Emma Comer (Petrie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is about people at every stage of life having access to learning opportunities that allow them to upskill, retrain or adapt as our economy changes. The accord confronts hard truths about inequity in our system. It shows that talent is spread evenly across the country but opportunity is not. It challenges us to build a system that genuinely opens doors for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, First Nations students, people in regional and outer suburban communities, and those who have traditionally been left behind.

Importantly, the accord does not stop at diagnosis. It provides practical evidence based pathways forward. It sets clear targets, outlines achievable reforms and emphasises the need for long-term stewardship, coordination and accountability. This is why the Universities Accord has been so transformative. It has given Australia a shared understanding of the challenge ahead and a credible plan to meet it.

The bills before the House today are a direct response to that work, turning vision into action and ensuring the reform agenda does not end with a report but is embedded in the way our tertiary education system is governed and strengthened for the future. Together, these bills represent one of the most significant reforms to Australia's higher education system in a generation. They respond directly to the findings of the Australian Universities Accord, and they lay the foundations for a tertiary education system that is fairer, more coordinated, more future focused and better equipped to meet the skills and workforce needs of our nation.

At their core, these bills establish the ATEC, the Australian Tertiary Education Commission, as an independent statutory body and a steward of Australia's higher education system. This reform matters, because for too long our tertiary system has lacked a dedicated steward with the responsibility and authority to take a whole-of-system view—a view that looks beyond funding cycles and election terms and a view that is focused on long-term skills needs, equity, quality and national priorities.

The Australian Universities Accord: final report released in February 2024 made it clear that the absence such of a steward was a critical gap. Without it, the system has struggled to plan effectively for future demand, respond coherently to skill shortages and deliver equitable outcomes for students from all backgrounds. The accord gives us a blueprint for reform over the next decade and beyond. It tells us something we already know but can no longer afford to ignore: in the years ahead, more jobs will require more skills. Over the coming decades, around 80 per cent of jobs will require a post-school qualification, whether it is a certificate, a diploma or a degree. That means more people studying at TAFE and more people studying at university. It means that we must act now to ensure our tertiary education system has the capacity, the capability and the coordination required to meet Australia's future needs.

The Albanese Labor government has already acted decisively on this agenda. We have implemented 31 of the accord's 47 recommendations in full or in part. These reforms are already making a difference. We have doubled the number of university study hubs, by establishing 20 new regional university study hubs and 14 new suburban university study hubs, bringing higher education closer to the people who might otherwise miss out. We have increased the number of free university bridging courses to help students gain the confidence and preparation they need to succeed. We've introduced paid prac for the first time for students in teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work, recognising that unpaid placements create real financial barriers. This will change lives.

We have required higher education providers to allocate a minimum of 40 per cent of the student services and amenities fee to student led organisations to enhance the experience of students while studying. We have made demand driven Commonwealth supported places available to all First Nations students who meet the entry requirements. We've introduced the National Student Ombudsman and the National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence. And we have made HECS better and fairer by cutting 20 per cent off HECS debts as of 1 June 2025, capping indexation to the lower of CPI and WPI, moving to a marginal repayment system and lifting the minimum repayment threshold, meaning more money in the pockets of millions of Australians.

Establishing the ATEC is another cornerstone of this reform agenda. The ATEC Bill establishes the commission as an independent statutory authority with clear objects and functions. It is designed to provide stewardship to the higher education system and to strengthen the system so that it can deliver high-quality teaching and learning, as well as internationally competitive research and research training. This bill sets out the objects of the ATEC clearly. These include ensuring the higher education system has the capacity and capability to meet Australia's current and future student, skills and workforce demand. It includes increasing equitable access to, participation in and success within the higher education system for all students. It includes promoting coordination and collaboration between the Commonwealth, state and territory governments, higher education providers, industry, employers, unions and the public. It includes recognising the central role of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the higher education system and improving access, participation and outcomes for First Nations students. And it includes improving coordination and collaboration between higher education and the vocational education and training system.

The bill also enshrines the national tertiary education objective. This objective provides a unified whole-of-system vision for tertiary education, complementing existing objectives for higher education and VET. The ATEC will be required to have regard to this objective in the performance of its functions, ensuring coherence and alignment across the system. The ATEC will be led by three independent commissioners, including a chief commissioner and a First Nations commissioner. Commissioners will be appointed by the Minister for Education for terms of up to five years. Collectively, the commissioners will bring a balanced expertise across higher education, vocational education and training, tertiary governance, stakeholder engagement and regional Australia. Importantly, at least one commissioner must have substantial experience in VET, reinforcing the commitment to a genuinely partnered tertiary system.

Formal independence is a foundational element of the ATEC's design. The minister will not be able to direct the ATEC on the content of its advice or require it to make a particular decision about a provider. This independence ensures that the ATEC's work is transparent, evidence based and free from undue influence. The ATEC will have a broad range of advisory and decision-making functions. It will negotiate mission based compacts with individual universities. These compacts will set out the role each institution plays within the system, including the number of domestic and international students they teach. Mission based compacts will give universities the flexibility to pursue their distinct missions while contributing to the diversity of the sector, delivering on national priorities and meeting the needs of the students and communities.

The ATEC will also be responsible for implementing a new funding system. This system will provide demand driven places for equity students at a systems level and needs based funding linked to the number of students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds, First Nations students and students studying at regional campuses. This is critical reform. It recognises that equity is not an add-on but the core responsibility of the system. It will help more students from underrepresented backgrounds access university, and it will support them to participate and succeed once they're there.

The ATEC will provide expert advice to government on a wide range of higher education matters. This includes advice on policy setting and strategic direction, the cost of teaching and learning, student demand, skills and workforce needs, and improving access and outcomes for pupils facing systemic barriers. It will also advise on how to bring higher education and VET closer together and how to achieve any tertiary attainment targets set by the government. While the ATEC will not have decision-making powers in relation to VET, it will play an important role in advising ministers on opportunities for better coordination and collaboration across the tertiary system.

Each year the ATEC will prepare and publish a state of the tertiary education system report. This report will provide comprehensive assessment for the health and performance of the system. It will identify emerging trends and challenges, track progress against participation and attainment targets, assess how well the system is meeting Australia's skill needs and evaluate whether barriers for underrepresented groups are being removed. This transparency and accountability is vital. It will ensure governments, providers and the public have access to clear, evidence based information about how the system is performing and where future reform is needed.

The ATEC will work closely with other agencies, including Jobs and Skills Australia, TEQSA, the Australian Research Council, the National Centre for Vocational Education Research and state and territory governments. This collaboration will ensure advice and decisions are informed by the best available evidence and aligned across portfolios. The interim ATEC commenced operations on 1 July 2025. They have been laying the foundations for the permanent commission, and this legislation builds directly on that work.

The second bill before the House makes the necessary amendments to the existing legislation to support the establishment of the ATEC. It amends the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 and the Higher Education Support Act 2003. These amendments allow the ATEC to advise the minister on the higher education standards framework and facilitate a new mission based compact process.

Together, these bills respond directly to the challenges identified by the universities accord. They provide the governance, the coordination and the stewardship that the system has lacked; they support diversity and excellence across institutions; they place equity at the centre of system design; and they help ensure our tertiary education system is fit for the future. This is about building a system that serves students, supports educators, strengthens our workforce and underpins Australia's long-term prosperity.

Allegra Spender (Wentworth, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) Bill 2025 and the Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2025. Many in this House will have wonderful memories from their time at university—a time of discovery, of independence and of learning not only about the world but also about ourselves. For many Australians, it is the first time they are away from home, the first time they encounter ideas that challenge them and the first time they start to imagine the contribution they might make to our country. That sense of possibility is what our higher education system should offer every Australian—the opportunity to learn, to grow and to build a future.

Higher education is vital to Australia's future. As our fourth-largest export, it is a driver of national prosperity today and the foundation for tomorrow. It underpins economic growth, social mobility and research capability, and it strengthens our democracy through critical thinking and civic participation. My community cares deeply about access to high-quality education and a system that is sustainable, future focused, fair and accessible to all. One in 13 Wentworth residents are currently enrolled in tertiary study, and around 70 per cent of our community hold a tertiary education—one of the highest rates in the country.

But we must ask ourselves whether the system is still delivering on the promise that higher education has long represented in Australia. For decades our tertiary system has opened doors. It has equipped generations of Australians with the skills to strengthen our economy, enrich our community and deepen our democracy. Yet for many young Australians today that promise feels increasingly fragile. Student debt is rising and opportunity can feel more distant. Around three million Australians carry student debt, with the average balance exceeding $27,000. In many disciplines, student contributions have risen sharply over time, leaving graduates with debts that can shape life choices for years, from where they live to whether they start a family or buy a home.

The student experience has also changed very significantly, particularly after COVID. I know that, having spoken to many students and families in my electorate, this is a real concern to students and their families—that the great experiences that many of us had in the 1990s and earlier in the 2000s are not being replicated by the current university system, and, particularly, that connection that so many of us got from our colleagues and classmates in universities is not being replicated in the current university sector.

These issues feed into, more broadly, issues in terms of productivity and social mobility. They go beyond just education. If we want a dynamic, innovative and cohesive society, we must ensure that learning and opportunity remains within reach, remains relevant and remains engaging for our young people. The universities accord was frank in its diagnosis. It found that tertiary policy had lacked clarity and long-term stewardship. I agree wholeheartedly.

