Part 1 of The Koala’s reporting on Senate Estimates covered a range of agencies from Home Affairs to the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) (TKN 150626). In Part 2 we primarily focus on the Department of Education.
Education
Foreign Arrangements Scheme
The Government’s proposed changes to the Foreign Arrangements Scheme briefly surfaced during Estimates, with officials confirming the Department of Education has been consulted on planned amendments being developed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
During the exchange, Liberal Senator Maria Kovacic sought clarification about what constitutes a “non-core” arrangement involving universities. Officials ultimately pointed to existing Foreign Arrangements Scheme guidance, which classifies agreements involving public universities and foreign universities or subnational governments as non-core arrangements.
The issue arose following reports that the Government intends to strengthen the scheme by allowing conditions to be imposed on arrangements after they have been entered into, while maintaining exemptions for some university activities.
University Foreign Interference Taskforce (UFIT)
Mr Simon Moore, Assistant Secretary, National Security and Resilience, told the committee that UFIT had established a dedicated working group examining transnational education arrangements and was developing guidance for universities. Officials also confirmed that UFIT is currently being refreshed, with further work expected following its next meeting in July.
The discussion later turned to university collaborations with sanctioned countries. Officials confirmed they had written to vice-chancellors seeking information about institutional and researcher-level engagement with entities in Iran, Russia and North Korea.
“We’ve made very clear our expectation that there is no collaboration with Iran, as well as with the DPRK and Russia,” Moore told the committee.
The focus on research security was reinforced following the hearings, with Universities Australia Chief Executive Officer Luke Sheehy revealing that the sector had convened an out-of-session UFIT meeting to discuss emerging issues and the sector’s response.
“There is growing recognition across government that Australia’s research security framework will need to evolve in response to an increasingly complex global environment. Equally, there was broad acknowledgement that any future approach must be practical, proportionate and informed by the expertise and experience that exists within universities,” Sheehy said.
Sheehy said Universities Australia would continue to advocate for a collaborative, sector-led approach through UFIT rather than additional regulation, while acknowledging broad agreement among universities that the taskforce itself would need to evolve to address emerging challenges.
The growing influence of national security considerations was also evident during the Australian Research Council (ARC) hearing, where officials defended the Minister’s decision to reject 13 grant applications on security, defence or international relations grounds, while declining to disclose even the total value of the affected projects.
Council for International Education
Senator Maria Kovacic also questioned officials about the operation of the Council for International Education, the ministerial advisory body established in 2016 to provide advice on international education policy and strategy.
Officials confirmed that expert members are appointed directly by the Minister for Education, in consultation with the Minister for Skills and Training, and are not remunerated for their participation.
The committee also heard that six expert member terms expired in December 2025, with three members reappointed and three new members joining the council.
However, questions were raised about the lack of publicly available information on the council’s recent activities. Senator Kovacic noted that the department’s website contained no council communiques after June 2025 and no expert member communiques after February 2024.
Dr Damian Oliver, Acting First Assistant Secretary, International confirmed that the council had continued to meet, including meetings on 4 August, 24 September, 8 October and 26 November 2025, and agreed to provide the missing communiques on notice.
Australian Tertiary Education Commission (ATEC) (Interim until 1 July 2026)
Newly appointed Chief Commissioner of ATEC, Professor Barney Glover, appeared alongside the Department of Education during the higher education, research and international session. However, there were no questions about international students, including how ATEC will approach future allocations of New Overseas Student Commencements (NOSC), particularly in relation to independent providers.
This joint appearance is also something that UA will be watching closely because “one of the central arguments for establishing the ATEC was to provide independent advice and long-term stewardship of Australia’s tertiary education system”, said Sheehy.
Tertiary Education Quality and Skills Agency (TEQSA)
There were no questions for TEQSA related to international students.
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)
Although there were no questions for the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) on international education, an update was provided on the independent review of the Export Market Development Grants (EMDG). The report was provided to the Minister on 21 May and will be released publicly within 15 sitting days. The Government is currently considering the recommendations in the report.
Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA)
As reported by The Koala in Part 1, questions were asked during the DEWR session about reports of international students enrolling in early childhood education and care (ECEC) courses primarily as a migration pathway. This line of question was not picked up during the ACECQA session and there was no mention of international students.
One of the recurring themes of this Estimates round was the extent to which international education now intersects with other areas of public policy. Questions ranged from student visa appeals and migration pathways to research security, foreign interference and international partnerships.
While there was little in the way of new policy, the hearings offered a useful insight into where government attention is currently focused. If previous Estimates rounds were dominated by growth, recovery and visa processing, this round was characterised by integrity, security and oversight.
