Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2025

The Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) (Consequential Amendments) Act 2025 amends the Higher Education Support Act 2003 through Schedule 1. Item 1 inserts a new section 19-20 at the end of Subdivision 19-C. Subsection 19-20(1) requires a higher education provider that meets the definition in the Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) Act 2025 to comply with the National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence made under that Act. Subsection 19-20(2) sets staggered start dates: Table A providers and Table B providers must comply from 1 January 2026, while all other higher education providers must comply from 1 January 2027. Clause 2 of the Act provides that the amendments commence on the later of the day after royal assent or the commencement of the principal Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) Act 2025. Royal assent occurred on 28 August 2025, producing Act No. 35 of 2025. The official materials do not specify any other amendments to the Higher Education Support Act 2003 or to any other legislation. The change integrates the Code directly into the quality and accountability requirements that already apply to providers approved under the Higher Education Support Act 2003. Before this amendment the Higher Education Support Act 2003 contained no reference to the Code, so compliance was not a statutory condition tied to that framework. The amendment therefore alters the regulatory baseline for approved providers by adding an express statutory duty that sits alongside existing quality and accountability obligations.

The central concept is the National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence, which is created by the principal Act and now given legal force for providers through the amendment to the Higher Education Support Act 2003. A second core concept is the quality and accountability requirement, an existing category in the Higher Education Support Act 2003 that approved providers must meet to retain their status and access Commonwealth support. The amendment adds compliance with the Code to that category. Table A providers and Table B providers are defined in the Higher Education Support Act 2003 and typically comprise Australia's public universities and a small number of other self-accrediting institutions; the amendment applies the Code to them from 1 January 2026. Other higher education providers, including many non-university providers, receive an additional year and must comply from 1 January 2027. The concept of a higher education provider within the meaning of the principal Act determines which entities fall under the new section 19-20. The official materials do not define the precise content of the Code itself or the detailed criteria that will be used to assess compliance. The staggered commencement dates reflect a distinction between established Table A and Table B providers and the broader group of approved providers that may have different governance and resourcing arrangements.

The amendment directly affects higher education providers that are approved under the Higher Education Support Act 2003 and that also fall within the definition of higher education provider in the Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) Act 2025. This includes all Table A providers and Table B providers from 1 January 2026 and every other approved higher education provider from 1 January 2027. Providers must therefore review their policies, governance structures and reporting arrangements to meet the Code. The official materials do not specify whether the Code will impose obligations on individual staff members or students, nor whether it will create any direct rights for students or staff to enforce compliance. Indirect effects may extend to organisations that contract with higher education providers for student accommodation, counselling services or security, because those providers will need to demonstrate Code compliance. The amendment does not alter the status of providers that are not approved under the Higher Education Support Act 2003. The official materials do not list the exact number of providers that will be captured or identify any specific institutions by name.

People will want to know the exact date their institution must begin complying. Table A and Table B providers face the 1 January 2026 deadline while other approved providers have until 1 January 2027. People will also want to know what the National Higher Education Code actually requires. The official materials do not specify the detailed provisions of the Code. People will want to know the practical consequences if a provider fails to comply. The amendment makes compliance a quality and accountability requirement, which under the Higher Education Support Act 2003 can affect a provider's ongoing approval and eligibility for Commonwealth grants and loans, although the official materials do not detail the precise enforcement steps or any transitional arrangements. People will want to know whether existing policies already satisfy the Code or whether new systems must be built. The official materials do not provide guidance on gap analysis or model policies. People will want to know whether the Code imposes reporting obligations to government or to students. The official materials do not specify reporting mechanisms. People will want to know how the Code interacts with existing state and territory laws on sexual assault and harassment. The official materials do not address questions of overlap or precedence.

The bill received royal assent on 28 August 2025 and is now the Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) (Consequential Amendments) Act 2025, Act No. 35 of 2025. Clause 2 provides that the Act commences on the later of the day after assent or the commencement of the principal Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) Act 2025. The official materials do not state the precise commencement date of the principal Act. Once commenced, section 19-20 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 applies immediately to the relevant providers, subject to the staggered dates in subsection 19-20(2). Providers should therefore begin internal reviews and policy development ahead of the 2026 or 2027 deadlines. The official materials do not indicate whether the Minister or the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency will issue further guidance or model compliance frameworks. No further parliamentary action is required for the amendment to take effect. The Act contains no review or sunset provision in the provisions set out in the official materials.

