The Albanese government’s official launch of the long-anticipated Australian Tertiary Education Commission (ATEC) – a flagship initiative designed to address systemic inequities, unify higher and vocational education, and bring long-term planning and coherence to a sector often plagued by short-termism and policy drift – has been welcomed by higher education stakeholders.

ATEC is the centrepiece of the government’s response to the Australian Universities Accord, the most comprehensive review of the tertiary system in decades. It comes with big ambitions: to create a system that is fairer, more accessible, and more responsive to the nation’s social and economic future.

Professor Shamit Saggar, executive director of the Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success (ACSES) said: “ATEC will give meaning to the Universities Accord’s vision of an expanded university sector with equity outcomes baked in. It is, therefore, a landmark moment for student equity in Australia.”

Universities Australia, the peak body for the sector, endorsed the Commission’s equity agenda but stressed the importance of sustained collaboration between government and the higher education sector.

According to the official announcement on 1 July, ATEC will oversee a new needs-based funding model to better support historically excluded student groups – including first-in-family university attendees, students from rural or remote areas, and Indigenous Australians.

It will also roll out a Managed Growth Funding system to strategically expand enrolments in underserved communities. ATEC will negotiate mission-based compacts with individual institutions, aligning funding and performance goals, with each university’s or provider’s unique role, priorities, and community focus.

In announcing the commission earlier this month, Education Minister Jason Clare highlighted its role in dismantling the “invisible barriers” that have long held back students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

“We need to break down that invisible barrier that stops a lot of Australians from disadvantaged backgrounds, from the regions and the outer suburbs, from getting a crack at uni and succeeding when they get there,” Clare said.

“The Commission will help us do that. It will help build a better and fairer education system and deliver the reforms recommended in the Accord,” he noted.

Bridging the divide

A key part of ATEC’s remit is to integrate Australia’s traditionally siloed higher education and vocational sectors. Despite serving overlapping student populations, universities and Technical and Further Education (TAFE) providers have long operated in parallel, with little coordination.

The Commission is tasked with creating a more seamless, stigma-free system that allows students to move across sectors and qualifications with ease.

The interim commission is chaired by Professor Mary O’Kane, who led the Accord review and brings decades of experience in science policy and public administration.

She is joined by Distinguished Professor Larissa Behrendt, an Eualeyai and Kamillaroi woman and a leading voice on Indigenous justice and equity, and Professor Barney Glover, former vice-chancellor of Western Sydney University and current head of Jobs and Skills Australia.

Their appointment signals that the government intends to place equity, inclusion, and skills alignment at the heart of ATEC’s mission – not treat them as peripheral concerns. Behrendt’s role as First Nations Commissioner also underscores a commitment to ensuring Indigenous leadership is embedded in system-wide reform.

“The Commission will be integral to embedding equity, harmonising pathways across tertiary education, and promoting a diverse and inclusive higher education landscape,” Saggar said.

Cautious optimism and clear expectations

While sector leaders have largely welcomed ATEC’s creation, they’ve also issued early warnings and set clear expectations.

UA Chief Executive Luke Sheehy told University World News: “We had a constructive meeting with the interim ATEC Commissioners on day one of operation – which speaks volumes about their commitment to working closely with the sector from the start.

“It’s a crucial opportunity to help shape the ATEC’s early focus and ensure it delivers real value for students, universities, and the nation,” he noted.

He said that the group would take “a constructive approach” to partnership, emphasising the need for policy stability, long-term planning, and funding certainty to support a skilled workforce and future-facing research system.

But concerns persist – particularly around the financial fragility of the current university model. The Group of Eight, which represents Australia’s top research-intensive universities, has long warned that the system is over-reliant on international student fees to cross-subsidise domestic teaching and research.

Challenging the prestige hierarchy

Professor Barney Glover, speaking in his dual role at Jobs and Skills Australia, has previously underscored the need to break down entrenched hierarchies between higher education and vocational training.

In an interview with The Australian earlier this year , he argued that vocational education should not be seen as inferior to university study.

“There’s a real, what we call, a ‘parity of esteem’ challenge, and this is true in a multicultural society like Australia,” Glover said.

“We need to provide the information and the encouragement to families and to young people that there are really exciting career opportunities that come out of … vocational education and training … These things are complementary, not alternatives,” he noted.

Independent tertiary education analyst Claire Field welcomed ATEC’s creation but said the scope of its powers remains unclear.

“The recommendation for ATEC in the Accord was incredibly broad,” she told University World News. “At this stage we still haven’t seen exactly which of those responsibilities the government will try to legislate,” she noted.

Field also pushed back on suggestions that needs-based funding was the centrepiece of the Accord.

“Actually I don’t think it’s fair to say the Accord ‘prioritises’ needs-based funding. It’s one of 47 recommendations – not the headline,” she said. “But if ATEC is to deliver real change, it must ensure extra funding flows to students with greater learning support needs and to the universities that serve them.”

Without new public investment, she warned, reforms could backfire. “If there’s no new funding, then reducing fees for Arts and Humanities students will mean higher fees for students in nursing, science, or engineering. That’s not real reform – it’s cost shifting,” he stated.

She also called for a more intersectional understanding of equity.

“Disadvantage isn’t siloed – it’s multi-faceted. We need to stop treating equity groups as separate categories and recognise the overlap.

“A First Nations student from a low-income family who’s the first in their family to attend uni will need more support than a student with a physical disability from a well-off, university-educated background,” she said.

What’s next for ATEC?

The interim commission will operate until legislation – expected in 2026 – establishes ATEC as a statutory authority with independence and longevity comparable to the Reserve Bank or Productivity Commission.

Its long-term responsibilities may include publishing national performance data, forecasting skills and research needs, issuing policy advice, and shaping the future of public investment in the sector.

That permanence is crucial, advocates say, because for decades, higher education policy in Australia has been buffeted by short-term budget cycles, leadership churn, and abrupt reviews.

With ATEC, the government is betting on stability, strategy, and stewardship – and hoping to steer the system away from decades of drift.