher-education-provider-approval-no-7-of-2005/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/higher-education-provider-approval-no-7-of-2005/documents"}}