Australia’s Education Legislation Amendment (Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025 has cleared its second reading in Parliament and will progress without amendment, marking a major step toward overhauling the country’s international education framework.

Reintroduced by education minister Jason Clare following an unsuccessful attempt in 2024, the Bill seeks to “strengthen the integrity of the international education sector” and protect Australia’s global reputation for high-quality learning.

“These changes safeguard our reputation as a world leader in education, both here and overseas,”
— Jason Clare, Minister for Education

Clare emphasised that the legislation targets unethical behaviour while supporting providers committed to best practice.

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🎓 Tightened Rules for Education Agents

A central focus of the Bill is tougher oversight of education agents. The reforms broaden the legal definition of education agents and introduce new transparency rules requiring disclosure of commissions and payments.

Assistant minister for international education Julian Hill said these measures aim to curb misconduct by a minority of agents engaging in student-poaching and unethical recruitment tactics.

“The behaviour of unscrupulous agents onshore pursuing transfers has corrupted the market.”
— Julian Hill

The legislation will enable the banning of agent commissions for onshore student transfers — a move widely debated across the sector.

While acknowledging industry concerns, Hill said urgent action was necessary to stop agents “buying and selling students” between providers for profit.

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🌏 New Rules for Offshore Course Delivery

The Bill also introduces tighter oversight for institutions delivering Australian degrees overseas. Providers will now require authorisation from the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) to operate offshore.

Hill reassured the sector that the changes are not meant to add red tape but to ensure transparency and protect Australia’s international academic reputation.

“Everyone currently delivering automatically gets authorised — they just have to tell the regulator.”

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🛑 Concerns Over Ministerial Powers

Independent MP Allegra Spender expressed conditional support but raised concerns about broad new ministerial powers to cancel courses or course registrations without regulator consultation.

“This is a significant centralisation of power and one that carries risk.”

Spender warned that courses could potentially be cancelled based on subjective judgments about their value to national skills priorities.

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🤝 Strengthening Reputation & Global Partnerships

Hill underscored that the reforms are crucial as Australia expands its footprint in transnational education, especially in Southeast Asia.

He highlighted that one poor-performing provider abroad could undermine the reputation of the entire sector.