Changes to Victoria’s education legislation

In February 2025, the Victorian government passed a bill that amends the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (the ETRA).

The bill made important changes to the ETRA that come into effect immediately. They allow us to:

• cancel the registration of a school or school boarding premises that has ceased to operate
• more easily share information with a prescribed person or body.

The bill also makes changes that come into effect on 1 October 2025. They will provide us with more power to investigate education providers and ensure all Victorian students receive a quality education in safe learning environments, including:

• requiring a person or organisation to produce documents or information that helps us determine if they should be registered
• significantly increasing the penalties for operating an unregistered school or school boarding premises
• allowing us to consider an RTO’s historical non-compliance with Child Safe Standards
• permitting the VRQA to accept an enforceable undertaking when there is a risk or likelihood of non-compliance.

The amendments to the ETRA do not change how we regulate home education. We respect parents’ rights to have flexible learning options for their children. Our advice about home schooling and unregistered schools has not changed.

For more detail, you can read the full Education and Training Reform Amendment Bill 2024.