It is rare that the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) and the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) issue a joint warning to the sector. They have just done so in response to concerns that some CRICOS providers are trying to circumvent the new prohibition on paying education agent commissions for onshore student transfers.
Both regulators describe attempts by providers and education agents to bypass the rules as unacceptable and warn that providers which fail to manage the associated risks may face regulatory action.
The restriction was introduced through amendments to the Education Services for Overseas Students Act. For international students enrolling after 31 March 2026, the provider they enrol with cannot pay an education agent a commission for recruiting the student if they have already commenced studying onshore with another provider. (The rule does not prevent students from changing providers, nor does it apply when a student has completed their principal course and is enrolling in further study or is progressing through the original package of courses for which their visa was granted).
The intention of the legislative change was to remove the financial incentive for agents to persuade students to leave an existing course when doing so may not be in the student’s best interests.
One emerging model has involved a transferring student being encouraged to pay an agent an ongoing fee for support during their studies, while the receiving provider offers the student a tuition scholarship that remains available only while those payments to the agent continue. Although the payment may be from the student to the agent rather than directly from the provider, linking a provider-funded tuition reduction to continued agent payments appears to recreate much of the commercial incentive the ban was intended to remove.
The regulators’ concerns extend beyond the mechanics of commission payments. ASQA and TEQSA are also examining business practices that encourage unnecessary transfers, undeclared relationships with third parties, inaccurate or delayed reporting of agent and enrolment data, and weak governance, monitoring and recordkeeping. They are particularly concerned about providers admitting higher-risk transferring students who do not appear academically prepared for their new courses. For educators and student support teams, these practices can have direct consequences: students may enter courses without the necessary prior knowledge, English language capability or understanding of course requirements, while teachers are left to address problems created by recruitment and admissions decisions made elsewhere in the organisation.
ASQA and TEQSA now expect providers to check their current practices rather than wait for an audit or complaint. This includes reviewing agreements, incentives and referral arrangements with agents and other third parties; examining what those parties are advertising; testing whether scholarships, discounts or support programs could encourage transfers or indirectly reward agents; and reviewing admissions decisions to ensure students are appropriately qualified and that transfers are genuinely in their interests.
