The Australian Government has introduced the Universities Accord (Opening the Doors of Opportunity) Bill 2026, which would implement several key recommendations from the Australian Universities Accord review and reshape Commonwealth funding across the university sector.
As outlined in the Minister for Education's second reading speech, the Bill intends to support Australia having more tertiary graduates, stronger participation by under-represented groups, and a higher education system that is better aligned with future workforce needs. The Accord review had identified persistent gaps in participation and completion for students from low socio-economic, regional and Indigenous backgrounds, as well as growing pressures on university funding and planning.
A significant change in this package is the creation of a managed growth funding system. Rather than relying predominantly on student demand to determine growth in Commonwealth Supported Places (CSPs), the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (ATEC) would allocate funded places to universities. The Government argues that this would allow growth to be directed to areas of national need while providing greater certainty about public investment.
The Bill also introduces a new needs-based funding model. Universities would receive additional funding linked to the enrolment and support of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, including First Nations students, students from low socio-economic backgrounds, and students studying in regional and remote areas. The legislation requires that these funds be used for student support and regional delivery purposes.
Another notable feature is a framework for allocating international student places. The Bill allows a future government to set a national limit on international student commencements, while ATEC would be responsible for distributing those places among providers.
The legislation also strengthens mission-based compacts between universities and ATEC. These agreements are intended to set institution-specific objectives and allow performance to be assessed against agreed outcomes.
If passed, most funding related reforms would commence from 2027, with independent evaluations of the new arrangements required before 2031.
