Market intelligence for international student recruitment from ICEF
9th Oct 2025

Australia introduces new integrity measures through proposed amendments to the ESOS Act

Short on time? Here are the highlights:
  • The Australian government is once again moving to amend the country’s Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (ESOS Act)
  • The proposed amendments will provide for greater scrutiny of education providers’ engagement with agents and of “cross ownership” arrangements between providers and agents
  • The government also seeks to eliminate the payment of commissions on onshore student transfers between institutions

Australian Minister of Education Jason Clare tabled the Education Legislation Amendment (Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025 in Parliament today. The Bill seeks to amend three pieces of legislation in order to "strengthen the quality, integrity and sustainability of the delivery of education in Australia."

The bulk of the proposed amendments apply to the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (ESOS Act). They closely reflect, with the exception of the then-controversial legislated mechanism for a foreign enrolment cap, the ESOS amendments proposed (and subsequently withdrawn) in 2024.

The ESOS amendments put forward by the Minister today provide for the following:

  • Greater scrutiny of "cross-ownership arrangements" between providers and agents;
  • Empowering the Department of Education to collect and share data from providers on their education agents, particularly with respect to the amount of commissions received and the number of students referred by each
  • "Some collusive business practices between providers and agents are driven by agents seeking commissions through facilitating onshore transfers of students between providers, especially from the higher education sector to the VET sector," notes the accompanying memo. Speaking in Parliament today, Minister Clare set out that his proposed amendments provide for a definition of "education agent commission." This in turn, he said, "Will allow for complementary amendments to be made to the National Code of Practice for Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students 2018 to ban commissions from being paid to education agents for onshore student transfers."
  • The proposed ESOS amendments otherwise provide government with additional powers around the registration (or de-registration) of education providers.

"International education is an important national asset," said Minister Clare. "In September 2022 we announced the Parkinson Review of the Migration System."

"And in January 2023 the Nixon Rapid Review into the Exploitation of Australia’s Visa System."

"These reviews identified integrity issues in international education, and we moved quickly on a number of recommendations of those reviews."

"This Bill is the next step."

For additional background, please see:

Most Recent

  • Australia introduces new integrity measures through proposed amendments to the ESOS Act Read More
  • Australia: With ELICOS under pressure, peak bodies push for reduction in “extortionate” visa fees Read More
  • Mystery shopping study finds broad improvement in student enquiry handling this year Read More

Most Popular

  • Which countries will contribute the most to global student mobility in 2030? Read More
  • Research shows link between study abroad and poverty alleviation  Read More
  • Beyond the Big Four: How demand for study abroad is shifting to destinations in Asia and Europe Read More

Because you found this article interesting

Australia: With ELICOS under pressure, peak bodies push for reduction in “extortionate” visa fees The latest data from the Department of Education reveals that enrolments in Australia’s ELICOS sector (English Language Intensive...
Read more
South Korea hits its 300,000 student target two years ahead of schedule In 2023, the South Korean government announced a plan to attract 300,000 international students by 2027: 220,000 in...
Read more
Canada: Study permit numbers are in steep decline in 2025 In 2024, the first year under Canada’s current cap on new international student enrolments, the total number of...
Read more
UK confirms levy on international student fees as new analysis argues that government is “drastically underestimating” the impact of the move Updated for 30 September 2025: On 29 September, the Department of Education announced that it would reinstate “means-tested...
Read more
US administration’s new H-1B policies create uncertainty around post-study work rights The H-1B programme is a key policy mechanism for international students in the United States. Aside from the...
Read more
China leverages higher education capacity with expanded TNE partnerships As with most statistics about China, the latest higher education figures are a little dizzying. Enrolment in the...
Read more
France reports more than 443,000 international students in higher education for 2024/25 The latest data release from Campus France reports a record-high foreign enrolment in the country. There were 443,500...
Read more
Foreign enrolment in Canadian K-12 held steady in 2024/25 International student enrolment in public school boards in Canada declined marginally this year. The latest data from the...
Read more
What are you looking for?
Quick Links