Universities should act now to address robust recommendations in report into the quality of governance

After an inquiry into the quality of governance at Australian higher education providers, on 11 December 2025, the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee released its Final Report, setting out its findings and recommendations.

The Report comes against the backdrop of an increasingly complex regulatory framework and spotlight on universities.

Purpose of the Inquiry

The Committee commenced the Inquiry in January 2025, prompted by concerns regarding transparency, accountability, and regulatory effectiveness in the university sector. The Inquiry focused on the adequacy of the powers available to the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), particularly in relation to:

• the accountability and effectiveness of the functions of universities' governing bodies;

• the standard and accuracy of financial reporting;

• compliance with legislative requirements, including workplace laws; and

• the impact of employment practices, executive remuneration and the use of external consultants.

As part of the Inquiry, the Committee received 299 submissions from a range of stakeholders including the Group of Eight Australia (Go8), Universities Australia, individual universities, the National Tertiary Education Union, academics and members of the public. Chancellors and Vice-Chancellors from several universities appeared before the Committee throughout its public hearings.

Key findings in the Final Report

The Final Report focuses on what it describes as the corporatisation of universities, compliance with workplace laws, academic autonomy, and the quality of education. The central theme underpinning all of these issues is a focus on the role and purpose of Australian universities.

Key issues identified as part of the Inquiry include:

• concerns about failures in university governance as a result of centralisation of decision-making, reduced staff and student representation on governing bodies, and a lack of transparency in decision-making;

• substantial increases to executive remuneration without clear justification or transparency;

• the use of insecure fixed-term contracts and the casualisation of the university workforce; and

• the link between poor university governance processes and non-compliance with workplace laws, which has negatively affected staff wellbeing and caused flow-on effects for the quality of education and student experience.

The Final Report also addresses submissions that TEQSA's current powers are seen as insufficient to address systemic governance issues, highlighting the need for more robust and enforceable governance standards and greater public reporting.

Recommendations in the Final Report

To address some of the concerns highlighted during the Inquiry, the Final Report makes 8 key recommendations that focus on increased regulatory action and oversight from external bodies. The recommendations are summarised below.

Recommendation 1: Review legislation to ensure focus on public research and education

State and territory governments should review the legislation that establishes universities to ensure the primacy of public research and education in their objects and functions. The Committee also recommends consideration by governments about the composition of members on governing bodies in light of these objects.

Recommendation 2: Ensure alignment of council members' duties with a focus on education for the public good

The duties of council members should reflect the primacy of education for the public good, and assessments of the performance of university councils should reflect their role in ensuring the primacy of public research and education as the core functions of universities.

Recommendation 3: Updated guidance from TEQSA

TEQSA should update its guidance to universities to support proactive adoption of key compliance, oversight and governance measures, including by:

• implementing a comprehensive enterprise resource planning system;

• embedding a worker voice mechanism;

• establishing sub-committees of the University Council and the University Executive with an explicit focus on workplace relations compliance;

• commissioning training and education for relevant staff; and

• providing clear internal pathways for employees to raise queries relating to wages and entitlements.

Recommendation 4: Increase focus on requiring universities to submit casual staff data

The Department of Education should prioritise requiring universities to provide improved data on the number of casual staff to increase transparency and understanding of workforce patterns and issues. For example, headcounts and the proportion of teaching hours undertaken by casual staff.

Recommendation 5: Require academic boards to conduct annual review of academic staffing profiles

The Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021 should be amended to require academic boards to conduct an annual review of the academic staffing profile for each course, ensuring there is sufficient academic oversight, teaching capacity and support to maintain high-quality learning and outcomes.

The annual review should ensure that courses with practicums or work-integrated learning have an adequate number and quality of placements with appropriate supervision.

Recommendation 6: Develop reporting framework for course quality and staffing

TEQSA should develop a monitoring and reporting framework for course quality and staffing, and establish an ongoing program of course monitoring to provide continued quality assurance and appropriate staffing.

Recommendation 7: Introduce a requirement for TEQSA to consider the interests of students, and a positive duty on universities to comply with the Threshold Standards

The Australian Government should introduce a requirement for TEQSA to consider matters relevant to the interests of students and the preservation of Australia's reputation for quality higher education.

The Australian Government should also introduce a positive duty on universities to take reasonable and proportionate actions to comply with the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021.

Recommendation 8: Statement of expectations for key considerations in academic governance processes

TEQSA should develop a statement of expectations setting out key considerations for academic governance processes in respect of their internal quality assurance. The key considerations should include ratios of continuing vs casual staff, and the experience of teaching staff including PhD candidates and subject coordinators.

TEQSA's statement of expectations should also set out expectations of regular reporting to the governing body.

Other recommendations

As part of the Report, additional recommendations were also put forward from the Coalition, the Greens, and Senator Pocock. It can be expected that to the extent legislative change is required to implement the eight recommendations above, there will need to be negotiation with the opposition or cross-bench in the Senate, meaning some of those additional recommendations put forward by the other parties and independents in the Final Report might be picked up by the Government as part of those negotiations.