Now lawSchools & Uni Introduced in the House of Representatives, 26 Nov 2025

University commission now takes over standards and deals

This law does the paperwork for the new Australian Tertiary Education Commission. It moves jobs from older bodies to the commission. It lets the commission share student data with the Education Department. It keeps current university deals running.

Official name: Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2025

Who it affects

• Universities: Their current deals with the government move to the commission. They need a deal in place to keep getting money.
• All universities and colleges: The commission will now write and check the minimum rules they must meet.
• Students: Personal details held under the uni funding law can be shared with the commission's leaders for their work.
• The Higher Education Standards Panel: This expert group wrote the rules for unis. It is shut down, and its job moves to the commission.

Universities needed a system steward

In 2024 a big review of universities was done. It was called the Australian Universities Accord. It said the system needed a steward. A steward is a body that looks after the whole system and guides it over time.

The government answered with two bills. The main bill set up the Australian Tertiary Education Commission. Tertiary education means study after school, such as uni. The commission is led by three people. It signs deals with each university.

This is the second bill. It changes other laws so they fit with the new one. It also handles the move from the old setup to the new one.

It changes two laws. One is the Higher Education Support Act. That is the main law for uni funding and student loans. The other law set up the national uni watchdog. The watchdog signs up universities and colleges and checks on them.

University deals move over

Before this law, public universities and some others had to sign a deal with the Education Minister. It was called a mission based compact. It sets out a university's purpose and goals.

Under the new system these deals are made with the commission. This law takes the old rule out of the Higher Education Support Act. The new rule says a deal must be in place under the new law. It can be an agreed deal or a backup deal.

The commission sets a backup deal if a university has no agreed deal. That can happen if talks fail. It can also happen if the commission pauses a deal.

A university must have one of these in place for each year it gets money under the funding law.

Sharing data and powers

The Higher Education Support Act has strict rules on personal details, such as student records. This law adds the commission's three leaders to the list of officials who can use and share those details for their work.

The government says this lets the Education Department and the commission share the data they need.

This law also lets the Education Minister hand some powers under the funding law to one of the commission's leaders. That could include choices on money, rule-following or running things. The government says the commission needs this to do its job.

Standards for universities and colleges

Every university and college must meet a set of minimum national rules to run. These cover things like how good the teaching is and how courses are run.

Until now, the Higher Education Standards Panel wrote those rules and advised the minister. This law shuts down the panel. Its job goes to the commission.

The minister cannot make or change a rule unless the commission has written it. The commission must advise the minister and the uni watchdog on the rules. It can do this when asked or on its own.

Before it advises the minister, the commission must ask for views. It must ask the watchdog, state and territory ministers, and people who speak for universities and students. It must look at the rules again at least once every 5 years. It must give the watchdog 30 days notice first.

Say students complain that online courses are poor at many places. The commission could look into it and suggest a new rule. The minister would then decide whether to make it.

Keeping things running

Any deal already in place under the old rules keeps going as if made under the new law. It lasts until its end date, unless the commission pauses it.

The new data-sharing rules apply to anything shared from the start date. This holds even if the data was collected earlier.

The minister can write extra rules to fix problems that come up during the change. These rules cannot create crimes or set taxes. They cannot give powers to arrest or search. They cannot change the words of either law.

Start date

The Minister for Education, Jason Clare, brought the bill into the House of Representatives, the lower house of Parliament, on 26 November 2025. He brought in the main bill at the same time. The House passed it on 10 February 2026.

The Senate, the upper house, passed it on 30 March 2026. The Governor-General, who stands in for the King, signed it into law on 1 April 2026. It became Act No. 26 of 2026.

It starts at the same time as the main law. That is the 28th day after it was signed.

How they voted

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

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

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