For legislation with significant implications for international education, the only public hearing for the inquiry into the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (ATEC) Bill, held on Friday, 13 February devoted little attention to sector concerns beyond funding.
The three-hour hearing was the sole opportunity for Senators to publicly question witnesses as part of the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee inquiry into the Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) Bill 2025. Given the restricted time available, international education took a back seat to other broader structural issues, not entirely unexpected, as previously noted by The Koala (TKN 120226).
Key concerns raised in submissions to the inquiry, such as how international student commencements will be allocated, international education expertise among Commissioners, and engagement with the independent higher education sector in the context of international education (TKN 310126) were not explored during witness questioning.
When international education was raised, it was primarily in the context of the public universities’ reliance on international student tuition revenue. Witnesses, including Universities Australia CEO Luke Sheehy, Group of Eight CEO Vicki Thomson and National Tertiary Education Union Policy and Research Officer Kieran McCarron, used the opportunity to place on the record the extent to which international fee revenue underpins university operations, particularly research.
“With government funding cuts over time, the universities have just done what they’ve had to do. They’ve gone down this path now, and we’re kind of stuck in this spot where you wouldn’t want ATEC to come in and start arbitrarily capping international student numbers and inadvertently impacting research and teaching for domestic students as well,” McCarron said.
Sheehy reiterated the need for an independent ATEC, raising concerns about universities being used as a “political football”, particularly in election years when debates about international students have intensified.
In an unfortunate scheduling overlap, the hearing was held on the morning of the Liberal Party’s leadership vote. Attendance was therefore limited to Labor Senators Dolega, Mulholland and Smith, Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi and Independent Senator David Pocock.
The Senate Committee is due to report its findings on 26 February 2026.
