Submission—Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) Bill 2025

On 16 January 2026, the Academy made a submission on the Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) Bill 2025 and a related bill.

Download submission (PDF, 264KB)

The Academy makes the following recommendations:

• Refine the language in the bill to strengthen ATEC’s mandate to provide independent, proactive, responsive advice to government and enable ATEC to draw expertise from across the higher education and research sector.
• ATEC’s responsibilities should include monitoring sovereign capability across all STEM, humanities, arts and social sciences for Australia.
• The National Tertiary Education Objective (NTEO) must recognise the vital role of universities in expanding knowledge through engaging in research.
• The Australian Government should continue to pursue actions to improve diversity in STEM by implementing the recommendations of the 2024 Pathways to Diversity in STEM Review.