The bill to set up the new student entrepreneur Start Up Year via HELP is off to the Senate’s Education and Employment Legislation Committee for review

The Opposition was supportive of the bill’s intent but raised a bunch of operational issues in the House last week which Education Minister Jason Clare did not agree with. But he did accept shadow minister Sarah Henderson’s suggestion for a Senate inquiry. “I think that that would be a wise and prudent thing for us to do. It will give a further opportunity for us to pressure test this bill and see what further amendments might be recommended or suggested to the parliament that could improve this bill,” he said.

Which will now happen. Mr Clare hopes the committee can consider and report in time for the bill to return to the parliament in the budget session and be passed, for a July start.

The committee says submissions are due on April 14, which is not as tight as it looks. People with an established view can adapt and amend what they stated in responses to a Department of Education consultation paper on the bill last year, there were 38 submissions, mainly from HE organisations, plus a student/grad survey.