{"id":"F2025L01006","name":"Universities Accord (Student Support and Other Measures) (Adelaide University) Transitional Rules 2025","slug":"universities-accord-student-support-and-other-measures-adelaide-university-transitional-rules-2025","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":442938,"registerId":"F2025L01006-fast-fetch-1775957850996","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Universities Accord (Student Support and Other Measures) (Adelaide University) Transitional Rules 2025","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n![Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia](image.001.jpeg)\n\n \n\nUniversities Accord (Student Support and Other Measures) (Adelaide University) Transitional Rules 2025\n\nI, Jason Clare, Minister for Education, make the following rules.\n\nDated  26/08/2025  \n\nJason Clare\n\nMinister for Education\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\n1  Name\n\n2  Commencement\n\n3  Authority\n\n4  Definitions\n\n5  Transitional rules in relation to funding agreement for Adelaide University\n\n6  Transitional rules in relation to transfer of enrolments\n\n \n\n \n\n1  Name\n\n  This instrument is the Universities Accord (Student Support and Other Measures) (Adelaide University) Transitional Rules 2025.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this instrument specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.\n\n \n\n- Commencement information\n- Column 1 Column 2 Column 3\n- Provisions Commencement Date/Details\n- 1. The whole of this instrument The later of the following:(a) the day after this instrument is registered; (b) immediately after the commencement of the Proclamation fixing the commencement day for Schedule 5 to the Act.\n\n\nNote:  This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this instrument.\n\n3  Authority\n\n  This instrument is made under item 1 of Schedule 6 to the Universities Accord (Student Support and Other Measures) Act 2024.\n\n4  Definitions\n\nNote: A number of expressions used in this instrument are defined in item 4 of Schedule 5 to the Act, including the following:\n\n(a) merger time;\n\n(b) merging university.\n\n  In this instrument:\n\nAct means the Universities Accord (Student Support and Other Measures) Act 2024.\n\nenabling course has the meaning given by Schedule 1 to the Higher Education Support Act 2003.\n\ncourse of study has the meaning given by Schedule 1 to the Higher Education Support Act 2003.\n\nfunding agreement means an agreement of a kind mentioned in section 30-25 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003.\n\nhigher degree by research means an HDR as defined in the Commonwealth Scholarships Guidelines (Research) 2017, as in force at the time this instrument was made.\n\nunit of study has the meaning given by Schedule 1 to the Higher Education Support Act 2003.\n\n5  Transitional rules in relation to funding agreement for Adelaide University\n\nPurpose of this section\n\n (1) For the purposes of subitems 1(1) and (2) of Schedule 6 to the Act, this section:\n\n (a) prescribes matters of a transitional nature relating to the amendments and repeals made by the Act; and\n\n (b) prescribes modifications of sections 30-25 and 30-28 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 to the extent necessary to give effect to those prescriptions.\n\nMinister may enter pre-commencement funding agreement\n\n (2) The Minister may, on behalf of the Commonwealth:\n\n (a) enter into a funding agreement with Adelaide University before the merger time; and\n\n (b) unilaterally vary that agreement for the purposes of paragraph (3)(c).\n\nNote:  This subsection modifies subsection 30-25(1) of the Higher Education Support Act 2003, which only permits the Minister to enter a funding agreement with a “higher education provider”. Adelaide University will not become a higher education provider until the merger time, but this subsection permits the Minister to enter an agreement before the merger time.\n\n (3) That agreement:\n\n (a) may only commence on and from the merger time; and\n\n (b) must expire at the end of 2026; and\n\n (c) may be entered in an incomplete or provisional form, but must be varied under paragraph (2)(b) into a complete and final form before the merger time. \n\nNote: For paragraph (c)—for example, the maximum basic grant amounts to be specified in the agreement for a grant year must ultimately be the amounts mentioned in section 30‑27 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 as modified by subitem 11(1) of Schedule 5 to the Act. However, the final amount need not be included in the agreement until Adelaide University becomes a Table A provider. As such, this part of the agreement could be left blank in the interim, or a provisional amount could be included.\n\n (4) If an agreement is entered in an incomplete or provisional form in accordance with paragraph (3)(c), then despite section 30-28 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003, the Secretary must instead cause a copy of the funding agreement to be published on the Department’s website within 28 days after the Minister has varied that agreement into a complete and final form.\n\n6  Transitional rules in relation to transfer of enrolments\n\nPurpose of this section\n\n (1) For the purposes of subitems 1(1) and (2) of Schedule 6 to the Act, this section:\n\n (a) prescribes matters of a transitional nature relating to the amendments and repeals made by the Act; and\n\n (b) prescribes modifications of items 7 and 8 of Schedule 5 to the Act to the extent necessary to give effect to those prescriptions.\n\nStudents who will not transfer on 1 January 2026\n\n (2) Subsection (3) applies to a student (a relevant student) who:\n\n (a) is enrolled in a course of study (current course) with a merging university immediately before the merger time; or\n\n (b) is a grandfathered student under the Higher Education Support Act 2003 in relation to a course of study (current course) with a merging university immediately before the merger time.