The Australian Greens have moved to lock in protection for all students with legislation to provide a new national authority to handle education complaints, according to Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young.

Senator Hanson-Young, Greens spokesperson on Education, has today introduced the Ombudsman Amendment (Education Ombudsman) Bill 2010 into Parliament, which would establish a new office of the Education Ombudsman under the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

"We need a one-stop national authority that can resolve student complaints, whether it's in domestic education or the international education sector, '' Senator Hanson-Young said.

"A new office of the Ombudsman is the best way to achieve this.''

The final report of the Baird Review into International Education this week called for an expansion of the role of the Ombudsman to deal with students' problem cases.

"I welcome the fact that such a comprehensive review acknowledged the importance of having an effective outlet for international students' complaints,‘' Senator Hanson-Young said.

"The Greens believe this bill provides an effective solution to the report's recommendation. We call on the Government to support the legislation as a signal of its commitment to dealing quickly with the clearly identified shortcomings of the international education sector.''