International Student Cap

On 4 August 2025, Federal Education Minister Jason Clare announced a National Planning Level of 295,000 international student places for 2026 to manage growth in a ‘sustainable’ way. This is a 9% increase from an earlier cap of 270,000.

National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence

On 25 August 2025, the Federal Government passed legislation to establish a mandatory National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence.

For the first time, the National Code will set standards and requirements that all higher education providers must meet to make students and staff safer, including in student accommodation.

Under the National Code, universities will be required to take evidence-based steps to prevent gender-based violence, including providing education and training to students and staff.

More Places for Medical Students

On 27 August 2025, it was announced that universities can now apply for Commonwealth supported places for an additional 100 medical students, increasing to 150 students per year from 2028. These additional places are particularly focused on growing the pool of GPs. To secure places, universities need to demonstrate that they will train more GPs with more rotations in primary care.

HECS Debts to be Reduced by 20%

On 5 October 2025, the Minister announced that the Australian Taxation Office will begin applying cuts to all HECS debts from mid-November 2025. Although the move to indexation and the reduction has passed into legislation, this is first announcement that the process of making cuts is to begin. It is anticipated that all students will see their balances reduced by the end of the year. The reduction only applies to debt that exists as of 1 June 2025.

On 9 October 2025, the omnibus Education Legislation Amendment (Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025 was introduced to the House of Representatives. Its intention is to:

• strengthen the integrity of the international education sector (‘it will help to crack down on dodgy practices’),
• expand access to medical places for Indigenous students so that ‘every Indigenous student who meets the entry requirements for medicine will receive a Commonwealth Supported Place.’ The government has already uncapped funding for all Indigenous students enrolling in other degrees, so that the number of Indigenous students in higher education is gradually increasing. The Minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, said, ‘In creating more opportunities for young Aboriginal people to become doctors, we are working towards Closing the Gap in education and in health.’ In 2026, the government intends to ‘expand this demand driven system to all Australians from disadvantaged backgrounds.’
• improve information collected about early education and care, as ‘another step in building a universal early childhood education and care system that is safe, affordable and accessible’.

Just released. The report was not due until December 2025, but its early completion and the rapidity with which the Minister has responded, underlines its importance.

On the release of the report on 18 October 2025, the Minister for Education, Jason Clare, commented ‘If you don’t think there are challenges in university governance, you’ve been living under a rock. These are important reforms that help make sure our universities meet the standards their students, staff and whole communities expect.’

The full final report is available at https://lnkd.in/gPGRkbhZ. The Federal Government’s response summarised in the media release that follows.

‘The Australian Government will implement a new set of University Governance Principles to strengthen accountability, transparency and public trust in Australian universities.

The Principles respond to serious concerns about the standards of university governance. They will be written into Commonwealth regulation through the Threshold Standards. Universities will be required to report annually on compliance with the principles on an ‘if not, why not’ basis to the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA).

The Principles were drafted by the Expert Council on University Governance, which included Chair Melinda Cilento, Sharan Burrow AC and Bruce Cowley.

[It was advised by representatives from each of the following organisations; University Chancellors Council, Australian Institute of Company Directors, Governance Institute of Australia, Australian Indigenous Governance Institute, Law Council of Australia, TEQSA, and Universities Australia. In addition, an independent expert, The Hon. Mr Robert French, was engaged throughout the process.]

The Australian Government, in collaboration with the Commonwealth Remuneration Tribunal, states and territories, and stakeholders including the Universities Chancellors Council, will now establish a remuneration framework for Vice-Chancellor remuneration.

University governing bodies will also be required to publish:

• outcomes of meetings and decisions taken,
• consultancy spending, its purpose, value and justification,
• Vice-Chancellors’ external roles,
• annual remuneration reports in line with requirements for public companies, and
• composition of governing bodies.

Skills matrices of universities will be reviewed to ensure they include members with higher education sector expertise and student and staff voices.

Australian universities receive over $22 billion in public funding each year and play a central role in Australia’s civic, economic and social life through education and research.

With this public investment and their public role, universities should exhibit high standards of governance, but too many are falling short.

These Principles establish a clear governance framework for universities, similar to the ASX Corporate Governance Principles for listed companies.

The Principles set strong expectations across eight key themes:

• Accountability: Governance structures and accountabilities are well-defined, effective and transparent.
• Diversity of perspectives: Composition of the governing body enables purpose and performance.
• Independence: Academic standards and freedom are respected and protected.
• Transparency: Purpose, strategy and performance are clear and openly communicated.
• Trustworthy: The university operates lawfully, ethically, responsibly, and consistent with its public purpose.
• Inclusive and responsive: Expectations of the university's community and stakeholders are understood, respected and responded to.
• Sustainable: Risks are understood and managed effectively.
• Responsible: Workforce and remuneration are structured fairly and responsibly.

TEQSA will be able to take compliance action against universities that repeatedly fail to meet the Principles.’

Summarised from an article in Future Campus, 15 Sept 2025

Questions are being raised about the shelf-life of degrees – how long a qualification provides useful knowledge before it is judged to be out of date and the importance of degrees that equipped graduates for the future.

This partly accounts for the rapid growth and take up of micro-credentials for professional development since their introduction at UWA in 2021.

In a paper co-authored with Professor Hamish Coates, Professor Lily Kong of Singapore notes that as people live longer, and technology is expected to change the nature of jobs in future, a single degree cannot be expected to equip an individual for life.

“Education, like employment, needs to be spread across a lifespan…. Three or four years of study at university can no longer sustain a 50-year career, or even a 60-year career as we live longer lives. What matters most is resilience: the ability to adapt, to keep learning, and to navigate change with confidence.”

The authors argue the future-proofing of Higher Education lay in adjusting priorities, by:

• Going beyond the cognitive,
• Stimulating independence, exploration and experimentation,
• Accentuating the humanities,
• Fostering interdisciplinary depth, and
• Innovating education policy and strategies.