ATEC: a steward for the sector

The establishment of the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (ATEC) as a ‘steward’ for the higher education sector was a central recommendation of the Universities Accord (Accord) and aims to bring consistency in approach to key governance issues raised in the Accord. An interim ATEC was established in June 2025 and legislation is presently before Parliament to formalise the ATEC.

In this, the fourth article in our Higher Education Reform series, we explore the purpose, structure and function of the ATEC through the draft legislation and its role as a fixture of the sector. You can read our other articles here.

Recap on the Accord

The Accord was commissioned in November 2022 by the Commonwealth Minister for Education[1] led by Professor Mary O'Kane. It was the first broad-based review of the Australian university system since the Bradley Review in 2008[2] and sought to address several key challenges experienced by the sector, including governance of universities, access to education and quality of teaching[3]. The Accord’s final report (Final Report)[4] made 47 recommendations of which the Government has indicated it would respond to in full or part.[5]

An interim ATEC

A prominent recommendation of the Accord was the establishment of the ATEC – an independent, statutory, national public sector steward for the tertiary education system. An interim ATEC was formed in July 2025 pending legislation to formalise its establishment.

The ATEC’s role was described in the Final Report as multifaceted, with an overarching mission of ‘creating a better and fairer tertiary education system that delivers for students and on national economic and social objectives[6]’. The Accord articulated several objectives for the ATEC:

• Convening ongoing collaborative engagement about the future of tertiary education.
• Fostering a high-quality, cohesive system that encourages diversity and student choice.
• Advising on meeting skills and equity targets.
• Ensuring that regulatory burden is monitored and minimised in the sector.
• Providing expert advice to government and the tertiary education system.

The Accord conceived of the ATEC as having a broad supervisory role encompassing:

• policy coordination and system planning for the sector
• negotiating mission-based compacts with universities
• serving as the pricing authority and funding allocator for the higher education sector
• overseeing the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF), and
• promoting sector accountability, quality, and performance, including improving data.

The Accord proposed that the ATEC board would be chaired by a Chief Commissioner and supported by two Deputy Commissioners, and including the TEQSA Chief Commissioner, ARC Board Chair, a First Nations Commissioner, an Equity Commissioner, and Regional Education Commissioner, with stakeholder views canvassed through various advisory boards. A full-time CEO would be appointed.

Formalising the ATEC

The draft legislation to formalise ATEC was introduced in November 2025, the Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) Bill (ATEC Bill) and the Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill (C&T Bill)[7], which are presently subject to Senate Committee review. 

Role and function

The role of the ATEC spans the vocational education and higher education sectors and is expressed in broad terms in s 11 of the ATEC Bill, including:

• entering into mission-based compacts with providers and assess providers against them
• preparing reports and advice to relevant Commonwealth and state / territory Ministers on the system and key access, efficiency and regulatory efficiency areas
• providing advice to the Minister and TEQSA on Higher Education Standards Framework (HES Framework) under Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 (TEQSA Act)
• publishing reports on the system and providers as noted in Part 4 of the ATEC Bill, and
• allocate maximum number of international students to ESOS providers at Minister’s direction.

The demarcation of roles between ATEC and TEQSA will be an important point to be worked out at an operational level, noting the responsibility of TEQSA to oversee the HES Framework.

Presently the Minister is prohibited from making a Threshold Standard under the HES Framework unless a draft has been developed by the Higher Education Standards Panel (HESP) and Ministerial consultations have occurred under s 58 of the TEQSA Act. The HESP will be abolished by the C&T Bill and its functions transferred to ATEC, which will be a significant step given that HESP is largely comprised of university staff and the ATEC will be independent of particular providers.[8]

Governance structure

The ATEC will be led by a Chief Commissioner, First Nations Commissioner, and an additional Commissioner, with no reference to the advisory boards identified in the Final Report. The ATEC will be primarily staffed by employees of the Department, albeit operating at the direction of the ATEC Commissioners under s 22 of the ATEC Bill and the Commissioners are empowered to form advisory committees under s 25 of the ATEC Bill.

The way in which ATEC discharges its role will be informed by the Minister’s strategic priorities (which will be published) under s 15 of the ATEC Bill. Furthermore, the ATEC Commissioners will be subject to Minister direction under s 71 of the ATEC Bill, noting that the Minister is unable to direct Commissioners in the content of their advice, the decisions they make or a particular provider. The ATEC is restricted in its ability to publish advice or recommendations it provides under s 69.

Mission-based compacts more meaningful

A central mechanism through which the ATEC will exercise its stewardship role will be the negotiation and oversight of ‘mission-based compacts’ under Part 3 of the ATEC Bill. Default compacts will apply where a specific compact has not yet been negotiated, under Part 3 Division 3 of the ATEC Bill.

The concept of a ‘mission-based compact’ isn’t new, as some providers are already required to enter into them with the Commonwealth as a condition of their grant funding, under subsection 19-110(1) of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (Cth) (HESA). The compacts are intended to ensure alignment between the Commonwealth and providers in relation to teaching quality, student experience and research focus.[9]

According to the Explanatory Memorandum of the ATEC Bill[10], the compacts are intended to promote ‘sustained and meaningful’ engagement between ATEC and the providers and will enable providers to demonstrate how their institution’s ’unique mission’ (the institution’s ’core purpose, values, and goals’) aligns with ’national, state, and local priorities, as well as planning, strategy, industry engagement, and innovations in learning and teaching’. Some stakeholders have observed the difficulty of institutions having unique missions which simultaneously aligned with national priorities[11].

The ATEC Bill appears to expand the role of mission-based compacts; the HESA requires a provider to enter into compacts, but there is no overt monitoring or compliance regime. In contrast, ATEC will be required to monitor and assess providers against their compact, publish the results and, in certain circumstances, suspension of the compact, under Part 3 Div 2 of the ATEC Bill.

Next steps

With the Senate’s report due on 26 February 2026, the passage of the ATEC and C&T Bills may take some time yet. In the meantime, with the three interim Commissioners recently named, ATEC’s influence may be felt sooner rather than later. 

[1]Minister for Education Media Release – Universities Accord, 16 November 2022 [Link]

[2]Minister for Education – Bradley Oration, 16 November 2022 [Link]

[3] Above n 1

[4] Australian Universities Accord – Final Report, 21 February 2024 [Link]

[5] Minister for Education Media Release – Responding to the Australian Universities Accord, 15 May 2024 [Link]

[6] Australian Government - Australian Tertiary Education Commission (ATEC) [Link]  

[7] Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) Bill 2025 (Cth); Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2025 (Cth)

[8] National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Education and Employment inquiry into the Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission Bill 2025 (Submission 18) [Link]

[9] Commonwealth Department of Education, “Mission-based Compacts” [Link]

[10] Explanatory Memorandum to the Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission Bill 2025 [Link]

[11]Prof Andrew Norton’s submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Education and Employment inquiry into the Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission Bill 2025 (Submission 30) [Link]