Reforms in place for Australia’s international education sector

Reforms have been made to the legislative framework for overseas students. They aim to strengthen the quality and integrity of Australia's international education sector.

If your school is on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS), these reforms may affect you.

Understanding what has changed will help ensure your international student programs meet regulatory requirements. The key reforms that may impact CRICOS schools are:

• changes to fit and proper provider requirements
• changes to registration requirements that mean, effective 1 January 2026, if you don’t have any overseas enrolments for 12 consecutive months your CRICOS registration will be automatically cancelled.

The changes also impact education agents and agent commissions, and the requirements for assessing and recording English language proficiency.

The reforms are part of updates to the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (ESOS Act). They aim to protect students and support genuine providers. The changes are in response to risks associated with fraudulent, non‑genuine and poor-quality providers. They allow regulators to conduct stronger integrity checks.

The Commonwealth Government’s Department of Education has fact sheets to help CRICOS schools and other providers understand key changes:

• 2025 - Fact Sheet - Changes to fit and proper provider requirements(opens in a new window)
• 2025 - Fact Sheet - Changes to provider registration requirements and processing(opens in a new window)
• 2025 - Fact Sheet - Changes to requirements around education agents and commissions(opens in a new window)

CRICOS schools can also review the full changes to the legislative framework for overseas students(opens in a new window).