Now lawSchools & Uni Introduced in the Senate, 23 Jul 2025

Universities can lose approval for breaking the code

This short partner law links the new national code on gender-based violence to the main uni funding law. A uni or college that breaks the code can now have its approval put on hold or taken away.

Official name: Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2025

Who it affects

• Unis and colleges approved under the funding law: Breaking the gender-based violence code now puts their approval at risk.
• Students: Your uni or college has a strong money reason to follow the code that protects you from sexual violence and harassment.
• The Department of Education: It gets an extra tool to deal with serious breaches of the code that keep going.

Code needed a funding link

This bill came as a pair. The main bill has a long name. It is the Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) Bill 2025. It lets the Education Minister make a national code. The code sets rules for how unis and colleges must stop gender-based violence and respond to it.

Gender-based violence is violence or abuse aimed at someone because of their gender. It includes sexual assault and harassment. It also includes coercive control, which is a pattern of controlling behaviour. For many years, surveys have found a lot of sexual assault and harassment at Australian unis. The same is true in student housing.

Under the main law, a new team in the Department of Education checks that unis and colleges follow the code. It can investigate, hand out fines and ask a court for penalties.

This partner bill makes one more link. It ties the code to the Higher Education Support Act. That is the main law for uni funding and the student loan scheme.

Code tied to approval

A uni or college must be approved under this law. Then it can get government grants and offer student loans. Approved unis and colleges must meet a list of rules on quality and on answering for what they do.

This law adds a new rule to that list. A uni or college covered by the main law must follow the national code.

If it breaks this rule, the Education Minister can act under the funding law. That can include putting its approval on hold or taking it away for good.

The government says this gives the department an extra tool for serious failures that keep going. It sits on top of the fines and court action in the main law.

Say a college keeps ignoring orders to fix how it handles sexual assault reports. On top of fines, it could lose its approval. Its students might then be unable to use student loans there.

When the code applies

The new rule applies from 1 January 2026 for unis listed as Table A or Table B providers in the funding law. These are the main unis. For all other approved colleges, it applies from 1 January 2027.

These dates match the dates when fines and other action start under the main law. The government says this gives unis and colleges time to get ready.

Start date

The bill went to the Senate on 23 July 2025, along with the main bill. The Senate is the second house of Parliament. An earlier version had died when Parliament closed for the 2025 election. The Minister for Education, Jason Clare, put out the government's notes on the bill.

The Senate passed it on 31 July 2025. The House of Representatives passed it on 25 August 2025.

The Governor-General, the King's representative, signed it into law on 28 August 2025. It became Act No. 35 of 2025. It starts when the main law starts. If it was signed later than that, it starts on the day it was signed.

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

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

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