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Home Parliamentary Business Committees Senate Committees Senate Standing Committees on Education and Employment Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) Bill 2025 and a related bill Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) Bill 2025 and the Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2025

Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) Bill 2025 and the Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2025

REPORT - February 2026

Inquiry home page Committee home page
Full Report (PDF)

Contents

Members
Chapter 1 - Introduction
  • Consultation on the bills
  • Overview of the bills
  • Financial implications of both bills
  • Consideration by other parliamentary committees
  • Conduct of the committee's inquiry
  • Acknowledgements
Chapter 2 - Key issues
  • Support for establishing the ATEC
  • Comments on specific aspects of the bills
  • Committee view
  • Introduction
  • Overview
  • Structural Flaws in the National Tertiary Objective
  • ATEC: A Regulator In All But Name
  • Structural and Drafting Deficiencies
  • Executive Direction, Mission-Based Compacts and the Diminution of Parliamentary Oversight
  • Suspension Powers, Default Compacts and the Absence of Merits Review
  • Financial Implications and Regulatory Burden
  • Conclusion
Australian Greens' dissenting report
  • Introduction
  • Ensuring the Commission's independence, expertise and resourcing
  • Sustainably and transparently funding our universities
  • Reforming Job Ready Graduates
Appendix 1 - Submissions and additional information
Appendix 2 - Public hearing and witnesses
In this section
  • Chapters
    • Chapter 1 - Introduction
    • Chapter 2 - Key issues
  • Other information
    • Members
    • Coalition Senators' dissenting report
    • Australian Greens' dissenting report
    • Senator David Pocock's additional comments
    • Appendix 1 - Submissions and additional information
    • Appendix 2 - Public hearing and witnesses
Full Report (PDF)
70 Submissions
1 Public hearings
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