Australia needs a more coherent and innovative tertiary system—one that allows students to move easily between vocational education and university and to have prior learning recognised, one that builds strong partnerships with industry to translate research into real-world outcomes, and one that partners very strongly with business and employers to make sure not just that our students are learning the foundation skills to enable them to think critically but also that they are equipped, when they join the workforce, with some practical skills and the skills that the business community and the wider community are saying are in demand. We want a system that harnesses emerging technologies to deliver excellence in teaching and learning, one that innovates to be the best in the world and one that supports Australians to upskill and reskill throughout their lives and recognises that a three-year degree is no longer a set-and-forget approach to education but that this is an ongoing dialogue. Finally, we want a system that delivers a rewarding and enriching experience for students, because students still need to be at the heart of our universities and in many cases students do not feel that, and the evidence bears this out.

Establishing an Australian Tertiary Education Commission is an important step towards that coherence and towards accountability. A national steward able to take a long-term view of the system can help ensure that policy is guided by evidence rather than by short-term pressures. But, for that promise to be realised, the design of the commission matters. If we do establish this commission, this has to lead to change. It has to lead to long-term, evidence based change. I do have some really significant concerns that the current design of the commission means that the ability to achieve the changes that Australians want is compromised.

Firstly, as to independence, the accord envisaged a body capable of providing robust, evidence based advice, yet, under this bill, the commission can generally only provide advice or publish reports when asked by the minister. It must also take into account ministerial priorities in performing its functions. If the commission is to identify emerging risks, warn when funding settings are failing and think deeply about the future of tertiary education, it really should have the ability and capacity to initiate work within its remit and publish its findings independently.

Secondly, as to resourcing, on paper the commission is independent, but in practice its staff will largely be drawn from the Department of Education. The danger is that, instead of building new capability, we risk rebadging existing resources and adding administration without actually adding capacity.

Finally, as to remit, the accord was highly critical of the Job-ready Graduates package and called for a more coherent and equitable student contribution system. Many expected ATEC to play a central role in that reform. If the commission is to provide meaningful advice on sustainability and fairness in higher education funding, it's got to go beyond just looking at the government funding for higher education and also consider the full picture, which includes the impact of student contributions and debt on access and opportunity. These are not simply minor design questions. They go to the heart of whether the commission can do the job it is being asked to do, which I do believe is important.

At the same time, the sector has waited a long time for clearer stewardship, and many accord reforms depend on having a body like this in place. I support the accord, and I support the principle of an ATEC. However, I support the amendments put forward by Kate Chaney, Monique Ryan and Julian Leeser. They strengthen this bill. They deal with many of the design flaws that I have highlighted in my speech. I think the government should look carefully at these amendments, and I think this is an example of where strengthening our democracy is strengthened by broadening participation in the contest of ideas. This bill could be strengthened. I believe this bill should be strengthened, because we do need a university system that opens doors, not closes them, and a system that fuels ambitions, not burden. We do need a system that ensures every Australian, regardless of background, can experience the transformative period of discovery, independence and learning that so many of us in the House remember so well. But we have a lot of work to do here, and we need this commission, if established, to be as strong and robust as possible. There is more work to be done on this bill.

Libby Coker (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australia's future prosperity will be built on education, skills and opportunity. The Albanese government know this, and it's why we are working to rebuild confidence in the tertiary system after a decade of Liberal neglect, strengthening pathways into learning. The bill before the House today, the Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) Bill 2025, is the latest step in this work.

This is a bill to establish the Australian Tertiary Education Commission, the ATEC. The ATEC will focus on making sure universities do their part to deliver on the government's commitment to lift tertiary education attainment to 80 per cent of working-age people by 2050 and raise equity and participation. It will make sure there are enough places at universities to enable more people to access the opportunities that higher education can deliver, particularly in regional areas like mine in Corangamite. This is a central recommendation of the Australian Universities Accord.

Three years ago, the Minister for Education appointed six eminent Australians to develop a long-term blueprint for reforming higher education. Professor Mary O'Kane chaired that work, a former chief scientist and engineer of New South Wales and a former vice-chancellor of the University of Adelaide. Professor Barney Glover, now Commissioner of Jobs and Skills Australia, brought his experience as Vice-Chancellor and President of Western Sydney University. Distinguished Professor Larissa Behrendt contributed her deep expertise in Indigenous education and research through the Jumbunna institute at the University of Technology Sydney. The Hon. Fiona Nash provided insight as the Australian regional education commissioner and a former minister for regional development and regional communications. The Hon. Jenny Macklin brought decades of experience in social policy and disability reform as a former federal cabinet minister. Ms Shemara Wikramanayake contributed a strong understanding of industry, investment and research commercialisation as Chief Executive Officer of Macquarie Group and a former member of the university research commercialisation expert panel.

They were asked to examine seven priority areas: Australia's current and future knowledge and skills needs; access and opportunity; investment and affordability; governance, accountability and community connection; links between vocational education and higher education; the quality and sustainability of providers; and the role of new knowledge, innovation and research in building national capacity. The final report was released last year, and its message was clear: more jobs will require high levels of skills. Right now, data shows 60 per cent of Australians working today hold a certificate, diploma or degree, but by 2050 the figure will need to rise to around 80 per cent. That's a substantial shift. It means more people at TAFE, more people at university and more Australians moving between the two over their working lives.

The accord also identified two major barriers standing in the way of that ambition. The first is the divide between vocational education and higher education, which too often makes pathways complicated and inflexible. The second is the invisible barrier that prevents too many young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, outer suburbs and regional communities from getting to university at all. Today, 69 per cent of young Australians from high-socioeconomic families hold a university degree, but only 19 per cent from very poor families do. That gap exists across vocational education as well: 87 per cent of young people from wealthy families hold a TAFE qualification or university degree while only 59 per cent from poorer families do. That means more than 40 per cent of Australians from disadvantaged backgrounds are missing out on the qualifications that will increasingly be required in the decades ahead. We must change this. In my electorate of Corangamite, I will work with Deakin University and the Gordon TAFE to help implement these reforms and ensure better outcomes for locals and for students at these two great educational institutions. The accord's recommendations will make a difference to people in my region.

It should be noted that our government has already acted on the accord's interim recommendations while implementing the final report. In last year's budget, we adopted 31 of the 47 recommendations in full or in part. We increased funding for bridging courses that help students prepare for university study. These courses act as a bridge between school and higher education, and they do make a difference for many students. Over the next decade, the government will invest an additional $1 billion so that tens of thousands of Australians can undertake them free of charge.

We introduced paid prac to support teachers, nurses and midwifery and social-work students while they complete compulsory placements. It is means tested and targeted at those who need help most. More than 67,000 students have applied. More than 80 per cent of those applications have been processed, and more than 80 per cent have been approved. We've expanded medical Commonwealth supported places to address doctor shortages. Over the past three years, more than 350 new commencing places have been announced. Eight new medical schools are being established. When fully rolled out, this will support around 1,790 additional medical students each year.

We abolished the unfair 50 per cent pass rule that disproportionately affected Indigenous students, students from low-income families and those from regional communities. We reformed student services and amenities fees so at least 40 per cent is directed to student led organisations. We introduced a demand driven system for Indigenous students nationwide so that wherever they live, if they achieve the marks, they get the place. That change is already delivering results. Indigenous commencements rose by five per cent last year and by a further three per cent this year. Over the next decade, that number is expected to double.

We're also working with state governments to deliver full funding for public schools—something I'm so passionate about, as a teacher who has worked in public schools—because a successful tertiary education is built on successful primary and secondary education. We established a National Student Ombudsman and legislated a national code to prevent and respond to gender based violence. We created an expert council on university governance and are strengthening transparency around remuneration, council decisions, consultants and conflicts of interest.

We've taken decisive action on student debt. Indexation was capped at the lower of the CPI and the WPI, wiping $3 billion from balances. A further $16 billion is being removed through a 20 per cent reduction for borrowers. That is the largest student debt cut in Australia's history. We promised it, Australians voted for it, and it is being delivered. We reformed repayments so graduates only repay on income above the threshold rather than on their full wage. For someone earning $70,000 a year, that means around $1,300 less in repayments annually. This is real cost-of-living relief. It is also another recommendation of the accord.

If Australia is to reach the 80 per cent participation target, more university places are required. That expansion begins next year: 9,500 additional commencing places will be allocated this year—in 2026—16,000 more will follow in 2027, another 16,000 in 2028, another 16,000 in 2029, and 19,000 more in 2030. Over the next decade, that equates to around 200,000 additional commencing places. It will lift the number of domestic students in Australian universities by around 27 per cent.

Those places must be properly funded, and that is where the Australian Tertiary Education Commission comes in. Over the next 12 months, two major funding reforms will be legislated. The first is demand driven equity. Universities will no longer face caps for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. If a student meets entry requirements, they will be able to enrol. The second is needs based funding. Extra resources will flow to support students from low-income families, from regional areas and from underrepresented groups. The money will follow the student. The most disadvantaged students a university educates, the more support it will receive.

These reforms commence in January. It will be the ATEC's role to steer and embed them. This bill establishes that body. It recognises that reform on this scale requires stewardship beyond a single minister or electoral cycle. The ATEC will be independent. It will report to ministers through a statement of expectations. It will publish work plans and research, and it will advise government. It will be reviewed after two years and, again, at five years, with those reviews tabled in parliament. Those reviews will be essential to refine the ATEC with input from universities and other stakeholders.

The ATEC will be led by three commissioners, including a full-time chief commissioner and a full-time First Nations commissioner. The commission will negotiate mission based compacts with universities. It will assume responsibility for standards advice. It will publish an annual state of the tertiary education system report, and it will help ensure vocational and higher education systems work together as one coherent system.

