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Education Legislation Amendment (Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025

High-Level Summary

The Education Legislation Amendment (Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025 strengthens the integrity of Australia’s international education sector, enhances oversight of offshore course delivery, uncaps Commonwealth-supported medical places for eligible First Nations students and improves data transparency and governance in early childhood education and care (ECEC). The Bill also aligns Family Assistance Administration Act reconciliation dates with CCS policy and clarifies technical issues in child-care subsidy review processes.

Summary

The Bill amends four key statutes:

  • Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (ESOS Act): Introduces new definitions of "education agent" and "education agent commission"; requires providers to disclose agent commissions; empowers the Minister to suspend or triage new provider and course registration applications; mandates domestic-only delivery for two years before enrolling overseas students; and enables automatic suspension or cancellation of providers and courses for non-delivery or systemic quality issues.
  • Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 (TEQSA Act): Requires TEQSA authorisation for offshore course delivery, annual notifications of offshore arrangements and ongoing reporting to safeguard the standard of Australian higher education abroad.
  • Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA): Uncaps Commonwealth-supported places in medicine for all First Nations students who meet entry requirements, addressing underrepresentation and supporting Closing the Gap targets.
  • A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999: Grants the Secretary power to compel cost data from constitutional-corporation ECEC providers for the Early Education Service Delivery Prices (SDP) Project; expands authorised uses and publication of protected CCS/ACCS information to promote transparency; makes technical corrections to review and debt provisions; and retrospectively aligns reconciliation decision dates with the CCS system, waives related debts and provides a compensation mechanism for unjust acquisitions.
Argument For
Normative Bases
  1. Utilitarian Ground Truth
  2. Egalitarianism
  3. Non-Discrimination

By requiring greater transparency of education agent commissions and tightening registration criteria, the Bill reduces incentives for unscrupulous recruitment practices, protects student welfare and preserves Australia’s reputation as a top-quality education destination—thereby maximising public benefit and trust in the sector.

Uncapping Commonwealth-supported medical places for First Nations students addresses systemic underrepresentation, promotes equal opportunity in higher education and strengthens Indigenous health services by training culturally aware practitioners [Judgment].

Enhanced data collection for the SDP Project and clarified governance rules for CCS reporting underpin evidence-driven ECEC reform, ensuring sustainable, high-quality early learning that supports parental workforce participation and child development [Judgment].

Argument Against
Normative Bases
  1. Value-Neutral / Epistemic Objection
  2. Legal Principle [Privacy Act 1988]

The expanded reporting, disclosure and data-sharing requirements impose significant compliance costs on education providers, potentially diverting resources from teaching and innovation without clear evidence these measures will achieve their intended integrity gains [Judgment].

Retrospective alignment of CCS reconciliation dates may create uncertainty for families over entitlements and risks legal challenges under administrative law principles of legitimate expectations and just terms acquisition [Judgment].

Broad authorisations to use and publish protected information about providers and families risk infringing privacy rights and could deter participation in early learning programs unless robust safeguards and strict access controls are enforced [Judgment].

Key Links:
Official URL
Explanatory Memo URL
Latest Bill URL
Date:

2025-10-09

Chamber:

House of Representatives

Status:

Before House of Representatives

Sponsor:

Unspecified

Portfolio:

Education

Categories:

Education, Social Support / Welfare, Indigenous

Timeline:
09/10/2025

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