The amendment creates a statutory duty in section 19-20(1) of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 requiring covered higher education providers to comply with the National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence. This duty sits within the pre-existing quality and accountability framework and therefore forms part of the conditions attached to provider approval and funding eligibility. No new powers are conferred on the Minister, the Department or the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency by the text of the amendment. No new rights of action for students, staff or third parties are created in the provisions set out in the official materials. The duty applies only to providers that meet the definition in the principal Act; it does not extend to entities that are not higher education providers for the purposes of that Act. The official materials do not specify whether the duty is enforceable through civil penalty proceedings, licence conditions or funding withdrawal. The staggered application dates in subsection 19-20(2) qualify the duty by giving different cohorts of providers different preparation periods.

The amendment itself does not create any new civil penalties, criminal offences or financial sanctions. Because compliance is now a quality and accountability requirement under the Higher Education Support Act 2003, failure to comply may affect a provider's continued approval or access to Commonwealth higher education funding and student loan schemes, although the official materials do not set out the exact financial consequences or the decision-making process that would lead to funding suspension. No appropriation or new funding allocation is mentioned in the Act. The official materials do not describe any new enforcement body, inspection regime or audit process specific to the Code. Existing regulatory mechanisms under the Higher Education Support Act 2003 and the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 remain available, but the amendment does not modify those mechanisms. Providers may incur internal costs in developing policies, training staff and establishing reporting systems to meet the Code, yet the official materials do not quantify those costs or provide for government reimbursement. The staggered commencement dates may reduce immediate financial pressure on smaller providers by allowing an extra year for implementation.

One policy trade-off evident in the text is the decision to impose a uniform national Code while granting Table A and Table B providers an earlier deadline than other approved providers. This recognises that larger institutions may already possess more developed governance and student-safety infrastructure, yet it also creates a two-tier transition period that could produce uneven protection for students across different types of providers. A second trade-off is the choice to embed the Code as a quality and accountability requirement rather than as a standalone licensing condition; this links compliance to funding but leaves the precise consequences of breach to the broader Higher Education Support Act 2003 framework, which the official materials do not elaborate. The Senate opposition proposed an amendment during the second reading stage, recorded as sheet 3365, but the official materials do not specify the content or outcome of that amendment. The absence of detail on enforcement mechanisms and on the substantive content of the Code itself leaves open questions about regulatory burden and consistency of application across states and territories. These design choices reflect a balance between achieving rapid national standards and allowing institutions time to adapt existing policies and resources.

Because the Act has received royal assent, higher education providers that fall within the definition in the principal Act must now treat compliance with the National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence as a mandatory quality and accountability requirement under the Higher Education Support Act 2003. From 1 January 2026 Table A and Table B providers will be subject to this duty; from 1 January 2027 all other covered providers will be subject to it. Institutional governing bodies will need to ensure that policies, procedures, training programs and incident-response mechanisms align with the Code. Failure to achieve alignment may place ongoing approval and Commonwealth funding at risk under the existing provisions of the Higher Education Support Act 2003. The regulatory environment for student safety and wellbeing in higher education is therefore altered by the addition of this explicit statutory link. The official materials do not indicate whether further legislative instruments or guidelines will be issued to operationalise the Code. Providers, their legal advisers and student organisations should now examine the text of the Code itself, once available, against current institutional arrangements to identify any necessary changes before the relevant commencement date.

Universities face new statutory duty on gender-based violence from 2026. The Act inserts section 19-20 into the Higher Education Support Act 2003, making compliance with the National Code a formal quality requirement for Table A and Table B providers. Smaller higher education providers gain an extra year to prepare. Non-university providers approved under the Higher Education Support Act 2003 must comply only from 1 January 2027, reflecting a staggered implementation that recognises differing institutional capacity. Compliance now sits inside existing funding rules. Because the Code is added to the quality and accountability requirements, failure to meet it may affect a provider's access to Commonwealth grants and student loans under the Higher Education Support Act 2003. The amendment creates a duty but no new penalties. The Act itself contains no civil penalties or criminal offences; any consequences flow from the pre-existing enforcement architecture of the Higher Education Support Act 2003. Royal assent has already occurred. The bill became Act No. 35 of 2025 on 28 August 2025, so institutions should begin mapping their current policies against the Code ahead of the 2026 or 2027 deadlines. Opposition proposed changes during Senate debate. A second reading amendment was moved by Senator Duniam, although the official materials do not record its final form or whether it was agreed. The Code will apply only to providers defined in the principal Act. Entities that are not higher education providers for the purposes of the Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) Act 2025 remain outside the new section 19-20 obligation.