This bill continues a long and proud tradition of reform, which began with the Curtin government and was strengthened under the Menzies government. Both sides of politics recognised then, as we do now, that education is nation-building. This legislation builds new foundations for the decades ahead. It expands opportunity, it strengthens skills, and it ensures the system—importantly—remains fair, accessible and sustainable. For these reasons, I commend the bill to the House.

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can you believe this government? They just try to find every possible way they can to outsource decision-making to bureaucracy, to regulators or to anyone but themselves because they don't like taking responsibility for making decisions, especially for making hard decisions. That's why they want to set up this body, the Australian Tertiary Education Commission.

Why can't the minister do the role that the Australian Tertiary Education Commission will do? Why can't the minister make the decisions that are needed to make sure that our public university system continues to deliver for Australians? It's because he doesn't want to. He wants to hide behind three faceless regulators. In the end he'll be facing a real dilemma. He knows that, because you've wasted so much money, there's no money that he can get for the system. So he's saying to these people, 'Okay, you're going to have to find me money so I can pursue priorities.'

What does that mean? Well, it means he's faced with some very, very difficult choices because we changed the higher education funding system in 2021. It was funny because the Minister for Education was out today in question time saying we need to do more when it comes to nurses, to teachers, to engineers and to scientists, and he said that what we need to be doing is making sure we're getting more of those graduates. Well, what did we do under the Job-ready Graduates Package? We cut the cost of degrees in all those areas where we need people to be job ready and go into the workforce—nursing, teaching, science, IT and engineering. We cut the cost of their degrees. Now this has presented a real dilemma for those of you on the government side because you don't know what to do about it now, do you? So what you're going to do is outsource it to three bureaucrats and hope that they can come up with a solution because the minister will not take responsibility for owning up and making the hard decisions that he needs to make.

Not only did we do that but we increased funding for the sector by more than $2 billion. You don't hear that said much by those opposite, but, from 2020 to 2021, funding for universities went over $20 billion. That was an increase of over $2 billion. You do not hear anything from that side about that. You do not hear about the record investment we made into research. The amount of money we put into research had never, ever been done in Australian history. You hear nothing from those on that side about that. We also increased the number of places available for Australian students. Thirty thousand new places were made available. Importantly—and this was real reform, which, once again, you never hear mentioned by those opposite—50,000 short course places were funded, so we started to change the nature of higher education. People could look at doing short courses so they could upskill in a very quick way and didn't have to spend a fortune when they were at university.

These are all the reforms that we did when we were in government. They weren't easy, and those opposite opposed them the whole way, but this was real reform which the government was prepared to take responsibility for. Yet what have we seen from those opposite? 'Oh, we don't want to be involved in real reform. We don't want to take the hard decisions, so we're going to get three regulators to do it.' In a sector which comes and says all the time, 'We're overregulated,' you're going to put more regulators in place. How does that make sense at all?

It's going to cost $54 million. Think of what that $54 million could do. Just think, for instance, of what $54 million could deliver for communities like those in Cook or Wannon, whether it be for sporting infrastructure, higher education infrastructure, looking after aged care or looking after our schools. This money, $54 million, could be used to deliver real outcomes on the ground, not to set up another commission.

What else did we do through those higher ed reforms? We set up the tertiary access payment, which meant that there were payments to enable low-socioeconomic people to go to university. What has happened to that tertiary access payment scheme? They cut it. Now the minister's putting in place a similar scheme, but he cut the scheme that was already there and was already working, the tertiary access payment scheme—real reform that we put in place so low-socioeconomic people could access higher education and, in particular, access those cheaper degrees in the areas where we actually need skills and we need people and we need to encourage demand. That's what those tertiary access payments were all about, and they were cut by those opposite.

What we now need to see is the minister actually doing something. He's great at coming up here to the dispatch box, and we all find him slightly amusing with his iterations. He tells his fireside chat stories, and we find it quite amusing, but we all sit there and say: 'When is he actually going to make a decision? When is he actually going to do something? When is he going to continue proper reform of the higher education system because the world is moving and the nature of higher education is moving?' We need more short courses. We need to make sure that, in areas like AI, we're enabling people to skill up quickly to take advantage of it and develop their career paths in these areas.

How long have they been in government now? Over four years, or nearly four years. And what have we got? We're now trying to set up a commission to do this, so for four years very little has happened, and it's about time the minister said: 'I don't need more regulators and bureaucrats doing things. I'm going to take responsibility and continue to drive our higher education system so we have the best higher education system in the world.' That's what we should be aiming for: putting money into research; making sure that our teaching standards are impeccable; and young Australians knowing, when they get a degree, that it's value for money, they're going to walk out and they're going to be wanted by employers so that they have a job. But we're not getting that.

I will say this to the minister: if you want to get an idea of what good government policy leads to and what outcomes you can get from good government policy, come down to my electorate. I had the pleasure, a couple of weeks ago, of taking the shadow health minister, Anne Ruston, to visit a couple of the universities in my electorate, and what I was able to show her is what good policy leads to. The first place I took her was the Deakin University School of Medicine. There, they have the most wonderful facilities for teaching postgrad medicine and for teaching nursing. When we were in government, we understood that, if we were to address the shortfalls of doctors and nurses in regional and rural areas, then we had to educate the students in regional and rural areas, and that's exactly what Deakin is doing in Warrnambool.

I say to all those on that side: do yourselves a favour. Come down to Warrnambool and have a look. Iain Martin, the vice-chancellor, would be happy to take you around and show you these outstanding facilities. They've done a brilliant job. If we can make sure that it continues to get funded, then we will be able to ensure that, right through western Victoria and into the south-east and South Australia, we'll have the medical workforce that we need. At the moment, we don't, so we've got to keep making sure that we're funding the Warrnambool Deakin campus to provide the doctors and the nurses that we need.

The second thing I was able to do was take the shadow minister to Willaura, where there is a wonderful aged-care facility—but it needs investment. The state government—and it's one of the few things that I can say about the Victorian state Labor government that is at all positive—has put money into redeveloping the Willaura Aged Care facility, which works incredibly well with the Ararat hospital and with the Ballarat hospital. They work in conjunction with each other, and it enables them to make sure that patient flow works very well in that area. The Victorian state government have funded the Willaura Aged Care upgrade, but they've funded it 50 per cent. One of the things I'm hoping for, given that has happened, is that the Albanese Labor government will now match that 50 per cent. I'll be making representations to the Minister for Aged Care and Seniors and the Minister for Health and Ageing so that that can happen.

We also met with two wonderful individuals, who were nominated for Australian of the Year, who have set up One Red Tree. One Red Tree is about taking people who are studying psychiatry and psychology, especially at Federation University, and making sure that they've got placements right through western Victoria. It's outstanding work that One Red Tree are doing, and it's so outstanding now that, when we get a headspace for Ararat—and we need a headspace for Ararat. One of the things which is often put is that there is a shortage of making sure you've got the psychologists and psychiatrists to be able to offer the services that a headspace needs. Well, we have no issues when it comes to psychologists because of the work that One Red Tree has done.

I was very pleased to be able to show the shadow health minister the work that they've done, and I commend her because she has also made representations to headspace, as a result, about the need for Ararat to be able to get a headspace. It's something the community has been advocating incredibly strongly for. We've got important work that One Red Tree are doing in our schools to help with the mental health of young people in the area, but we need the follow-up to make sure that we can get headspace into Ararat and those services can go to the next level. So I say to the government—and I've made representations to the minister on behalf of the Ararat community—it's time that headspace was delivered to Ararat.

So if I could just conclude by saying that we do not need another bureaucracy in the higher education sector. We do not. The Australian Tertiary Education Commission is just an excuse for the minister, who does not want to make a hard decision and who loves being loved, but does not want to make any hard decisions. Well, Minister, that's what you're paid the big bucks for—to actually make the tough decisions, not to outsource them. Not only that but think about what that $54 million could go to if it doesn't get spent on setting up this bureaucracy.

As I've said, in the communities of Wannon—and I'm sure it's the same in the communities of Cook—there are real-life outcomes that could be changed with that $54 million, and I mentioned a few, but I'll mention the one in particular that I referred to. That money could fund a new headspace centre in Ararat. That is a community that needs those mental health resources and it needs them desperately, and the community has come together and articulated that. It wouldn't require all that $54 million. As a matter of fact, it would only require about three, and the community would put resources in as well.

So forget about your Australian Tertiary Education Commission. It is not needed. Spend that $54 million on something which will change lives in communities because that's what this nation needs at the moment. The money that is being wasted by this government—which is driving up inflation, driving up interest rates and leaving communities desperate for services—has to stop. It's about time you got your priorities right.

Kate Thwaites (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This debate goes to the very heart of what kind of country we want to be. It's not just a conversation about universities, about commissions or, indeed, about funding models. It is a conversation about opportunity, about fairness and about the future of young people in our communities. For generations, education has been an important driver of social mobility in Australia. It is how children from families across the country become doctors, teachers, engineers, scientists, nurses, social workers and leaders. It strengthens our community, it helps our economy grow, and it makes sure that we have people working in the industries that we need.

Despite its importance, our government is very aware that, for too many Australians, higher education does still feel out of reach. Cost-of-living pressures, rising rents, insecure work and student debt make university feel like a risk instead of the opportunity that it can be, and that is why these reforms matter. Because Labor understands that tertiary education is not a luxury. It is nation-building infrastructure. Labor understands that investing in skills today is how we secure prosperity tomorrow. Labor understands that education changes not just individual lives but whole communities.