\n\n   (3) Items 7 and 8 of Schedule 5 to the Act do not apply in respect of a relevant student who, immediately before 1 January 2026:\n\n (a) has:\n\n (i) where their current course is an enabling course—completed all of the requirements of that course; or\n\n (ii) in any other case—met all the requirements for the conferral of a higher education award in their current course; or\n\n (b) is enrolled in and has commenced undertaking a unit of study as part of their current course, but has not met all of the requirements to complete that unit; or\n\n (c) both:\n\n (i) is enrolled in a higher degree by research at a merging university; and\n\n (ii) has submitted a thesis for examination that remains under examination.\n\nStudents whose transfer will be delayed to 24 March 2026\n\n  (4) Subsection (5) applies to a relevant student who:\n\n (a) by reason of subsection (3), remains enrolled in a current course with a merging university immediately before 24 March 2026; and\n\n (b) has not, immediately before that date:\n\n (i) where their current course is an enabling course—completed all of the requirements of that course; or\n\n (ii) in any other case—met all the requirements for the conferral of a higher education award in their current course.\n\n (5) Despite subsection (3), items 7 and 8 of Schedule 5 to the Act apply to the student as if the reference to the merger time were a reference to 24 March 2026.\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: facilitating the Adelaide University merger through specific transitional arrangements for funding agreements and student transfers. It does not expand beyond the immediate operational needs of the merger."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple cross-references to the parent Act (Universities Accord (Student Support and Other Measures) Act 2024) and the Higher Education Support Act 2003","Conditional logic with nested exceptions (subsection 6(3) has three alternative conditions, with subsection 6(4) building on the negation of those conditions)","Temporal complexity with multiple key dates (merger time, 1 January 2026, 24 March 2026, end of 2026)","Modification of existing statutory provisions (sections 30-25 and 30-28 of HESA) rather than standalone rules","Defined terms imported from multiple sources (Schedule 1 to HESA, Commonwealth Scholarships Guidelines)","Provisional/incomplete agreement mechanism requiring subsequent variation"],"plain_english_summary":"This bill creates temporary rules to enable the merger of the University of Adelaide and UniSA into “Adelaide University.” It lets the Minister sign a provisional funding deal before the merger (to be finalised by the merger and expiring end‑2026), and sets limited exceptions and timing for transferring students so transfers don’t force mid‑semester or mid‑thesis moves.\n\nIt affects current students of both universities, the new university’s funding certainty, and the Minister’s negotiation timing."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This instrument does not expand or narrow the substantive scope of the Universities Accord Act; it prescribes transitional and procedural modifications to implement the Act for Adelaide University—allowing pre-commencement funding agreements, documenting publication timing, and specifying limited exceptions and a temporary delay for enrolment transfers (ss5–6)."},"complexity_factors":["Conditional commencement tied to the later of registration or a separate proclamation, adding timing complexity (Commencement table, cl.2).","Permits the Minister to enter a funding agreement before Adelaide University becomes a provider and to unilaterally vary it (s5(2)), creating executive discretion to finalise terms pre-merger.","Allows incomplete/provisional agreements to be entered and later completed (s5(3)(c)); finalisation obligation creates sequencing and administrative steps.","Modifies normal publication rules by requiring the Secretary to publish the finalised agreement within 28 days after variation, despite existing s30-28 (s5(4))—an explicit compliance timeline for the Department.","Student-transfer carve-outs and staged delay: exclusions for students who have completed awards or enabling courses, ongoing unit completion, or HDR theses under examination (s6(2)–(3)); and a limited postponement mechanism to 24 March 2026 for certain remaining students (s6(4)–(5)).","Extensive cross-references to other instruments and definitions (Universities Accord Act Schedules, Higher Education Support Act definitions, Commonwealth Scholarships Guidelines), requiring users to consult multiple sources (s4, notes).","Who decides and who pays is clear but concentrated: the Commonwealth (Minister) decides and the Commonwealth funds under the agreement (s5); affected parties are Adelaide University and identified students (s6).","Potential administrative burden on Departmental officers to manage provisional agreements, later variations, publication deadlines, and student-record adjustments tied to specific dates."],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument creates transitional rules for Adelaide University under the Universities Accord Act. It lets the Minister enter (and later finalise) a funding agreement before Adelaide University legally becomes a provider, requires publication once finalised, and sets limited exceptions and a possible postponement (to 24 March 2026) for transferring student enrolments depending on course completion or HDR thesis status. It affects the Commonwealth (as funder/decision-maker), Adelaide University, and students enrolled at the merger time."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/universities-accord-student-support-and-other-measures-adelaide-university-transitional-rules-2025","history":"/api/acts/universities-accord-student-support-and-other-measures-adelaide-university-transitional-rules-2025/history","analysis":"/api/acts/universities-accord-student-support-and-other-measures-adelaide-university-transitional-rules-2025/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/universities-accord-student-support-and-other-measures-adelaide-university-transitional-rules-2025/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/universities-accord-student-support-and-other-measures-adelaide-university-transitional-rules-2025/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/universities-accord-student-support-and-other-measures-adelaide-university-transitional-rules-2025/documents"}}