{"id":"BILL-s1460","name":"Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2025","slug":"universities-accord-national-higher-education-code-to-prevent-and-respond-to-gender-based-violence-consequential-amendments-bill-2025","collection":"bill","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":446014,"registerId":"commonwealth-BILL-s1460-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-05-05","status":"royal_assent","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[],"analysis":{"summary":{"status_summary":"The bill received royal assent on 28 August 2025 and is now Act No. 35 of 2025.","complexity_score":2,"likely_questions":["Which higher education providers must comply with the code?","When do the amendments take effect?"],"complexity_factors":["Consequential amendment to the Higher Education Support Act 2003","Links new code compliance to existing provider requirements"],"plain_english_summary":"The Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2025 amends the Higher Education Support Act 2003. It makes compliance with the National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence a quality and accountability requirement for higher education providers approved under the Act. This bill was introduced together with the primary legislation that establishes the code itself.\n\nHigher education providers approved under the Higher Education Support Act 2003 are the main entities affected by this amendment. These providers must ensure they meet the code's requirements to satisfy the quality and accountability conditions necessary for their approval status. The change integrates the new code into the existing regulatory framework for higher education in Australia.\n\nThe legislative process began in the Senate with introduction and first reading on 23 July 2025. It underwent second reading debate over several days in late July 2025. The Senate agreed to the second reading and third reading on 31 July 2025. Following this, the bill moved to the House of Representatives where it was introduced on 31 July 2025.\n\nIn the House of Representatives, the second reading was moved and debated on 25 August 2025. The House agreed to the second reading and third reading on the same day. The bill then passed both houses of Parliament on 25 August 2025.\n\nNow that the bill has received royal assent, the amendments are in force. Higher education providers will be required to demonstrate compliance with the code as part of their quality and accountability obligations under the Higher Education Support Act 2003. This ensures the code has a formal enforcement pathway through the existing higher education regulatory system."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This consequential amendment does not expand the original policy beyond its core purpose. It simply attaches the National Higher Education Code to the HESA regulatory framework by making compliance a HESA quality/accountability requirement and sets staged commencement dates. The substantive scope and requirements are determined by the separate Universities Accord (Code) Act and the Code it creates; this Act only integrates that Code into HESA rather than adding new categories of providers or new powers beyond existing HESA mechanisms."},"complexity_factors":["Single substantive amendment: insertion of one new section (19‑20) into the Higher Education Support Act 2003","Short text length (one paragraph of operative text with one commencement staging provision)","Cross‑reference to external primary instrument: depends on definitions and the Code made under the Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender‑based Violence) Act 2025","Two different commencement dates (staged application) for Table A/B providers vs other providers","Commencement dependency: the amendment does not take effect unless the Universities Accord (Code) Act commences (conditional commencement)","No new enforcement detail in this Act — enforcement relies on existing HESA mechanisms and the separate Code, requiring the reader to consult multiple instruments"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law changes (mechanically)\n\n- Inserts a single new requirement into the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA).  The new provision is section 19‑20 (see Schedule 1).\n- Section 19‑20 says that any higher education provider that falls within the meaning of the Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender‑based Violence) Act 2025 must comply with the National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender‑based Violence (the Code) made under that Act.\n- The new requirement starts on different dates depending on provider type: Table A and Table B providers are covered from 1 January 2026; all other covered providers are covered from 1 January 2027. The Act only takes effect if the Universities Accord (Code) Act commences (see Commencement).\n\nWho this affects\n\n- All higher education providers that are within the scope of the Universities Accord (Code) Act (these are the providers “within the meaning” of that Act). In practice that will include publicly funded universities (Table A), some other approved providers (Table B), and other providers as defined by the Universities Accord Act.\n- Smaller or private providers are affected too if they fall within the Universities Accord Act's definition; they simply start having to comply from 1 January 2027 rather than 1 January 2026.\n\nWhy it matters (official purpose and practical implications)\n\n- Officially, the amendment makes compliance with the National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender‑based Violence a quality and accountability requirement for providers approved under HESA. In other words, compliance is treated as part of the legal framework that governs whether providers meet approval/funding obligations under HESA (see inserted section 19‑20).\n\n- Practical effects and implementation mechanics:\n  - Who decides what must be done: the substantive rules and obligations will be set out in the National Higher Education Code created under the separate Universities Accord Act. This amending Act does not itself set the rules — it requires providers to follow the Code once it exists (section 19‑20(1)).\n  - Who enforces compliance: enforcement and consequences for non‑compliance will operate through HESA’s existing quality, accountability and approval mechanisms (the amendment integrates the Code into that framework rather than creating a new enforcement regime in this Act).\n  - Timing and staging: larger/established Table A and B providers are brought in earlier (from 1 Jan 2026); other covered providers have an extra year before the requirement applies (from 1 Jan 2027).\n\nCosts, incentives, trade‑offs and risks (concrete mechanisms)\n\n- Who pays: compliance costs (policy change, staff training, new reporting, complaint handling, recordkeeping, possible investigations) will be borne by the affected providers. The Act itself does not provide funding for those costs.\n- Behaviour changes: providers will need to adopt or change policies, processes and possibly staffing to meet the Code’s standards. They may change admissions, campus policies, student support arrangements, contracts with third‑party service providers, and internal reporting systems to comply.\n- Competitive and size effects: because the requirement ties to being a HESA‑approved provider, providers who rely on HESA funding or status must comply. Smaller or newer providers may face relatively larger compliance costs as a share of their resources; the staggered commencement gives them extra time (section 19‑20(2)).\n- Implementation risk and discretion: the substantive content, monitoring, reporting and sanctions are set out in the Code made under the Universities Accord Act (not in this amending Act). That centralises substantive rulemaking in the Code and leaves detail and discretion to that instrument. The amendment therefore imports rules from another Act by reference rather than spelling them out here (section 19‑20(1)).\n- Substitution and unintended effects: providers may reallocate resources from other activities to meet Code requirements, renegotiate service contracts, or change the way they document incidents and responses. The Act does not specify sanctions or processes; those will be determined under HESA and the Code.\n\nKey textual pointers\n\n- Inserted provision: section 19‑20 in HESA (Schedule 1 of this Act).\n- Commencement linkage: this Act commences only once the Universities Accord (Code) Act commences; the staged application dates are set out in section 19‑20(2).\n\nBottom line\n\n- This is a targeted, consequential amendment: it does not create the substantive Code; instead it makes compliance with that Code a legal quality/accountability requirement for HESA‑approved higher education providers and sets staged start dates (1 Jan 2026 for Table A/B; 1 Jan 2027 for others). The financial and operational impacts fall primarily on the affected providers, while the details and enforcement mechanisms will come from the Code and HESA’s existing powers."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/universities-accord-national-higher-education-code-to-prevent-and-respond-to-gender-based-violence-consequential-amendments-bill-2025","history":"/api/acts/universities-accord-national-higher-education-code-to-prevent-and-respond-to-gender-based-violence-consequential-amendments-bill-2025/history","analysis":"/api/acts/universities-accord-national-higher-education-code-to-prevent-and-respond-to-gender-based-violence-consequential-amendments-bill-2025/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/universities-accord-national-higher-education-code-to-prevent-and-respond-to-gender-based-violence-consequential-amendments-bill-2025/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/universities-accord-national-higher-education-code-to-prevent-and-respond-to-gender-based-violence-consequential-amendments-bill-2025/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/universities-accord-national-higher-education-code-to-prevent-and-respond-to-gender-based-violence-consequential-amendments-bill-2025/documents"}}