The universities accord, which our government developed, is a blueprint for a stronger and fairer Australia, and these bills that we have before us—the Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) Bill 2025 and the Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2025—give that blueprint a permanent institutional foundation. They establish the Australian Tertiary Education Commission as a steward of our tertiary system—a body that will ensure our system is fair, coordinated, forward looking and focused on people—not just providers.

As I mentioned, our government commissioned the universities accord because we knew that the higher education system really is the bedrock of so much in our country, but it needed help. After a decade of those opposite—who really had no plan for higher education and who certainly had no plan for how students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds would access higher education—we knew that we needed a systemic look at how this system operated, so we commissioned and we released the final report of the Australian Universities Accord. We need to be very clear that this is not a short-term fix. It's not just political slogans. This is a long-term national plan for the next decade and, indeed, for the decade after that.

The accord we received tells us something stark and unavoidable, which is that the jobs of the future will require more skills. It tells us that, over the coming decades, about 80 per cent of jobs will require a certificate, diploma or degree. That means more Australians, not fewer, will need access to TAFE and to university. It means more people will need the chance to retrain, to reskill and upskill throughout their working lives, and it means, if we do nothing, skills shortages will grow, inequality will widen and economic growth will stall. These are things that I have conversations about over and over again with people in my electorate, with grandparents and parents who are looking at their children and thinking about what their future will be, who want to see that those young people do have the opportunities that a good education provided them and who want to know that the industries and jobs we need for the future will have the workers that should be there.

These are very important reforms, and that's why our government has not waited. We have implemented 31 of the 47 recommendations of the universities accord, in part or in full. We have already doubled the number of university study hubs, with 20 new regional hubs and 14 new suburban hubs. This brings higher education closer to students who cannot easily relocate or commute. We do have one established in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, in Epping, not far from my electorate. Again, the idea is that we are spreading the benefits of higher education, making it accessible to people who otherwise would not be able to reach these places to study. We've expanded free university bridging courses, opening the door for people who may not have had the chance to go straight from school to university.

We have introduced paid prac for the first time for teaching nursing, midwifery and social work students so that people are not having to choose between paying their rent and completing their degree. Again, I have heard from my community how important this reform has been for so many people, particularly women, who often are studying to be part of these caring professions and who, in fact, find themselves being economically disadvantaged by taking up a profession that all of us rely on. That has been a very important reform—to have paid prac. We've required higher education providers to direct at least 40 per cent of student services and amenities fees to student led organisations. We've made demand driven, Commonwealth supported places available to all First Nations students who meet entry requirements, and we've established the National Student Ombudsman and a national code to prevent and respond to gender based violence, ensuring campuses are safe and respectful environments.

We have also done a lot of work to make HECS better and fairer. Again, I know this has been felt in my community. We have cut 20 per cent off all student debts. We have capped indexation to the lower of CPI or WPI, lifted the minimum repayment threshold and moved to a marginal repayment system. On top of all of these recommendations, we've made free TAFE permanent, ensuring people in our communities can skill-up for the jobs of the future.

Locally, I've been really pleased to see this being accelerated by our $50 million investment to establish a TAFE centre of excellence for housing construction at Melbourne Polytechnic in Heidelberg West, supporting local jobs, addressing skills shortages and helping to deliver the homes our community needs.

I see and my community sees how these reforms are already playing out, already making a difference and already opening doors for students who once felt locked out of the opportunity of higher education, giving people the confidence to invest in themselves, helping us as a country to make sure that we have the workforce we need for the future and helping to make sure that we sustain what is so important in our country—that opportunity that comes with education. That opportunity should not be linked to how much the family you come from earns.

At the heart of the universities accord is the idea that Australia does need a national steward of tertiary education. We have had a fragmented system for too long. Our universities, our TAFEs and our regulators have operated in silos. For the world that I've described—a world where we will need more people with skills, where people will need to upskill throughout their working life—that sort of system no longer serves us well. Students have faced confusing pathways, inconsistent funding and uneven support, so the accord recommended the creation of the Australian Tertiary Education Commission to bring strategy, coordination and long-term planning to the system.

These bills establish ATEC as an independent statutory authority. To help deliver the future tertiary system Australia needs one that is equitable, joined up, responsive to skills needs and focused on student support. It will help us reach the 80 per cent attainment target by encouraging diversity, providing expert evidence based advice to governments, monitoring skills and equity targets and, as I said, helping to deliver a joined-up tertiary system that brings higher education and vocational education together.

This is a critical service that I think will improve our universities. Locally, I know for universities like Latrobe University in my community, with its strong focus on health education, regional outreach and first-in-family students, this will mean recognition of the vital community role it plays. For institutions like the University of Melbourne, with its global research leadership, it will mean support to continue driving innovation, medical breakthroughs and economic growth for the nation. This is not about forcing universities into a single mould, but it is about building a diverse, collaborative system that reflects our communities and our workforce needs now and into the future.

The ATEC will implement a new funding model that is fairer and more targeted. It will provide demand driven places for equity students at a system level and needs based funding based on the number of low-SES students, First Nations students and regional campus students. This is how we close participation gaps and how we lift completion rates. It is how we ensure that talent, not background, determines success. And, as I said, the ATEC will also provide advice to government on policy settings and strategic direction, making sure that we are getting that joined-up picture. It will publish a 'state of the tertiary education system' report tracking performance, identifying challenges and setting out opportunities for future reform. I also acknowledge that this is not a one-and-done situation; there is more work for us to do to make sure that our higher-education system is meeting the needs of students and allowing students to get the skills and qualifications they need now and into the future.

The conversations I have about higher education in my community are about learning, about jobs and about opportunities for the future. People in my community are really aware that higher education is also the pathway to a more secure life. It can help open the doors to homeownership. It can help people feel like they have a stable and prosperous future ahead of them. So I was very proud to see our government cut 20 per cent off all student debt, including for nearly 23,000 people in my electorate of Jagajaga. I was proud to see us make free TAFE permanent, making a real difference for students at our local Greensborough and West Heidelberg Melbourne Polytechnic campuses and right across the country. For students in my community, this means no or lower repayments, less financial stress and a real chance to save for a home, start a family or invest in the future.

I have had this conversation; I do hear this time and time again from people in my community at all generations. It is something that parents, grandparents and young people are talking to me about. This is a continuing conversation about how we make sure young people in our communities can aspire to a good life and the stability and aspiration of knowing that there are good jobs ahead of them, knowing that they can look at secure homeownership and knowing that they can play an important part in our communities going forward. This bill does a lot more than just set up a body to look at our higher education system. This bill makes sure that we are getting the foundations right for young people to have those opportunities—to feel like they have a government that understands and cares how important it is for them to have that sense of opportunity, that sense of community and the sense of a government and a community that wants them to have good lives.

It would be remiss of me to say that those opposite share this government's view of a future for young people in that way. Their record shows that they did not back our universities. They did not back opportunity. They've said that students should just pay their debts. They've called our plan elitist. They cut funding to education institutions, and they undermined equity. It was clear over the decade that those opposite were in power that they see education as a cost, whereas we on this side, Labor, see education as an investment. They have opposed opportunity; we have defended it and we are trying to enhance it. Our government will always choose fairness, opportunity and young people in our community and their future, and that is what these bills are about. These bills are about the future of higher education and about the kind of nation we want to be. They're about backing our students, strengthening our universities and investing in the communities that rely on them. These bills do recognise that education is not just a personal opportunity but a national asset, one that underpins our economy, our workforce and our social cohesion.

We are getting on with the job: establishing the Australian Tertiary Education Commission, implementing the recommendations of the universities accord and placing students back at the centre of our system, where they should be—building a system that is fairer, more sustainable and fit for the future. Our government's clear message is: in Australia, opportunities should be earned by effort, not determined by background, postcode or family income. Young people should not be locked out of higher education because of who they are or where they come from, and these bills help us to make sure that that is the Australia of the future.

Basem Abdo (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the bills that are before the House: the Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) Bill 2025 and the Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2025. The legislation before us gives effect to a central recommendation of the Australian Universities Accord—a serious, long-term blueprint for reforming Australia's tertiary education system—and reflects the government's commitment to education as a public good and a national priority. It was the determination of successive Labor governments to open the doors of education to working families—to make university and TAFE attainable for people without wealth, privilege or connections.

The Albanese Labor government's objective to expand access to higher education for the many, not just the privileged few—whether it be VET, TAFE or university—is not only core to our Labor values but critical for communities like mine, where participation in higher education, like in many outer suburban and regional areas, isn't a given. I want to acknowledge the Minister for Education, Jason Clare, and the leadership he has shown in this space. I know the minister works tirelessly to help open up opportunities for people in the outer suburbs right across this country. As the minister has said, this reform is about building foundations that will last for decades and ensuring that opportunity in this country continues to widen, not narrow.

In February 2024, the government released the final report of the Australian Universities Accord. The accord makes clear that, in the decades ahead, around 80 per cent of jobs in Australia will require a certificate, diploma or degree. That means more people at TAFE, more people at university and more people moving between the two across their working lives. But the accord is equally clear that this will not happen by accident. It will only happen if we break down two big barriers. The first is the artificial barrier we have built between vocational education and higher education. The second is the invisible barrier that stops too many young people from poorer families, from the outer suburbs and from the regions and the bush from getting to university at all.

The equity gap is stark: 69 per cent of young Australians from wealthy families have a university degree, but only 19 per cent of young Australians from those less fortunate do. This gap extends beyond university: 87 per cent of young people from wealthy families have either a TAFE qualification or a university degree, as opposed to only 59 per cent of young people from those less well off. That means more than 40 per cent of young Australians from families less well off do not have the qualifications they will need in the decades ahead. This is not a failure of aspiration; it is a failure of access.

