Now lawSchools & Uni Introduced in the House of Representatives, 10 Sep 2026

Unis now pay a yearly charge for student complaints

Taxpayers used to pay for the free complaints service for university students. A new law makes every uni and college pay a yearly charge to stay registered. That covers the roughly $11 million a year it costs.

Official name: Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Amendment (National Student Ombudsman Levy) Bill 2026

Who it affects

• Uni and college students: The free complaints service stays. Its money comes from their unis and colleges, not from general taxes. The government's notes do not say whether student fees may rise.
• About 170 unis and colleges: Each gets a yearly bill. It must pay on time or risk action against its registration.
• The Australian National University: It is the national uni in the capital city, set up by national law. It must pay too, even though it normally does not have to pay some taxes.
• People who pay tax: People who pay tax now fund the roughly $11 million a year the service costs. Unis and colleges now pay that back, so tax money no longer covers it.

Why it exists

This article is about the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Amendment (National Student Ombudsman Levy) Bill 2026. A bill is a draft of a new law. This one is now a law, Act No. 103 of 2026. A second bill, which creates the charge, became Act No. 102 of 2026 on the same day.

The National Student Ombudsman started on 1 February 2025. It is a free complaints service for uni and college students. It does not take sides.

It is part of the national complaints office. That office looks into complaints about government bodies.

Students can complain about things like how their uni dealt with violence based on gender, racism or unfair treatment on campus. The service can look into problems and help sort them out. It can also train unis and colleges on dealing with complaints.

It was set up after a big review of higher education, called the Australian Universities Accord. The review said students needed their own complaints body that answers to no uni.

The government spent $19.4 million over two years to start it. In March 2024 the Education Minister wrote to all unis and colleges. The minister said they would be expected to help pay its running costs.

The Budget is the national government's yearly plan for spending and raising money. In the 2026-27 Budget, the government decided unis and colleges would pay the full cost through a yearly charge.

Two bills that work together

The second bill is the National Student Ombudsman Levy Bill 2026. It creates the charge. It says every registered uni and college must pay it for each calendar year, which runs from 1 January to 31 December. The first charge is for 2027.

The amount, or the way it is worked out, will be set later. It will go in detailed rules that the government writes without a new vote in Parliament. The total raised from all unis and colleges together cannot be more than what the service costs to run.

The government has said it plans to split the cost by student numbers. Neither bill says how the cost will be split.

The bill in this article is the collection part. It sets out how the money is collected and what happens if a uni or college does not pay.

Paying becomes a condition of registration

Every uni and college must be registered with the national uni watchdog to give out degrees. Its full name is the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency. It checks that unis and colleges meet the rules.

This law adds a new rule for staying registered. A uni or college must pay the charge, and any late fee, when it is due. The rule covers every registered uni and college, including those registered before the law started.

If a uni or college does not pay, it breaks the rules of its registration. The watchdog can then use the powers it already has. It can ask a court to order a fine. In serious cases it can cancel the registration.

Say a small private college in Brisbane gets its bill and ignores it. The watchdog could ask a court for a fine or cancel the registration, just as it would for other broken rules.

The government's notes do not say what happens to students if a college loses its registration.

How the bill is sent and paid

The head of the Department of Education must send a written notice to each uni and college. It must say which year the charge is for, how much is owed and when it is due. The due date must be at least 30 days after the notice is sent.

If a notice is never sent, the uni or college still owes the money. This stops a mistake in the office from letting someone off.

The notice can also go to a college that lost its registration partway through a year. Say a college loses its registration in June. It can still be sent a bill for that year.

Late fees, refunds and reviews

The Education Minister can make detailed rules about the charge. The minister also decides who is let off. These can cover late fees, extra time to pay, refunds and letting people off paying. They can also cover reviews of decisions about collecting the charge. The government's own explanation of the bill does not say who would do the reviews.

The government says late fees would be money charges only. They would not be crimes, and they would not be fines set by a court.

It gives examples of when a uni or college might be let off. One is when someone paid too much. Another is a late fee caused by an office mistake. Another is a debt too small to chase.

The second bill also allows some unis and colleges to be let off paying the charge. One example is when a natural disaster stops a college signing up students.

Law since October 2026

The bill began in the House of Representatives on 10 September 2026. The House passed it on 16 September 2026. It went to the Senate the same day. The Senate is the second house of Parliament, which checks bills.

The Senate agreed to it on 15 October 2026. So both houses had passed it by that day. On 26 October 2026 the Governor-General, who is the King's stand-in in Australia, signed it into law. It is now Act No. 103 of 2026.

It starts on 1 January 2027. If signing had come late, it would start on a later quarter day. That is 1 April, 1 July, 1 October or 1 January, whichever is the first at least 28 days after signing.

The second law starts on the same day. This law cannot start without it.

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

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

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