Now lawSchools & Uni Introduced in the House of Representatives, 09 Oct 2025

International colleges now face tougher rules

This law tightens the rules for colleges that teach students from overseas. It also covers unis that teach in other countries. It lifts the limit on paid medicine places for First Nations students, meaning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, and fixes child care payment mistakes going back to 2018.

Official name: Education Legislation Amendment (Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025

Who it affects

• International students: Their colleges and the agents who sign them up face tighter checks.
• Private colleges that teach overseas students: They face stricter entry rules and can lose their approval if they sit idle. Some of their courses could be shut down.
• Universities teaching overseas: They need the uni watchdog's approval to teach Australian degrees in other countries. They must report each year.
• First Nations students who want to study medicine: Every student who meets the entry bar can get a government-paid place.
• Families on the Child Care Subsidy, the government help with child care fees: Some were paid slightly wrong since 2018. Those paid too much keep it. Those paid too little can ask to be paid back.
• Child care providers: Many can be made to hand over cost and money details for a government study on prices.

Agents exploiting overseas students

Teaching students from overseas is a huge industry in Australia. Reviews have found some colleges and agents take advantage of students. Some also misuse the visa system.

One government review, called the Nixon Review, looked at misuse of the visa system. It called for rules on agents.

In 2024 the government brought in a bill to tighten the rules. It had limits on how many overseas students could sign up. That bill died when Parliament ended before it passed.

This law brings back most of that bill, without the limits on student numbers. It also adds new rules for unis, First Nations medical students and child care.

The Minister for Education, Jason Clare, brought it in. It has 2 parts. Part 1 has 10 sections on education. Part 2 has 4 sections on child care payments.

Education agents and commissions

Education agents help overseas students pick a course and apply. In 2023, 86.5% of overseas students said they used one. No law in Australia directly controls agents.

The law says who counts as an agent by what they do. That includes signing up or advising overseas students.

It also says what counts as a commission. That is any money or perk a college gives an agent.

The minister said this lets the government ban one kind of payment. That is a payment for moving a student already in Australia from one college to another. The ban would sit in a separate rule book for colleges.

The agencies that approve colleges must now check who owns or controls whom. A college and an agent might share owners. That counts when they decide if the college is fit to run.

Colleges must report any new links of this kind.

The Department of Education can demand details of commissions paid. Not handing them over is a crime.

The department can also tell colleges how many student moves an agent was part of. It can say what commissions were paid.

Pausing new colleges and courses

The minister can now pause applications from new colleges that want to teach overseas students. The same goes for colleges that want to add courses. A pause can last up to 12 months.

The agencies that approve colleges can be told they do not have to deal with applications. Or they can be told they must not.

The minister must talk to those agencies first. But if the minister does not, the pause still stands.

Parliament cannot vote to cancel these pauses. A group of senators who looked at the bill said this should only happen in rare cases.

Stricter registration rules

A new college must first teach Australian students for at least 2 years. Only then can it sign up to teach overseas students.

The government says this closes a gap. Some colleges only aim at overseas students, often from one country.

English language colleges and programs that prepare students for uni do not have to follow this rule. Nor do the big public unis or colleges already approved.

Say a new business college opens and wants to sign up only students from overseas. It would have to run its courses for local students for 2 years first.

A college that teaches no overseas students for 12 months in a row now loses its approval straight away. Schools do not count. A college can ask for up to 12 more months.

The agencies must now ask whether a college is being looked into for some crimes. These include slavery, people trafficking and breaking the overseas student law.

Shutting whole groups of courses

The minister can name a group of courses to be shut down. There are three reasons this can happen. The courses may have poor quality across the board. They may add little to the skills Australia needs. Or it may be for the good of the public.

Once a group is named, no new applications for those courses count.

If students are still signed up 30 days later, the course is put on hold. The college cannot sign up new students. Once no students are left, the course is cancelled.

The main public unis do not have to follow these rules.

A shutdown might unfairly take away a college's property. If so, the federal government may have to pay it back.

The agencies can now also pause their own decision while they check it again.

Australian degrees taught overseas

The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency is the national watchdog for unis and colleges. This article calls it the uni watchdog.

From 1 July 2026, colleges and unis need its approval to teach Australian degrees in other countries. They must tell it about big changes. They must report on teaching overseas by 31 October each year.

The watchdog can set conditions on that approval or cancel it. The government says this keeps degrees taught overseas as good as those taught here.

First Nations medicine places

Some uni places are paid for in part by the government. Since 2024, there has been no limit on these places for First Nations students in most courses. But medicine was left out.

This law ends that gap. From 2026, every First Nations student who meets the entry bar for medicine can get a paid place.

This follows advice from the Australian Universities Accord. That was a big review of unis.

The government thinks it will cost $3.22 million over four years.

The minister can leave out some courses if a paid place would leave students worse off.

Child care costs and data

The government is running a study on what child care really costs. It looks at costs like wages, rent and power. Its name is the Early Education Service Delivery Prices Project.

The Parliamentary Library helps all MPs and takes no side. It says the business advice firm Deloitte has a contract worth almost $7.5 million for the study.

The department will first ask child care providers to take part by choice. If they refuse, it can now order most providers to hand over cost and money details. If they still do not, a court can fine them.

The law also lets the government use and share private details about child care providers more widely. That includes for research and planning.

Child care errors since 2018

Families who get help with child care costs must confirm their real income each year. They usually do this by lodging a tax return. If they miss the deadlines, they can lose the payment.

Since July 2018, the department's computer system has sometimes used the wrong start dates for these decisions. The dates were off by up to 2 weeks. So some families were paid too much and some too little.

This law changes the rules to match what the system did. It goes all the way back to 2 July 2018. That makes past decisions legal.

Anyone paid too much because of the mistake does not have to pay it back.

Anyone paid too little can ask for a fair amount to make up for it. They can go to court if they do not agree on the amount.

The government says checking each case would cost too much for small sums.

The Parliamentary Library says a 2-week loss could mean hundreds of dollars. It could be more for families with several kids. It says nobody knows how many people were hit or how they will find out.

The system can now also stop a family's payments on its own if they miss the second income deadline.

Start date

The bill was put to the House of Representatives, the larger house of Parliament, on 9 October 2025. The House passed it on 30 October 2025.

The Senate is the second house of Parliament. It passed the bill on 27 November 2025 with 12 changes. Those came from the Liberal and National parties, the main group not in government. The House agreed to the changes on 28 November 2025.

The Governor-General is the King's stand-in in Australia. He or she signed it into law on 4 December 2025. It became Act No. 74 of 2025.

Most of it started the day after that. The rule on approval to teach overseas starts on 1 July 2026.

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum
• Bills Digest

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