That is why the accord recommended the creation of a strong, independent steward of the tertiary education system, and that is why this government committed to establishing the Australian Tertiary Education Commission. The minister has observed—and I think it captures the scale of this reform:

As someone said to me the other day, the ATEC is the accord.

The accord is big. It is a blueprint for the next decade and the one after that.

This legislation will establish the positions of Chief Commissioner, First Nations Commissioner and a third commissioner. These commissioners will have to report to the Minister for Education and the Minister for Skills and Training to ensure that the two most common streams for higher education are working together to strengthen our tertiary education system. It is about ensuring that decisions made today do not close doors tomorrow. It is about recognising that access alone is not enough—that participation, retention and success matter just as much. That is why the ATEC's role in monitoring equity outcomes, advising on funding settings and publishing an annual state of the tertiary education system report is so important, because, without transparency, inequity becomes invisible, and, when inequity is invisible, it is easily ignored. This reform puts equity at the centre of system design, not as an afterthought but as a core responsibility.

The ATEC will strengthen quality teaching and learning and internationally competitive research; it will ensure the system has the capacity and capability to meet Australia's current and future student, skills and workforce needs; it will increase equitable access, participation and success; it will promote coordination and collaboration between governments, providers, industry, employers, unions and the public; it will recognise and strengthen the role of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the tertiary education system; and it will improve coordination between higher education and the VET system. This is about planning, coherence and fairness. These reforms are practical.

An interim Australian Tertiary Education Commission commenced operations on 1 July 2025, laying the groundwork for the permanent commission established by this legislation. The work of the commission has been about lifting the accord off the page and into practice—testing systems, building capability and preparing the sector for the long-term stewardship role the ATEC is designed to play.

We also need to be honest about why this reform is necessary: because, over almost a decade of Liberal-National coalition governments, Australia's tertiary education system was not just neglected but actively undermined. In 2017, under a Liberal government, the Commonwealth moved to cut $2.2 billion from universities, predominantly through a two-year freeze on Commonwealth Grant Scheme funding for teaching and learning. This freeze did not require legislation. It was announced through the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook after the Senate blocked an earlier package of even deeper cuts and fee increases. While those opposite at the time claimed it was not directly capping student places, the reality was obvious to everyone in the sector. If funding does not grow when enrolment grows, universities are pushed to do one of two things: cap places or cut quality. As Universities Australia said at the time, the freeze amounted to a real cut in funding once inflation was taken into account and an even deeper cut for universities serving growing outer suburban and regional communities.

The coalition also moved to lower the student loan repayment thresholds, increase repayment rates and introduce lifetime caps on student borrowing, measures that fell hardest on graduates from modest backgrounds, impacting their ability to establish themselves in the workforce. The Group of Eight described the sector being treated as a 'cash cow to be milked for budget cuts', rather than as a national asset critical to productivity and opportunity. It was students in the outer suburbs, in the regions and in working-class communities who paid the price—the very Australians who were already least likely to have a degree.

This is not ancient history. It's the recent past, and it is precisely why this government is rebuilding a system based on access, equity and long-term stewardship, not short-term savings and silent cuts. Since coming to office, the Albanese Labor government has already implemented 31 of the 47 recommendations of the Universities Accord report in full or in part. We have more than doubled the number of university study hubs, not only in the regions and the bush but, for the first time ever, in our outer suburbs. These hubs are about breaking down that invisible barrier.

In Broadmeadows in my electorate, I am immensely proud of the establishment of the Northern Study Hub, powered by La Trobe University. For years, capable students in my community faced a simple but powerful barrier: distance and access—long travel times, high transport costs, and work and care responsibilities. The university study hub in my community is changing that. It allows local students to study close to home, connected to academic support and wraparound services, without hours spent commuting. This is what access looks like when policy meets place.

We have expanded free university bridging courses, investing an extra $1 billion over 10 years. We have introduced paid prac for teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students—targeted, means tested support for people who need it most. We have expanded medical places and opened new medical schools. We have scrapped the unfair 50 per cent pass rule. We have introduced a demand-driven system for Indigenous students wherever they live, and we are already seeing the impact. We have also delivered the biggest cut to student debt in Australian history. We capped indexation. We wiped billions off student debt. We moved to a marginal repayment system that is fairer and gentler. As Professor Bruce Chapman has said, this is 'the most important thing that's happened to the system in 35 years'. For my community, it has provided much needed debt relief to over 24,000 student loan holders in my electorate.

This government's commitment to breaking down barriers to accessing higher education goes beyond the university campus. Free TAFE is a model of what the Albanese Labor government stands for. It provides real cost-of-living relief whilst also advancing opportunities for Australians to get the skills they need to enter the workforce or to reskill and upskill, which is as important. Whether it's a young person leaving school and beginning their journey into higher education towards a career or someone being retrenched in middle age—which is a difficult experience but, when those opposite were in charge, regrettably not an uncommon one in my electorate. They dared our automotive makers to leave, which saw thousands of workers across Melbourne's north held back and left behind.

Free TAFE and our TAFE system in general has been the strong driver of economic participation in communities like mine. My electorate of Calwell has seen major changes to its industrial base with the fall of the automotive industry. We saw Ford and a raft of employers and small businesses across the manufacturing supply chain close down, which caused job losses for thousands. The Liberals smoked our industry and smoked to it. So, when workers need to reskill and find their feet again in the workforce to regain the dignity of work and provide for themselves and for their families, initiatives like this are a necessity.

We value education, we value TAFE and free TAFE, we value skills, we value jobs and industry, and we value opportunity—unlike the Liberals, who have a motto enshrined in policy from the top down, in education, health and right across the board, that if you don't pay for something you don't value it. It's important that we enact reform across both the TAFE and university sectors together. The ATEC will bring all this together. It will craft mission based compacts with universities; it will provide independent, expert advice; it will take responsibility for the Higher Education Standards Framework; and, every year, it will publish a state of the tertiary education system report—independent, transparent and accountable.

This bill represents the next chapter in the long story of Labor reforms. The first Universities Commission was established in 1943 by the Curtin Labor government. It was strengthened in later decades because leaders understood that education is central to our nation-building. We have a similar opportunity before us today. This debate is not just about universities as they exist today. It is about the Australia we are building for the next decade and the one after that: a country that wants to manufacture more of what it needs; a country that wants to train its own teachers, tradies, doctors, nurses, engineers and scientists; and a country that wants to compete globally while remaining fair at home. None of that is possible without a strong, accessible and well-planned tertiary education system, and none of it is possible if we allow short-term savings to undermine long-term capability.

This legislation rejects that short-termism. It chooses planning over drift, equity over exclusion and national interest over political convenience. It's an opportunity to build foundations for the next decade and the one after that, to open the doors of opportunity wider than they are today and to ensure that people in my community are not locked out of their potential. That is what this legislation does, and I'm proud to support it. I commend the bills to the House.

Cassandra Fernando (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In February 2024, the Albanese Labor government released the final report of the Australian Universities Accord. This was not a report written in isolation behind closed doors in Canberra. It was the product of deep consultation right across the country. It was built on conversations with students, educators, unions, industries, state and territory governments and communities like mine. It set out a clear blueprint for higher education reform—not just for the next few years but for the next decade and the decade after that.

That report told us some hard truths. It told us that the system we have today is not fit for the future we face tomorrow. It told us that, in years ahead, the nature of work in Australia is going to change fundamentally. More jobs will require more skills. Over the coming decades, around 80 per cent of our workforce will need a post-school qualification, whether that is a certificate III from TAFE, a diploma or a university degree. In fact, Jobs and Skills Australia tells us that more than 90 per cent of employment growth over the next decade will be in jobs that need post-school qualification. Think about that figure—nine out of 10 new jobs. That is a massive undertaking for our nation. It means we need more people walking through the doors of our TAFEs, and we need more people studying at our universities—and, perhaps more importantly, we need those two systems to work together. We need better coordination and clearer pathways, creating a more joined-up tertiary education system that supports Australia's long-term prosperity. We cannot leave this to chance. We need a plan, and we need a steward to drive it.

The Albanese Labor government has not waited to act. We have already hit the ground running, implementing 31 of the 47 accord recommendations in full or in part. We are doubling the number of university study hubs by establishing 20 new regional hubs and 14 new suburban hubs. This is about bringing higher education closer to students who cannot always relocate or commute long distances. For students in the outer suburbs, this is the difference between giving up or getting a degree. We are increasing the number of free university bridging courses, opening doors for students who have the potential to succeed but just need extra support to get started. We are introducing paid prac for the first time for teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students, because we know placement poverty is real and students should not have to choose between paying their rent and finishing their placements to become the essential workers our country needs.

We have strengthened the student voice by requiring higher education providers to allocate at least 40 per cent of student services and amenities to student led organisations. We have established the National Student Ombudsman and a national code to prevent and respond to gender based violence because students deserve safety and accountability, and universities must be held to the highest standards. As we promised, we have made HECS better and fairer by cutting student debt, capping indexation so it never grows faster than wages, and lifting the repayment threshold. This is real cost-of-living relief for graduates in Holt and across Australia.

These reforms are already changing lives, but the accord was also honest about what has been missing for too long. The panel, led by Professor Mary O'Kane AC, identified a clear gap in our system: there was no steward. There was no-one holding the map looking at the whole picture and guiding the system towards our national goals. This absence of stewardship was identified as a crucial gap in Australia's ability to plan for future skills needs, improving equity, and to deliver quality outcomes for students and the economy. That is the gap these bills address.

The Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) Bill 2025 establishes the Australian Tertiary Education Commission, or ATEC. Establishing ATEC was a key recommendation of the accord. It will be an independent statutory body. It will be the steward for the tertiary system. It will play a crucial role in delivering reform. Its mission is clear: to help deliver the future tertiary education system Australia needs. It will support us to move forward to that 80 per cent attainment target by doing four crucial things: encouraging diversity among our higher education providers so we don't have a cookie-cutter system; providing expert, evidence based advice for government's higher education system settings; monitoring skills and equity targets; and helping to deliver a joined-up system that makes it easier for students to move between TAFE and uni to get skills they need.

ATEC will provide advice and reports to governments. It will undertake and coordinate research and data analysis. Crucially, it will publish an annual report, strengthening transparency. It will tell us how the system is performing. It will highlight emerging challenges. It will track our progress towards participation and attainment targets. It will assess whether the system is meeting Australia's skills and workforce needs while removing barriers for underrepresented groups. ATEC will not operate in isolation. It will work closely with Jobs and Skills Australia, with TEQSA, with the Australian Research Council, with the National Centre for Vocational Education Research and with state and territory governments, ensuring its advice is grounded in evidence and informed by real-world needs.

One of the most significant reforms in this bill is the introduction of mission based compacts. These agreements recognise a fundamental reality: Australia's universities are not all the same, and they should not be forced into a 'one size fits all' model. Different institutions serve different communities. A university in regional Victoria has a different mission to a university in the Melbourne CBD. They have different strengths. They serve different student cohorts. Mission based compacts will allow universities the flexibility to pursue their specific goals while ensuring they contribute to national priorities and meet the needs of their students and communities.

ATEC will also be responsible for implementing a new funding framework, including demand driven places for equity students at a system level and needs based funding that reflects the number of students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds, First Nations students and students studying at regional campuses. This is about getting students into university and backing them to succeed once they are there.

Importantly, the legislation also strikes the right balance between accountability and independence. It allows ministers to set the framework within which functions are carried out while making clear that directions cannot relate to the content of ATEC's advice, the decisions it makes or individual providers. That balance protects the integrity of expert, evidence based advice while maintaining democratic oversight.

Since 1 July 2025, an interim ATEC has already been operating. They have been laying the foundations for the permanent commission, and the legislation before the House builds on that work. The accompanying Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2025 ensures these reforms are implemented smoothly and responsibly with the necessary amendments to existing legislation to support continuity and clarity.

I must contrast this clear, long-term vision with the approach of those opposite. At the last election, the opposition opposed the creation of ATEC, arguing it was unnecessary. They are currently busy breaking up and making up again, disconnected from the reality of modern Australia—a pattern we have seen from them since the very start of the 48th Parliament. When they were in government, they treated higher education as a cost to be shifted onto students, not an investment in the nation. They tried to deregulate fees. They neglected TAFE, cutting billions of dollars from the sector. They created uncertainty and failed to plan for the long term. They left us with a system that simply was not working for students. Labor is doing the opposite. We are backing students, we are supporting skills, we are strengthening equity and we're putting long-term stewardship back at the heart of the system.

For my community in Holt, these reforms matter deeply. They matter for the young person who wants to be the first in their family to graduate, they matter for the parent retraining to secure a better future, they matter for the aspiring teacher, nurse or social worker who wants to serve their community with dignity, and they matter for Australia because a strong, fair and future-ready tertiary education system is one of the most important investments we can make for our people and for our prosperity. I'm proud to be a part of a government that takes education seriously. My parents taught me that education is a gift, but, in a country like Australia, it shouldn't just be a gift for a lucky few; it should be a right for everyone regardless of where they live or how much their parents earn. This bill sets us on that path. It builds on the architecture we need for the future. It delivers on the promise of the Universities Accord. I want to thank the Minister for Education, Jason Clare, for his leadership on this. He has listened to the sector, he has listened to the students and he has acted. I commend this bill to the House.

Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) Bill 2025 establishes the Australian Tertiary Education Commission, the ATEC. The ATEC was, of course, a key recommendation from the Australian Universities Accord. When the Albanese Labor government first came into power, the Minister for Education, Jason Clare, identified the need for reform of Australia's higher education sector, and he appointed six Australians to look at seven priority areas in the higher education sector. Considering these priorities, the accord puts forward a long-term vision for rebuilding Australia's tertiary education system. It argues that many more Australians—an increase, in fact, to approximately 80 per cent of the workforce—will require postschool qualifications in coming decades. It also noted that our universities and vocational education providers must work closely together to meet our future skills needs. It recommends expanding opportunities for people who are currently underrepresented in higher education—people like those in the communities that I represent in this chamber, including those from regional communities and from disadvantaged backgrounds—through new learning hubs, additional supported places and stronger financial and academic support. It also called for reforms to funding and student debt, improvements to governance and accountability, and a renewed focus on quality research, innovation and national capability.

The government has implemented 31 of the accord's 47 recommendations. The accord is a blueprint for sector reform for the decades ahead. It will take a long-term vision and a long-term commitment to deliver. To ensure its success, it needs a steward to drive and to steer these reforms, and the ATEC will formally take on this role for the tertiary education sector. As the Minister for Education has said, of all the recommendations in the accord, the establishment of the ATEC may be the most important. The establishment of the ATEC provides a singular opportunity for Australia's future. It provides an opportunity for an independent, expert body to drive real and lasting reform in the higher education sector. It provides an opportunity to uplift the coordination and administration of the sector. It's an opportunity to coordinate and align efforts across higher education institutions—as the Minister for Education says, 'to get the sector to work more like a system'. The ATEC will have its own decision-making powers, and it will take on responsibility for new mission based compacts with individual universities. The ATEC will provide expert advice to government on policy settings and strategic direction, the cost of teaching and learning in higher education, student demand, and meeting Australia's current and future skills and knowledge demand.

The ATEC, by taking a systems approach rather than an individual institutions approach, will ensure that Australian universities can deliver the vital sovereign capabilities that Australia will need in the coming decades. There's nowhere that we need this more than with Australia's engagement with a rapidly-changing world. The current external environment is asking more of Australia's leaders and Australia's institutions than ever before. China is seeking to change the regional balance of power. The Trump administration is pursuing a different role for America in the world. Our neighbours in South-East Asia are seeking to navigate their own way in these changing times.

Australia needs to be able to understand and engage with countries in our own region through our own perspective, and we can't rely on other countries to do this for us. Australia needs our own leaders and our own institutions to have the capabilities necessary to be effective in our region. More than ever before, Australia's security and our prosperity depend on our ability to be effective in our own region. Asia capability—the mix of cultural understanding, language faculties and regional experiences needed to be effective in Asia—underpins all spheres of our national endeavour, our statecraft, our industry, our defence and our civil society. Australia cannot rely on other countries to produce the analysis that we need, to share our research priorities or to develop the relationships that we need to serve our interests. We need the sovereign capability to do these things for ourselves in our own region. It's the foundation of everything that we want to do in our region.

Universities play a vital role in building Australia's Asia capability. It's where students develop expertise in the countries of our region, deepening their focus during honours, master's and PhD programs. I've met countless leaders—Australian ambassadors to countries in our region, business leaders investing in trading in our region and strategic thinkers aiming to understand our region—who all developed their Asia capability while at university. Currently, we benefit from the deep Asia capability within a small number of individuals at the top of our Public Service, universities, civil society and private sector.

However, the expertise of these individuals is the product of investments made decades ago. Unfortunately, the structures and institutions that educated this generation of leaders, increasingly, no longer exists at our institutions of higher education. The pipeline of future Asia-capable leaders is breaking down in Australia. The institutions that we need to develop the next generation of leaders with deep Asia expertise are in crisis. That's why, as Chair of the Standing Committee on Education, I am leading an inquiry into the development of Australia's Asia capability, looking at the enablers and the barriers to addressing this whole-of-nation challenge. Universities are essential to developing this sovereign capability—this Asia capability—for Australia. University language programs and area studies are essential for producing the deep Asia expertise Australia needs to navigate the current circumstances we confront.

Unfortunately, there have been a series of closures of Asian language and area studies programs at universities across the country. The decline in university enrolments in Asian languages and area studies is stark. Between 2004 and 2022, university enrolments in South-East Asian languages declined by 75 per cent. In 1997, there were six Australian universities that taught Hindi; now, there are only two, with only the Australian National University teaching Hindi in person. Only 12 universities now teach Indonesian, down from 22 in the 1990s. Of the more than one million Australian domestic students at Australian universities in 2023, barely 500 students were enrolled in a single subject of Bahasa Indonesia nationwide. As Dr Matthew Davies, Deputy Vice-Chancellor at ANU, confirmed in evidence heard by the committee, the threat to Indonesian studies at Australian universities is 'existential'. Without government intervention, Indonesian studies—the study of language and the study of Indonesian culture and society—risks going extinct. As the founder of the Australian Consortium for In-Country Indonesian Studies, Professor David Hill, said:

Only a handful of highly skilled, Indonesia-focused graduates are now being produced by Australian universities.

He went on to say:

… the current national decline in enrolments has consequences more severe than at any other time during my professional life.

As the University of Sydney wrote in their submission to the inquiry:

The erosion of university-level language and area studies capacity has left government and business without the deep contextual insight needed for long-term strategy.

