A s 20 notice under the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (Cth) that requires a student to report to a 'compliance officer' rather than an 'officer', or to a particular DIMIA office rather than any office in Australia, does not comply with the statutory requirements and is invalid. The standard form of s 20 notices is misleading in suggesting that compliance with the notice may avoid cancellation, when in fact compliance and admission of breach will lead to mandatory cancellation under s 116, whereas non-compliance followed by application for revocation on exceptional circumstances grounds under s 137K may result in the breach being immunised from use under s 116 by virtue of s 137P(2).
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