The Senate Standing Committee on Education and Employment has released its various reports on the federal government’s signature policy piece emerging from the Australian Universities Accord – the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (ATEC).
With the appointment in January of Professor Tom Calma and the Hon Fiona Nash as Commissioners of the interim ATEC, along with the appointment of acting Chief Commissioner Professor Barney Glover, the progress of two key pieces of legislation through the federal parliament: Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) Bill 2025 and the Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2025, will enable the appointment of statutory commissioners at the new commission and advance the important work of tertiary harmonisation – something that the Centre for Education and Training has been a vocal advocate for.
The Committee's report outlines major reforms designed to strengthen national stewardship of Australia’s tertiary education system. Central to the legislation is the creation of ATEC, which will be tasked with long-term system planning, improved coordination between higher education and VET, and advancing equity for learners facing systemic barriers.
The report highlights ATEC’s core initiatives, including mission-based compacts tailored to each university, an annual State of the Tertiary Education System report, and a unified National Tertiary Education Objective. These measures aim to address current gaps in governance, enhance system sustainability, and better align tertiary education with national skills needs. The Bills also mandate reviews two and five years after commencement, providing assurance that the model can be adjusted as needed.
The Committee's report finds that there is broad support across the tertiary sector for establishing ATEC as the system’s “sector steward”, noting that stakeholders viewed the ATEC as ‘potentially one of the most consequential transformations of Australian higher education since the Dawkins reforms’ of the late 1980s. The Committee reports that ATEC can help resolve a system described by some as 'fragmented, difficult to navigate and poorly aligned to the needs of learners, employers and the economy', and can assist in 'rebuilding community trust, confidence and restoring the social compact'.
Opposition members presented dissent and said they would not support the Bills.
You can read a copy of the Committee’s report and dissenting reports here.