An Australian Academy of the Humanities report found that only 17 Australians completed honours in Chinese studies with language between 2017 and 2021—no more than five Australians a year. The University of New South Wales shared that student demand for Chinese language courses has fallen by 58 per cent since 2018, and enrolments for Japanese language courses have decreased by 19 per cent. The number of universities and academics conducting deep research into Asian studies is declining precipitously. Across universities, there is no nationally coordinated prioritisation of resources, data collection, leadership or long-term vision for Asia capability. The ATEC presents an opportunity to coordinate and align efforts across the higher education sector to get it working as a system when it comes to building our nation's Asia capability.

ATEC will work closely with other agencies and offices, including Jobs and Skills Australia, TEQSA, the Australian Research Council, the National Centre for Vocational Education Research and state and territory governments to ensure its advice and decisions are informed by the best evidence. We've heard that breaking the cycle of program closures around the country in Asian languages and Asia studies requires government intervention on both the supply of programs and teachers teaching these courses and, importantly, to enhance the demand for Asia-capable individuals. We've heard that structural reform with enforceable commitments is required. Collapsing demand from students for the study of Asian languages has flowed through to the supply of Asian language programs. Universities Australia told the inquiry that teaching costs for language courses have also increased. Data from Deloitte indicates that foreign languages had the second-largest annual cost increase of 6.2 per cent from 2019 to 2020. As Universities Australia wrote:

The combination of declining demand and increased teaching costs has placed significant pressure on universities to offer Asia capability building opportunities at a substantial financial loss.

ATEC could help provide guidance on the costs of teaching and learning that will support meeting Australia's current and future skills needs.

Many Asian language and area studies are kept on the whim of university leaders. As Professor Melissa Croucher said:

In Australia, Asian studies and the study of Asia across the various disciplines … has long relied upon the institutional support of its leaders—its vice-chancellors, deputy vice-chancellors, deans, heads of school, and so forth.

It has also relied upon secure structural foundations—Asian studies degrees, a suite of Asian language offerings, independent research centres, and the study of Asia embedded across a range of disciplines, from law to business.

Yet over the past two decades, there has been a noticeable and alarming trend: a decline in the structures, institutions and people who make the teaching and training of our students possible …

University leaders, who often have limited exposure to or lack of connections with Asia, are often unable to see the value of offering Asian languages or Asian studies units and majors for the nation. Often, there's limited or no leadership support for saving these programs when they're at risk of cuts for financial reasons. Further, the relatively high cost for universities to offer these courses in the context of a demand driven model of higher education often causes these programs to be cut. Unfortunately, the threat of cuts makes the teaching of Asian languages and Asian studies precarious and unappealing for academics and lecturers.

Despite these significant challenges, the research into our region and teaching of Asian languages and area studies is vital for our national interests. Australia needs sovereign Asia capability, and universities need to play a role in developing it. In some cases, universities have attempted to innovate and collaborate to keep language studies alive. For example, people like Professor Greg Hainge from the University of Queensland are trying to innovate in these difficult circumstances. Queensland's three largest universities established the Brisbane Universities Languages Alliance, which offers nine languages to students from three universities. Another institution providing innovative solutions in these difficult times is ANU'S Australian Centre on China in the World. Led by Professor Ben Hillman, the Centre for China in the World has become a nation-leading institution for building risk informed China capability. Professor Hillman has played an innovative role in building pathways for students to develop their Chinese language capability from high school to university and through to postgraduate study.

Initiatives like this are commendable, and, with leadership and coordination from ATEC, initiatives of this kind could have a system-wide impact. The ATEC is an opportunity to provide oversight and coordination to help address some of these problems. We've seen submissions and witnesses in this inquiry say the same thing over and over again. Professor Hainge again has said:

To recognise that we need a coordinated national system is critical. I think we're at an ideal moment with ATEC coming online. This is a body that has stood up to talk about arrangements with universities that extend beyond the life of a single government.

In their written submission to the inquiry, the University of Queensland wrote that Asia capability 'should be advanced by the Australian Tertiary Education Commissions university compacts'. As the University of Queensland wrote:

Not only should there be incentives for universities with educational offerings and research capabilities in Asia literacy, but there should also be incentives for these institutions to expand the reach of their offerings to students studying at other universities. To do this, it will be necessary to find innovative solutions that enable students to add the study of Asian languages and cultures into their degree programs.

The Australian Academy of the Humanities likewise said that ATEC 'should acknowledge Asia capability as one of Australia's priority national capabilities, monitor national gaps and opportunities and set benchmarks through mission based compacts'.

Professor Michael Wesley from the University of Melbourne said:

… ATEC is a real opportunity to have a national approach to Asia capability at our universities.

And we need it now. Our region is increasingly dynamic, complex and consequential. Fundamental assumptions about Australian strategic and foreign policy are being challenged. We need the skills and capabilities to make our own way in the region. To be effective in our own region, we need our leaders and our institutions to be Asia capable. Unless we choose to make developing Asia capability a priority as a nation, we are choosing to leave our future security and prosperity to be determined by others.

Universities play a critical role in developing the Asia capability we need for our future. We heard it consistently through the parliamentary inquiry, and ATEC, with its own decision-making powers and responsibility for new mission based compacts with individual universities, presents an opportunity to get our universities back on track when it comes to developing the Asia capability that Australia needs.

I congratulate Professor Mary O'Kane and Distinguished Professor Larissa Behrendt for their work as interim commissioners of ATEC. (Time expired)

Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Education has the ability to change the trajectory of a person's life forever. Education is one of Labor's deepest values. Its transformative power has the ability to change potential into opportunity. It widens the circle. Where you start out in life should not limit how far you go, and that's what this debate is about. The Australian Universities Accord is not a quick fix; it's a long-term plan for reform over the next decades and the decades after that.

The accord is clear about the future—more jobs will need more skills—and this is about building trust that you can carry throughout your education and trust that the sector and the government want you to succeed and thrive. Over the coming decades, we must lift the amount of workers with a certificate, diploma or a degree to about 80 per cent. That means more people at TAFE, more people at university and action is needed now to make sure that we prepare our tertiary system for Australian skills needs not just for today but for tomorrow.

This is not only an economic task. It's about fairness. We must break the old divide between vocational education and higher education. I think that that's particularly important because often what we see in workplaces is the best collaboration that happens is through those that have had vocational education backgrounds, who often have much more practical experiences, as opposed to university educated people, like myself, who are based in a lot of theory. Together those people can collaborate, and that's where we can see the next level of innovation. It's important that we remove invisible barriers that hold too many young people back, especially in our outer suburbs, regions and the bush. This legislation is about stewardship and a system that is aligned, planned and fair, so I rise to support the Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) Bill.

In February 2024, the government released the final accord report. It set the path for reform, recognising the need for additional skills and the rising demand. It made clear that, to reach this 80 per cent goal, we need more students not just starting both TAFE and university but succeeding in them, so we must act now to set up our tertiary system. This government has already implemented 31 of the 47 recommendations in part or in full. Students can already see the change. They can feel it. We are doubling the number of university study hubs, with 20 new regional and 14 suburban hubs. This brings higher education closer to students. It cuts the distance and the cost. As someone who grew up in regional WA, I see that it's important that we lower the barriers as much as possible. I've seen people from regional communities or from outer suburban areas drop out of uni because the travel was just too much.

We are increasing the number of free university bridging courses. More people can take the first step with confidence. We also, for the first time, introduced paid prac for teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work. These are skills that are in demand, and placement poverty should not be a barrier to care based professions. Providers now must allocate at least 40 per cent of the student services amenity fee to student led organisations—because a student voice matters and campus life matters. Often what happens at university, not just in the classroom but on the campus, are the things that help prepare you for the rest of your career. The conversations that I had at the tavern or in the library were just as important and those in the classroom. I was lucky enough to be Curtin Student Guild president, and what I'd say about student voices is that the goal is to make your university the best place to study, and that happened to also be the goal of the vice-chancellor, who at the time was Lance Twomey. We worked together and we achieved some amazing things, and I can't wait to see what amazing collaboration happens between the student unions and universities to make sure that our universities are fantastic places. We had such a productive relationship with that vice-chancellor that we named a bar after him—the Twomey bar.

In addition, we have demand driven, Commonwealth supported places that are now available to all First Nations students when they meet the entry standards. Equity means real access, and people who want to take the step and get access to a tertiary education should not be held back. We have established a National Student Ombudsman and a national code to prevent and respond to gender based violence. Safety and accountability should not be negotiable. We need to make sure that students feel safe on campus irrespective of their religious background, their gender or their sexuality. We have made HECS fairer. A 20 per cent cut has been made to HECS debts, and indexation is capped at the lower end of the CPI or the WPI. We have also established marginal repayments and higher minimum repayment thresholds. This lightens the load so graduates can build their futures. This is a tangible way to help young and new professionals as they start out their careers.

These are not abstract changes. They make study more accessible. They make campuses safer. They make the cost of learning fairer. Tangible ambition in education cannot slide backwards. It needs a steward. If we are serious about the accord, we need an institution that can think long term. It must bring coherence across the VET and higher education sectors. It must monitor progress. It must keep reform moving. This bill establishes that steward, the Australian Tertiary Education Commission, or ATEC. Creating a system steward was a key accord recommendation. It is essential to building the tertiary system that our future needs. What will ATEC do? It will start by encouraging provider diversity, different missions, shared purpose and better choices for students. It will also provide expert advice to government on higher education settings, stable rules, clear signals and evidence based change. It will monitor skills and equity targets, track what matters and fix what isn't working. It will help keep the system honest. It will also join up the system so students can get the qualifications they need when they need them.

