For the first time, the Australian government has exercised its powers to cancel an entire course

In late 2025, the Australian Parliament passed a package of legislative amendments extending new oversight and regulatory powers to government ministries and agencies, and setting the stage for additional regulation of the country's international education sector via the National Code of Practice for Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students.

Among other measures, those legislative amendments granted the government the power to cancel entire courses due to concerns around quality or relevance to Australia’s skills needs.

On 4 September 2026, and for the first time, the Australian government did just that when it issues an order preventing new enrolments in the Graduate Diploma of Management Learning, or GDML, identified as course number BSB80120.

The government order stipulates that, "Providers that deliver the course (BSB80120) will have their Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS) registration for the GDML course automatically suspended or cancelled."

This is significant in at least two ways. First, a college of university can only enroll student visa-holding students in a course that is registered on CRICOS. In effect, if a course's CRICOS registration is suspended or cancelled, the provider loses its legal basis to recruit and enroll foreign students in that course.

Second, pay close attention to the word "automatically" in that statement. Normally, a sector regulator – ASQA for VET providers, TEQSA for universities – has to investigate a specific provider and make a decision before it can suspend or cancel a registration. The new legislation allows the government to step around that provider-by-provider process. Rather, it specifies the GDML, and every provider's CRICOS registration for that course is suspended or cancelled straight away via the powers vested in the legislation.

The scale of the decision

While we are using the term "course" here, this should not be understood to refer to a single programme offering at a given institution. Rather, the GDML is widely taught within Australia's VET sector.

A statement from Assistant Minister for International Education Julian Hill indicates that 452 VET providers are registered to deliver the GDML to international students, with 41,033 active Confirmations of Enrolment (CoEs) at time of cancellation, including 15,772 students currently enrolled.

The government order stipulates that – while new students cannot be enrolled in THE GDML at any provider – students who have already begun their studies will be able to complete their course with their current institution.

But why?

"The government will continue to act decisively to ensure Australia remains a trusted global education destination, to protect international students and to prevent misuse of the student visa system," said Mr Hill.

A statement from the Assistant Minister's office explains, "The decision is the first use of new course cancellation powers and follows significant evidence that the course has been used to facilitate onshore transfers by non-genuine students and is associated with high rates of visa refusals and course non-completion…The targeted action will strengthen the quality and integrity of Australia’s international education sector and protect the interests of international students and follows the package of integrity reforms the Government passed in November 2025."

A related report from ABC News highlights that, "Transfers jumped from 510 people in 2020 to 4,000 in 2025, with 77% of the students switching to the diploma coming from elsewhere in higher education. [This] meant students could switch into the course without necessarily needing a new student visa application…[Further,] almost most half of the people approved to enroll in the diploma did not commence in 2025, and completion rates were significantly below those of other VET courses."

Commenting on the decision in The Koala News, industry expert Tracy Harris said, "This course is exactly what the cancellation powers in the legislation were built for and I’ve been waiting for this decision. There are well-known concerns in the sector about rapid growth and non-genuine students in this particular course, and it’s entirely unsurprising to me that this would be the first course the government would act on."

In a related post on LinkedIn, Mirza Rahil Baig, country manager for the agency Global Scholar said of the GDML cancellation, "Course selection is becoming a compliance issue. The industry can no longer afford to ask only: 'Is this course available?' We need to ask: Does this course genuinely fit the student's academic background? Is the progression logical? Is there a credible career outcome?

And most importantly, are we building a genuine education pathway?…For education agents, counsellors and recruitment partners, this should change the way we advise students."

For additional background, please see:

• "Australia passes integrity legislation; sharpens definition of agents and agent commissions"
• "Australia introduces new rules restricting agent commissions for onshore student transfers"