FED Fines for Not Allowed Offshore Qualifications and Education Providers Must Report More

Education Legislation Amendment (Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025

28 Nov 2025: Passed by Parliament and signed off by the governor.

This bill kicks in: TBA

House of Representatives

Senate

Assent

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Topics

education agents education quality government oversight higher education international students offshore education professional licensing university registration

Introduced by: The Hon Jason Clare MP (ALP)

Links to official parliament websites

Official page: progress through parliament

Effects of this bill

If this bill passes, it means that:

Higher education providers face civil penalties of 120 penalty units (2026: $43,680) for offering Australian courses or giving Australian qualifications without offshore authorisation.
Education providers must notify authorities within 10 business days if an education agent or associate takes ownership or control of the provider.
Registered higher education providers must report specific events or changes in circumstances to TEQSA in writing.
TEQSA can grant authorisation for an entity to become an authorised offshore provider; it must notify the applicant of the decision within 30 days.
The Education Minister can stop an ESOS agency from dealing with certain applications or processing applications to add courses to a registration until a specified date.
Education providers must report how much money and what non-monetary benefits they give to each education agent, as well as how many students each agent recruits.
TEQSA can allow an entity to become an authorised offshore provider if the study takes place at offshore premises for 12 months or less.

The Debate

What different members said when this bill was debated:

Jason Clare ALP

“I move: That this bill be now read a second time. This bill makes a number of changes to improve integrity, improve access and improve the information we collect about the education system. First, it strengthens the integrity of the international education sector. Second, it expands access for Indigenous students to study medicine by uncapping Commonwealth supported places in medical courses.”

Official source →

Julian Leeser LIB

“I rise to speak on the Education Legislation Amendment (Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025.”

Official source →

Tim Ayres ALP

“I move: That these bills be now read a second time. I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard. Leave granted.”

Official source →