Inquiry looks at how to better regulate 'dodgy' agents, inquiry told

Education agents connect international students with Australian institutions, but some take advantage of students. One profitable scheme involves moving students from costlier, leading institutions to cheaper private providers, experts told the inquiry.

Currently, education providers are responsible for the agents they engage.

Education department's international quality branch assistant secretary Alison Cleary said the department was looking at options to help improve the accountability of education providers.

She added the department was aware of the "use of concurrent study to facilitate some inappropriate movements in the sector" and was looking at options to curb that.

"We would regard the number of transfers that are associated with concurrent study is more than we would like, more than we are expecting," she said.

Ms Cleary said the government had also acknowledged there had been calls for it "to take a more active role in regulating agents".

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But she noted there were difficulties in regulating agents operating outside of Australia.

IDP Education Area Director Australasia Jane Li said agent regulation was a good concept in general but warned against over-regulation.

"Thought needs to be given as to where to draw the line if we do put agent regulation in ... whether over-regulating could damage business and punish potential ethical agents as well," she said.

According to an education department-funded QILT survey program, 87 percent of international students used an agent in 2021 and 93 percent of international students rated their agent positively.

International Student Education Agents Association executive officer Robert Parsonson said oversight and accountability of agents was "severely lacking at the moment".

"It's very difficult to get rid of an agent out of the system," he said.

"As it currently stands, there is no cross talk between providers ... and certainly not to the department in there as well."

He said the association has been advocating for a registered education agent system.

Mr Hill, who is a member of the committee running the inquiry, said it appeared anyone could be an agent.

"To my observation ... the current approach ... of letting providers oversee agents comprehensively failed," he said.

"My observations would be anyone can be an agent. I can be an agent, you can be an agent."

The Migration Agents Registration Authority office, which comes under the Department of Home Affairs, has some power in cases where a migration agent is also an education agent.

But the department's immigration policy and planning branch assistant secretary Charlie Shandil said the office doesn't have "jurisdiction" to investigate education advice.

He said that means "we can only solely focus on the immigration advice that's been given".

Mr Shandil said the office had 19 staff, with an investigations team of 13, regulating nearly 5000 registered migration agents.

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