The interim ATEC commenced on 1 July 2025. It was initially led by Professor Mary O'Kane, Distinguished Professor Larissa Behrendt and Professor Barney Glover. Professor Tom Calma and the Hon. Fiona Nash have since been appointed commissioners, replacing Professor O'Kane and Professor Behrendt. Professor Barney Glover is now acting chief commissioner alongside his role of Commissioner of Jobs and Skills Australia. Their work has laid the foundation for the permanent commission, which this bill establishes. The accord spans more than one budget cycle. It will outlast one ministerial term, and ATEC will give us the capability and continuity to deliver.

When directed by government, ATEC will also allocate the number of domestic student places, within a system allocation set by government, and allocate international places when required. This system uses system-wide levers to meet the national needs. ATEC will be responsible for implementing new mission based compacts with universities. This will give universities room to pursue their goals and their missions. They will also drive diversity in the system, deliver on national priorities and respond to student and community needs. ATEC will also implement a new funding system to do two things: provide demand driven places for equity students at a systems level and deliver demand driven, needs based funding that recognises the number of low-SES students, First Nations students and students studying at regional campuses.

Access is vital. Participation and completion are vital too. The new settings do both. ATEC will advise government on policy settings and strategic direction; on the cost of teaching and learning; on student demand; on how to meet current and future skills and knowledge needs; and on lifting access, participation and outcomes for people who face systemic barriers. ATEC will also advise on how to bring higher education and VET closer together. ATEC will work closely with Jobs and Skills Australia, TEQSA, the Australian Research Council, the National Centre for Vocational Education Research and, of course, the states and territories. Its advice and decisions will be informed by the best evidence across sectors and jurisdictions.

Every year, ATEC will publish a state of the tertiary education system report. It will track emerging trends and systems-level challenges, progress on participation and attainment targets, opportunities to better join up VET and higher education, whether we are meeting Australia's skills and knowledge demands, and how well the system is removing barriers for underrepresented groups. ATEC commissioners will also report to the Minister for Education on higher education matters and to both the Minister for Education and the Minister for Skills and Training on the joined-up tertiary system. The minister cannot direct ATEC on the content of its advice or instruct it to make a particular decision about a provider. Independence matters. Trust matters.

Alongside this bill is the University Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2025. It amends the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Act and the Higher Education Support Act 2003 to enable ATEC to advise on the Higher Education Standards Framework and to facilitate mission based compacts. The governance must line up with the goals. I recall taking the education minister to Curtin University earlier this year. He spoke about the accord's vision. He linked it to Labor's tradition of reform—what Gough Whitlam called the uplifting the horizons and John Curtin's simple call to 'look ever forward'.

He also made time, early, to sit with student leaders. We went around the circle. Students could see in dollars what the HECS changes, that 20 per cent relief, would mean to them, and that relief was obvious. It was on their faces. The motivation was real. This has gone some way to building trust in the tertiary education system, and now we are legislating an authority to ensure that that trust is not lost again.

The optimism that I heard at Curtin sits alongside a national tradition. After the war, the John Curtin era set a course for national renewal and stewardship in higher education. Today, with ATEC, we renew that spirit for a more complex age. The mission is the same: keep the doors open, lift horizons and make the future fair. This bill is about trust. It's about trust that education is not for the lucky few; it is for anyone with talent and drive. When we invest in people, they give back to their communities, to the economy and to the nation.

The accord recognises a simple fact: higher education cannot simply drift; it must be guided. We must maintain trust by maintaining consistent principles that align with our Australian values. Education must be shaped around students, communities and our country. That's why ATEC matters. It provides long-term vision and stability; it puts equity at the core of success; it makes skills planning real, coordinated and responsive; and it lets universities focus on what they do best, which is teaching and research.

We must think about the people behind the numbers: the first-in-family student who changes a family's story, the regional student who deserves the same chance as anyone in a capital city, the older Australian who needs to reskill and wants to contribute and the young person who won't be limited by their postcode. Labor has always known this. Education is nation-building work. The Australian Universities Accord carries that tradition forward. This bill gives the governance and the staying power for that success. For these reasons, I commend the bill to the House.

Anne Stanley (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to make my contribution to the legislation before the House, which is the Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) Bill 2025 and the Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2025. The electorate that I represent is home to the outstanding Western Sydney University. With campuses in Liverpool, Campbelltown, Parramatta and Hawkesbury, Western Sydney University is a vital part of life in my part of Sydney.

The history of WSU goes back to the vision of Gough Whitlam, who is my predecessor in Werriwa. It was Gough, through the then education minister Kim Beazley Sr, who announced nearly $100,000 in funding to the New South Wales government for the establishment of a university in Campbelltown. It would seem like a modest sum, but 50 years ago it was the start of something wonderful that would shape our part of the world for the better. Years later, Mr Whitlam cemented his support for WSU when he chose it to be the home of his prime ministerial collection and the Whitlam Institute—both are well worth a visit.

Labor is the party of education. The Albanese Labor government carries the standard now for the current generation. Labor has always believed that through education living standards can rise, poverty will be reduced and opportunities will be created for all Australians and for a prosperous Australia. In February 2024, the government released the final report of the Australian Universities Accord. The review was asked to create a long-term plan for reform. The accord's final report states:

Higher education is vital to Australia's future: the knowledge, skills and research it produces enable us to be an economically prosperous, socially equitable and environmentally sustainable nation. By encouraging intellectual endeavour, creativity and personal accomplishment, it adds to the quality of our lives. Pursuing truth through free discussion, it promotes democracy and civic values.

One of the astonishing findings of the final report was that, by 2050, the number of people in the workforce who need a certificate, diploma or degree will rise to about 80 per cent. This is a challenging and sobering statistic, but it's a challenge that we need to embrace and meet.

The accord made 47 recommendations and, of these, 31 have already been implemented. Those already implemented include increasing the number of free university bridging courses, introducing paid prac for the first time, cutting 20 per cent off HECS debts and doubling the number of university study hubs. Regarding the last one, I'm particularly proud to say that there is now a hub in Macquarie Fields at the TAFE. While no longer in the electorate of Werriwa, I fought hard for the hub, knowing it would make a real, different and lasting change for many. Just before Christmas, the Minister for Education opened the Liverpool suburban study hub, in the TAFE building on Moore Street and Bigge Street in Liverpool. The hub will support more than 350 students a week in 60 study places. There are individual and collaborative areas with computers, wi-fi, printers and videoconferencing. It's a wonderful addition to Liverpool and for the students of south-west Sydney.

A key recommendation of the accord was the establishment of the Australian Tertiary Education Commission, ATEC. The bill before us now aims to implement this recommendation. An interim ATEC, which started on 1 July 2025, has laid the foundations for the establishment of the permanent body. Professor Tom Calma and the Hon. Fiona Nash have recently been appointed as commissioners, replacing Professor Mary O'Kane and Distinguished Professor Behrendt. They join Professor Barney Glover, who has been appointed as chief commissioner alongside his role as commissioner of Jobs and Skills Australia.

The role of ATEC is multifaceted and broad. It will be responsible for implementing new mission based compacts with universities. These compacts will give universities the flexibility they need to pursue goals while also contributing to the overall diversity within the higher education system, helping to deliver higher education priorities and meeting the needs of students and communities. In addition, ATEC will be responsible for implementing a new funding system—a system that will provide demand-driven places for equity students at a system level. ATEC will also provide expert advice to the government on a range of education matters, including policy settings, strategic direction, student demand, the cost of teaching and learning in higher education, and improving access and participation. The ATEC will have three commissioners and will report to the Minister for Education on higher education matters and to both the Minister for Education and the Minister for Skills and Training on delivering a more connected tertiary education system. Annually, ATEC will produce a state and territory education system report on the tertiary education system.

The second bill before us is the Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2025. This bill amends the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 and the Higher Education Support Act 2003. The result of this bill is to allow ATEC to advise the minister on higher education frameworks and facilitates the new mission based compact process. The Australian higher education system is first class. Its role in helping Australians acquire the skills and qualifications they need will only grow with time.

For Australia, there's no turning back. We must embrace the challenges identified in the final report of the Australian Universities Accord. Not only that; we need to ensure that the overall governance of our tertiary education system makes us a match for decades to come. The establishment of ATEC will mean that our best and sharpest minds will be devoted to this incredibly important sector. I commend the bills to the House and thank the minister for his leadership in implementing these reforms in the university sector.

Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank all members for their contributions to this debate. The Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) Bill 2025 is a bill to establish the Australian Tertiary Education Commission, the ATEC. Establishing the ATEC is a key recommendation of the Australian Universities Accord, and it will be the job of the ATEC to help drive and steer the big reforms in the accord, like demand-driven equity places and needs based funding. It'll also independently negotiate compacts with individual universities. It'll get the sector to work more like a system and build connections between the vocational education and training and the higher education systems. It'll provide independent, expert advice, and it will help to drive real and lasting reform. That's what the ATEC is about.

I acknowledge in particular the members of the crossbench who've engaged with me in my office on this bill. I note the amendments circulated by the member for Kooyong and the member for Curtin; I know that tertiary education is an important issue for them and for their stakeholders. Although the government is not in a position to support the amendments offered at this time, I'm grateful for the thoughtful engagement on this and the universities accord reforms more broadly. I can indicate publicly, as I have privately, that I'll consider these amendments alongside the report of the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee when we receive that report, in just over two weeks time, and I note that their inquiry is currently underway. With that, I commend the bill to the House.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the bill be now read a second time. To this the honourable member for Berowra has moved an amendment that all words after 'That' be omitted with a view to substituting other words. The House is dealing with the question that this amendment be agreed to.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the bill be read a second time.